Possessed, Kreator & Testament @ Hard Rock Live Orlando 10-15-2024 Concert Review

This lineup could rival any other three death or thrash metal bands anyone could put together. Admittedly, I am not the biggest Possessed fan, but respect the hell out of them for their contributions to the genre and was really interested in seeing them perform. I had my earplugs in, but took those mother fuckers out when they took the stage to take in all the blasphemous hymns! Their set was short and sweet (about seven or eight songs) and when they played "Tribulation" I was amped because that's one of my favorite tracks from 'Beyond the Gates' and they killed it! My biggest issue with their performance is that while Jeff gave everything in his vocal performance, it came across as a little subdued. The instruments drowned his efforts a bit which is rather unfortunate. And I know this is super trivial, but their bassist did not move from his position on stage at all. It was almost like his feet were glued to the floor and it was a bit distracting. The fact that your lead singer moves around more and he's in a wheelchair speaks volumes.

Next, the mighty Kreator took the stage! As one of my favorite bands, I was over the moon excited to finally see them. I was hoping they'd be the headliner, but I'll take what I can get. They played for over an hour and a half and had an amazing setlist, so I was happy. They hit one or two songs from much of their back catalog, so if you were looking for a handful of songs from 'Pleasure to Kill' or 'Extreme Aggression', it didn't happen. They opened up with "Hate Über Alles" and then kicked me in the balls back to back with "Phobia" and "Enemy of God". The middle of the setlist consisted of more modern-era tracks save for "Betrayer". The end of their set was just as fantastic as the beginning with "Violent Revolution" and "Pleasure to Kill". I have to say that I was slightly disappointed that they didn't play "Coma of Souls" because it has one of my favorite thrash riffs ever. This is no hyperbole - Kreator put on one of my favorite performances I've ever seen. They stole the show and I'm counting the days until I can see them again!

With Testament closing out the night, I was excited but ultimately somewhat disappointed. Let me explain. I didn't realize that their set was only going to consist of tracks from 'The Legacy' and 'The New Order'. Now, both of those albums are classics and ordinarily I would have been ecstatic, but I was hoping to hear some more modern songs. Anything from 'Dark Roots of the Earth', 'Formation of Damnation' or 'Titans of Creation' would have made my night. I just think that if I knew going in that it would have been an anniversary tour for those albums, my expectations would have been different. That being said, the setlist was an old school fan's wet dream. "The New Order", "Trial By Fire", "Raging Waters", "C.O.T.L.O.D.", "Over the Wall" and the closing "Into the Pit" were especially spectacular. Unfortunately, they didn't perform an encore, which was slightly disappointing.

At the end of the night, my brother and I had a great time and enjoyed a phenomenal show. I still stand by my opinion that Kreator should have headlined as they sounded the best, had the best setlist and had the best stage performance, although Eric and Alex gave them a run for their money. I hope that there's a Klash of the Titans II and they swing back through Florida. I would love to see them again! 

I also want to take a moment to point out the true brotherhood and care that metalheads have for one another. There were two instances in the pit that I noticed someone had wound up on the floor, but strangers flocked to their assistance, got them back to their feet and checked on them to make sure they were okay, with one of them even being helped out of the pit. I felt it necessary to mention this because metalheads get a bad wrap for being unfriendly or mean spirited when that simply isn't the case. We love our music and the camaraderie it brings.

~TJ