Thrash metal planted its roots in the early 80s. Music with heavy drums, complex guitar riffs, and speed quickly made its way into mainstream listening. Many of those bands that started back then are still playing today. The Klash of the Titans tour included two well-known thrash metal bands Testament and Kreator co-headlining. Traveling along with them was the band Possessed who also shared roots in the thrash metal scene. This 33-date tour was wrapping up their last few shows when they stopped at Hard Rock Live Orlando on October 15th. Earlier that day, the tour announced they had to cancel their next scheduled stop in St. Petersburg, FL, on October 16th, as the venue was still damaged from Hurricane Milton. The Hard Rock Live Orlando crowd was filled with metalheads all showing off their Testament, Kreator, and Possessed shirts, plus others displaying other thrash and heavy metal bands. This was a very energetic crowd ready to hit that mosh pit.
Possessed opened up the show that night. The band from San Francisco, CA first started in 1982. They released two studio albums before their lead singer, Jeff Becerra, was robbed at shot in 1989 leaving him paralyzed. Possessed continued without Jeff but never released any new music and the band disbanded. Years later, Jeff resurrected Possessed with new band members and signed with Nuclear Blast Records. They released the band’s third studio album, Revelations of Oblivion, on May 10, 2019. It was the band’s first album in 33 years. Possessed is Jeff Becerra (vocals), Daniel Gonzalez (guitar), Claudeous Creamer (guitar), Robert Cardenas (bass), and Chris Aguirre (drums).
From the opening notes, Possessed was all in going heavy and hard. The crowd was all for it throwing horns in the air and screaming for more. My friend Rob, who was at the show, said I would love Possessed and their music. He was absolutely right. From Chris’ heavy drums, Robert’s booming bass, and Daniel and Claudeous’ fantastic guitar playing, Possessed was on point and rocking with the crowd. Jeff’s guttural vocals drove the crowd into a frenzy of moshing and cheering. He’s a very talented metal singer. You could see how much he loved being back on stage. When the band’s first sounds of “The Exorcist” came across the speakers the crowd ignited in cheers. These were true fans of the metal scene and Possessed ensured the crowd got their money’s worth. It was an amazing set. Check out more on Possessed on your favorite music streaming service.
Next up was Kreator from Essen, Germany. They formed in 1982 and have an established history in the metal scene. Since their first release of Endless Pain in 1985, Kreator released 14 more studio albums. Their most recent album was Hate Uber Alles released in 2022. The band consists of Miland “Mille” Petrozza (vocals, rhythm guitar), Sami Yli-Sirnio (lead guitar), Frederic Leclercq (bass), and Jurgen “Ventor” Reil (drums).
Kreator got the crowd riled up from song 1 with “Hate Uber Alles” the title track from their 2022 album. But, it was when they went to perform “Phobia” that Miland told the crowd to separate for the first Wall of Death of the night. The crowd had already been moshing and doing circle pits all through Possessed’s set, but now Kreator wanted to crowd to up the ante. And that crowd was more than willing to oblige. They parted and the moment Kreator ripped into the first chords of “Phobia” the fans ran at each other at full speed. They kept up the mosh pit through the song and Kreator loved it.
The remainder of Kreator’s set kept the same pace; fast, hard, and heavy. Sami looks so calm on stage yet plays these beautiful fast and heavy riffs. Jurgen thundered away on the drums all night and it sounded awesome. Frederic was full of energy as he played hyping up the crowd. And Miland sang with such fury and the harder the crowd moved, the harder he performed. Kreator and the fans fed on each other’s energy through their set. The 13 song performance was one for the ages and the crowd was very appreciative when they performed that final note. Check out their music and merch over at kreator-terrorzone.de.
Finally, it was time for the other co-headliner in Testament. They formed in 1983 out of San Francisco, CA under the name of Legacy. They later learned another band had registered the name before the release of their debut album and switched over to Testament. They released their first album The Legacy in 1983. Since then, Testament has delivered 12 more studio albums. Their most recent was Pillars of Creation in 2020. Testament consists of Chuck Billy (vocals), Eric Peterson (guitar), Alex Skolnick (guitar), Steve Di Giorgio (bass), and Chris Dovas (drums).
During this tour, Testament performed many of their older songs to celebrate the remastered releases of their first two albums The Legacy and The New Order. It was back to old school thrash metal and the fans were all for it. Blasting out songs like “The New Order”, “Apocalyptic City”, and “The Haunting” Testament was leaving it all on the stage for the fans. How these fans still had energy to mosh after Possessed and Kreator was beyond me. The fans kept it going throughout Testament’s set. The sad part was hearing Chuck dedicate “Do or Die” to a friend who had been diagnosed with cancer again. Chuck gave a big “FUCK CANCER” and the crowd shouted it right back with him.
Testament is an awesome band to see live. Their performances are lively, engaging, and they love interacting with the crowd. Steve was dropping heavy bass beats and when he saw a crowd surfer, he made hand motions beckoning them forward. Chris was fantastic on the drums that evening and he even had his own drum solo. Drum solos, to me, are the epitome of old school rock and it was nice to see him get that time to shine. Eric and Alex were incredible that night playing hard, fast, and making it look so easy. And Chuck’s vocals sounded perfect, belting out these songs effortlessly. Overall, amazing performance from Testament. Check out their music and merch over at testamentlegions.com.
The Klash of the Titans Orlando tour stop was a hard-hitting, fun, and memorable evening. If you get the opportunity to see any of these bands, go see them. You will enjoy their performance and together they absolutely crushed it.
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