Testament
Copenhell - 2023
Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen
It had been a whole decade since Testament last graced us with their presence at Copenhell, and thus it was high time for them coming back to Helvíti.
We loved them back then, and chances were good that we’d love them again, so the only real question was, what were they going to kick off the second day of the festival with?
“Are you ready to have a good time here tonight?!”
- Chuck Billy (vocals)
The band’s newest record, the 2020 offering Titans of Creation, got some representation straight off the bat as the outro, Catacombs, was ingeniously used as an intro for the show, setting the mood with its heavy as bricks riffing and choir chants, which led the way straight into Rise Up - interestingly the same song used to open the gig those ten years ago.
Other things had changed since then however. As we already knew, Greg Christian had once again given over bass duties to Steve DiGiorgio, whom I’m a big fan of, and behind the drums there was an entirely fresh, new face as well - Dave Lombardo had, after a short revisit to the band, passed the sticks onto only 24 years old Chris Dovas, whom I’ve never heard of before, I must confess. Prior knowledge or no, Dovas made one hell of a good impression, and blasted away perfectly behind the drums, lending a great deal of energy to the band.
Energy was something the band was holding back a bit on in the beginning. Not to say they were delivering, because they certainly were, but apart from Dovan, it was mostly DiGiorgio who was actively showing off a lively side, where the rest of them were a bit more stationary. When it was time for a solo, Alex Skolnick was quick to get up on one of the boxes at the front of the stage however, and he was absolutely showing off, effortlessly moving through the solo, and even have the overabundance of presence to throw picks out for the audience once in a while.
The band warmed up through the concert though, and while Skolnick got more and more free in his solos, Eric Peterson was probably the one opening up the most, as he began to move about a lot, often getting onto the boxes and even jumping off them on occasion!
The band members also got more and more into playing off of each other, with Skolnick and DiGiorgio or Skolnick and Peterson doing the instrument duels, or the fun times when Dovan and DiGiorgio were juggling drumsticks back and forth between each other.
Billy was, as always, a great performer as well, and was happy to engage the audience, which rewarded the band with a good response. What was most remarkable though, was how good he sounded. His voice was sharp and crisp, sounding absolutely amazing!
The band had in general a very good sound. While they played surprisingly loud, the mix was perfect, and everything came through clearly and well balanced.
“Get a nice pit going here! I can taste it, I can taste the dirt!”
- Billy (vocals)
While Testament hadn’t amassed the amount of fans in front of the Helvíti stage that I had thought they would, it was still a good sized crowd there to meet the band, and for whatever they may have lacked in size, they made up for in energy.
The moshpit was kicking up a cloud of dust almost immediately, and there was a steady flow of crowdsurfers going by as well, giving the security something to do as well in the heat. When we reached the end of the show, everyone was good and warm, and Over The Wall saw a huge, wild circle pit, which immediately gave way for a ferocious mosh and a loud sing along when the song was changed for Into The Pit.
The set was surprisingly hard aimed at older material, with only five of the twelve songs (intro excluded) having been produced post-2000, but I suppose that not having a completely fresh album in their baggage let the band play around more with the setlist than they would on a normal tour. No complaints from here, just an observation.
Testament ended up delivering another killer show for Copenhell with something for everybody packed in. That they were happy to be back was easy to see, and they were hard to get off the stage after the show was done, hanging on for as long as they possibly could to throw picks, drumsticks, and other paraphernalia to the sweaty, happy fans.
Setlist:
Catacombs
Rise Up
The New Order
The Pale King
Practice What You Preach
D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)
3 Days In Darkness
Children Of The Next Level
The Formation Of Damnation
More Than Meets The Eye
The Haunting
Over The Wall
Into The Pit
We loved them back then, and chances were good that we’d love them again, so the only real question was, what were they going to kick off the second day of the festival with?
“Are you ready to have a good time here tonight?!”
- Chuck Billy (vocals)
The band’s newest record, the 2020 offering Titans of Creation, got some representation straight off the bat as the outro, Catacombs, was ingeniously used as an intro for the show, setting the mood with its heavy as bricks riffing and choir chants, which led the way straight into Rise Up - interestingly the same song used to open the gig those ten years ago.
Other things had changed since then however. As we already knew, Greg Christian had once again given over bass duties to Steve DiGiorgio, whom I’m a big fan of, and behind the drums there was an entirely fresh, new face as well - Dave Lombardo had, after a short revisit to the band, passed the sticks onto only 24 years old Chris Dovas, whom I’ve never heard of before, I must confess. Prior knowledge or no, Dovas made one hell of a good impression, and blasted away perfectly behind the drums, lending a great deal of energy to the band.
Energy was something the band was holding back a bit on in the beginning. Not to say they were delivering, because they certainly were, but apart from Dovan, it was mostly DiGiorgio who was actively showing off a lively side, where the rest of them were a bit more stationary. When it was time for a solo, Alex Skolnick was quick to get up on one of the boxes at the front of the stage however, and he was absolutely showing off, effortlessly moving through the solo, and even have the overabundance of presence to throw picks out for the audience once in a while.
The band warmed up through the concert though, and while Skolnick got more and more free in his solos, Eric Peterson was probably the one opening up the most, as he began to move about a lot, often getting onto the boxes and even jumping off them on occasion!
The band members also got more and more into playing off of each other, with Skolnick and DiGiorgio or Skolnick and Peterson doing the instrument duels, or the fun times when Dovan and DiGiorgio were juggling drumsticks back and forth between each other.
Billy was, as always, a great performer as well, and was happy to engage the audience, which rewarded the band with a good response. What was most remarkable though, was how good he sounded. His voice was sharp and crisp, sounding absolutely amazing!
The band had in general a very good sound. While they played surprisingly loud, the mix was perfect, and everything came through clearly and well balanced.
“Get a nice pit going here! I can taste it, I can taste the dirt!”
- Billy (vocals)
While Testament hadn’t amassed the amount of fans in front of the Helvíti stage that I had thought they would, it was still a good sized crowd there to meet the band, and for whatever they may have lacked in size, they made up for in energy.
The moshpit was kicking up a cloud of dust almost immediately, and there was a steady flow of crowdsurfers going by as well, giving the security something to do as well in the heat. When we reached the end of the show, everyone was good and warm, and Over The Wall saw a huge, wild circle pit, which immediately gave way for a ferocious mosh and a loud sing along when the song was changed for Into The Pit.
The set was surprisingly hard aimed at older material, with only five of the twelve songs (intro excluded) having been produced post-2000, but I suppose that not having a completely fresh album in their baggage let the band play around more with the setlist than they would on a normal tour. No complaints from here, just an observation.
Testament ended up delivering another killer show for Copenhell with something for everybody packed in. That they were happy to be back was easy to see, and they were hard to get off the stage after the show was done, hanging on for as long as they possibly could to throw picks, drumsticks, and other paraphernalia to the sweaty, happy fans.
Setlist:
Catacombs
Rise Up
The New Order
The Pale King
Practice What You Preach
D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)
3 Days In Darkness
Children Of The Next Level
The Formation Of Damnation
More Than Meets The Eye
The Haunting
Over The Wall
Into The Pit
Testament
