Last Saturday night, the Unholy Trinity of the Bay Area Thrash Scene descended upon an enthusiastic and energetic Manchester crowd. The event made history as it was part of The Bay Strikes Back Tour, which saw bands Testament, Exodus and Death Angel touring together for the very first time.

The gig was sold out and the entire venue was packed to the brim from start to finish, with many people even having to stand outside the main hall – leaving you just enough room in front of you to headbang.

Death Angel were up first, and each member was introduced one-by-one with an eruptive round of applause. During their set, not one, but TWO mosh pits had formed within the crowd. The atmosphere was intense, with a tornado of hair circling around one of the mosh pits and an array of horns and fists pounding upwards into the air, perfectly in sync with the beat.

The lead singer Mark Osegueda was just as energetic as the crowd and was jumping to other parts of the stage, singing with the crowd as the light rigs changed rapidly between sequences of green, purple and then red as they played hits such as ‘Humanicide’, ‘Mistress of Pain’ and ‘The Moth’.

Exodus were up next, and before they took the stage, there was a mix of the Benny Hill theme tune and Slayer’s ‘Angel of Death’ playing through the speakers – adding a touch of humour to the show and offering a nice break from the thrashing. Once the band made their appearance on stage, the crowd went wild, extensive cheering could be heard when guitarist, Gary Holt made an appearance.

Holt was one of the founding members of Exodus, along with Metallica’s Kirk Hammet, and was also drafted into Slayer after their lead guitarist Jeff Hanneman sadly became ill.

By this point, the 2 pits had formed into one nearer the front of the venue and the band went straight into performing ‘Body Harvest’. The energy swiftly spread all throughout the hall and everyone was in a trance-like state with synchronised headbanging from front to back. The band’s stage presence was phenomenal, especially that of Mr Holt, who played some sections of Slayer songs ‘Raining Blood’ and ‘Angel of Death’. As a Slayer fan myself, this really got me pumped up even more so than I was before – this was without a doubt the peak of the night as the band ended their set with The Toxic Waltz.

The headliners Testament were last to take the stage after they were seemingly upstaged by Exodus. The audience had died down slightly but were still quite energetic and ready to thrash their heads off. Testament, as with the other two bands are considered ‘the pioneers of the Bay Area Thrash Metal scene’ and they really lived up to their name, beginning their setlist with ‘Eerie Inhabitants’ before later going on to play hits such as ‘Brotherhood of the Snake’, ‘The Preacher’, ‘Practice What You Preach’ and ‘Over The Wall’ before finally playing ‘Disciples of the Watch’.

To say this was a great gig would be a tremendous understatement. All three acts were absolutely thrashing mad, each with their unique sounds, shredding techniques, and drumming coupled with the raving audience is a combination that could potentially blow the roof off the Academy. It was also good that the entertainment went beyond the performance itself, particularly before Exodus’ set.

This was my first time seeing any of these bands and I had not listened to Death Angel until this very night, but I can honestly say I was more than impressed. All three bands were also very appreciative of the audience. Having just played in London, the night before, Testament’s frontman Chuck Billy stated that Manchester was “the best we’ve seen” and the other two bands made similar statements, with lead singer Mark Osegueda not knowing what day it was which added a bit of comedy to the show.

I would wholeheartedly recommend seeing any of these bands live, whether it be together or separately as they are all unique in their own way and have something for every metalhead. The Bay Strikes Back Tour ends on March 11th in Hannover, Germany.

Words by Damon Whittle