Concert review: Testament | 05.10.25, Delmar Hall (with photo gallery)

Photo of Testament’s Alex Skolnick by Laura Jerele.

Thrash metal legends Testament brought an absolute master class in metal to Delmar Hall on Saturday night. Billed as An Evening with Testament, there was no opening act so hardcore fans got to enjoy two straight hours from their headbanging catalog. Their set list was incredibly well curated, spanning their decades in the metal scene as one of the top bands, and dare I say, a grossly underrated one at that. They started the evening playing their masterpiece 1989 album Practice What You Preach in its entirety. Track by glorious and heavy track, played to perfection and with a ton of energy, and—although this may not sound very heavy metal to you all—a ton of smiles on the bandmates’ faces. The band has endured a lot since they began in 1983, including moments of separation and side projects, as well as serious illness, as singer Chuck Billy very vulnerably pointed out a previous cancer diagnosis in 2001 that he ultimately beat the shit out, so there was definitely a sense of perseverance, fun, and gratitude.

The lineup for this tour is very much feeling classic as Billy and guitarist Eric Peterson are founders of the band, along with longtime guitarist Alex Skolnick, bassist Steve DeGiorgio, and drummer/newcomer Chris Dovas. It’s worth pointing out that Skolnick is a virtuoso in every right, playing with absolute dexterity and finesse, he has been and always be an absolute force and has been listed many a times as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. His varied musical influences and projects (including his much-lauded jazz trio) give him one of the most unique playing styles that is not just fast and full of unapologetic arpeggios but also heavy as hell, blending serious melodies that make this band stand apart. 

Practice What You Preach is an absolutely legendary thrash metal album, and it was absolutely incredible to hear it played in full, loud and live! Songs that are very fitting for today, including “Perilous Nation” and “Greenhouse Effect,” and, of course, the title track! Seriously if we had paid attention to those lyrics then, maybe the world would be a better place now? Anyways… This night was all about old school thrash metal legends proving that they are as sharp as ever. They drew a huge crowd, damn near sold out, and I loved seeing how high energy the crowd was the entire night, not to mention the amount of ultra cool black concert T-shirts that were adorned for the evening. Wearing your coolest and most favorite metal shirt to a metal show is a ritual of sorts and this show didn’t disappoint, as some shirts were from Testament shows some 20 years ago.

Testament blistered through their set, taking time to chat about memories of tours past, mentioning their love for the ever-favorite Mississippi Nights, but this show was all about the songs. They even broke down the set a bit after Practice was performed for a few songs, performed seated and somewhat acoustic. Everything about this show was full on metal, unapologetically so. The lights were wicked cool, tons of stark flashes of audience abuse lights that broke the foggy darkness. Drum solos, huge lights, killer sound, heavy fog: this was the shit of heavy metal dreams! I’ve seen this band in every decade since they began (yikes, I guess I’m owning that) and I can honestly say they have never sounded better. This was one helluva night. Here’s the setlist to archive your aching ears (or make you feel like you reallllllly missed out if you skipped this one):

Practice What You Preach
Sins of Omission
Perilous Nation

Greenhouse Effect
Time Is Coming
Blessed in Contempt
The Ballad
Envy Life
Nightmare (Coming Back to You)
Confusion Fusion
Musical Death (A Dirge)
The Legacy
Rise Up
Native Blood
Trail of Tears
Low
City of Angels
First Strike Is Deadly
Return to Serenity
Into the Pit | Laura Jerele