The Klash of the Titans tour has been making its way around the world with different lineups since its resurrection last with Sepultura, Death Angel and Kreator. It’s a spiritual reincarnation of one of the most iconic thrash metal tours of all time: Clash of the Titans with Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth, Testament and others back in 1991. This iteration saw Anthrax, Kreator and Testament take the stage and considering there were no setlists available due to it being the beginning of the tour, metalheads were ready for a night of surprises as the Met Gala for battle jackets was set to start.
First up was Testament, who opened with a vicious one-two punch from The Gathering in the form of the death metal-laden ‘DNR’ and the inescapable groove of ‘3 Days in Darkness’. The stage they have to work with may be small due to the pyrotechnics, but the whole band does an incredible job of being animated, particularly Alex Skolnick, who has the added pressure of performing some of the hardest solos in thrash history while avoiding being cooked.
The set was largely made up of tracks from the 21st century which may disappoint some people but the strength of their modern catalogue is second to none, I’d go so far as to say The Formation of Damnation is the best album of the 2000s from any of the bands on this lineup. The title track as well as ‘More Than Meets The Eye’ are both made up of savage gallops and blistering guitar work, these tracks are modern thrash masterpieces and Chuck Billy’s monstrous roar just puts them over the top.
My personal favourite modern Testament record is ‘The Dark Roots of Earth,’ it’s a brilliant mix of classic thrash and a desire to change with the times. ‘True American Hate’ still has that crazy intensity we’ve all come to love but the title track has this slow brooding menace that feels wholly unique in the set but the real classic is ‘Native Blood’. ‘Native Blood’ is one of the best examples of a piece of glorious art manifesting from a dark place, in this case the oppression of Native Americans and the reclamation of their culture, and Chuck Billy being able to not only harness that darkness but turn into something inspirational speaks to his ability as a lyricist. The amount of representation of Dark Roots is wonderful and given that I haven’t seen this band since 2012, I’d given up hope of hearing these amazing tracks again.
Classics like ‘Electric Crown’ and ‘Into The Pit’ are welcome classics and their inclusion made up for the absence of classics like ‘Over The Wall’ and ‘Alone In The Dark’. Luckily, Chuck promised Testament would be back with a new album in the first quarter of 2025 and that means new bangers and even a brand new shiny UK tour.
Next up was the first co-headliner, the mighty Kreator, a band that could take up the mantle of the biggest metal band in Germany once The Scorpions called it a day. The production value on this set is absolutely insane, hanging marionettes, giant inflatable demons and of course; so much fire.
The sheer ambition of this set is admirable and, just a few years ago, would have been completely inconceivable. Kreator are a band that run on raw energy and connection to a feral audience so putting that type of band in the vicinity of pyrotechnics was a genius idea and whoever put in the work to plan this deserves a pat on the head and a nice piece of cake. Even outside of the stellar set design, the band is in the best shape I’ve ever seen them.
Miller Petrozza sounds demonic and even if you can’t understand him (which is often), he puts in so much enthusiasm that you can’t help but get into it. Tracks like ‘Necrologue for the Elite’ and ‘666’ feature some breakneck high-octane drumming from Ventnor who puts in one of the best performances of the night, incredibly high praise considering the likes of Charlie Benante are on the same bill.
Stage show aside, Kreator had a varied set full of modern hits and old-school classics. Everything from the iconic ‘Pleasure to Kill’ all the way up to their most recent scream-your-lungs out banger, ‘Hate Uber Alles,’ was represented in a setlist that is likely to satisfy even the most die-hard Kreator fans. The transition from ‘Coma of Souls’ into ‘Enemy of God’ was near perfect and acted as a bridging point between two worlds as a vortex opened in the center of the room and I watched from above like Caesar watching gladiators fight to the death only with denim-clad Mancs instead of Russell Crowe.
The amount of dramatic intros between songs was high but they always added something to the song. The inclusion of the robed demons on songs like ‘Satan is Real,’ ‘Violent Revolution’ and ‘Phantom Antichrist’ was fantastic and at a certain point, you got past how silly and corny this could all be considered and embraced your inner Beavis and Butthead. How could this possibly be lame when there’s so much fire and stuff going on? 15 year old me would have thought this was the coolest thing ever 31 year old me also thinks it’s the coolest thing ever.
After a break, a video played showing celebrities from all sorts of different backgrounds sharing their love and respect for Anthrax. All sorts of insane characters were included like Tom Morello, Gary Holt, Lady Gaga, John Carpenter, Henry Rollins, Mike Patton and even Stephen King. Once the video was over, Anthrax were ready to deliver a piping hot slice of authentic New York thrash metal.
The band came on to the punk rock ‘Thrashiness of AIR,’ a full on assault that features one of the best breakdowns in thrash metal and the classics just kept coming. The skateboarding classic, ‘Got the Time,’ came next as Frank Bello brought the rumble with his bass as he raced around the stage like some kind of possessed lunatic powered by heavy metal.
‘Caught in a Mosh’ is a staple of metal bars across the world for a reason. Every second of the intro is time spent building up tension before the idiot convention opens and everyone just loses their minds in unison. Frank’s bass is always clear as day, Scott Ian is always an incredibly tight rhythm player and Anthrax wouldn’t be the same band if they didn’t have one of the best drummers in thrash history – Mr Charlie Benante. An absolute beast with an unmistakable drumming style that many have tried to imitate and none have succeeded at.
Anthrax’s set was more traditional compared to Kreator’s, there were no pyrotechnics, hangings or demons burning effigies, just a bunch of maniacs running around and playing the fastest music they possibly can. I could clearly see the mosh pits from above on tracks like ‘Madhouse’ and ‘Metal Thrashing Mad,’ there was virtually no way to avoid the chaos and it’s worth pointing out the stellar job security seemed to be doing from a distance as everyone threw themselves into each other and over the barriers.
You can very easily lose sight of people as they ran across the stage – although Joey Belladonna was particularly hard to lose as his goofball energy was always visible and he never missed an opportunity to mess with his bandmates in between the near-impossible screeching he does on tracks like ‘I Am the Law’ and ‘Gung Ho’.
The set ended with ‘Indians’ and many were waiting the entire show to throw down the gauntlet for the war dance. This whole segment was written almost 40 years ago with the intention of doing damage and it’s been fulfilling that purpose all this time. As a veteran of the War Dance at previous Anthrax shows, it’s fascinating to watch it from a safe vantage point as the room devolves into pure unbridled carnage.
There’s a high likelihood that this was someone’s first concert and at risk of souring your future concert going experience: you’re going to have a hard time topping that. This could be one of the best heavy metal experiences of the year and even one of these bands alone could have put on a stellar show but together; they created an unforgettable experience that people will be talking about for years to come.
