Concert Review: The ‘Thrash of the Titans Tour’ – Testament, Overkill and Destruction at the Palladium, Worcester, M.A.

Review by John Moore

Photos by Mark Kurtzner

This resounding triple-bill of old-school thrash metal has been ripping it up back and

forth across the United States in March/April 2026 – the ‘Thrash of the Titans’ tour (a

variation on the early 90s ‘Clash of the Titans’ tour title which featured Slayer, Anthrax

and Megadeth) – which has been ranging from Portland, OR in the Northwest in early

March, across the Midwest to the East Coast, and will be heading back westward to

finish up in L.A. and San Francisco in mid-April. On March 27, the tour hit its

easternmost point at the Palladium in Worcester, MA.

All three bands have histories which go back decades. Openers Destruction formed in

Germany in the early 80s, and released seminal early European thrash albums such as

Infernal Overkill (1985) and Eternal Devastation (1986). New Jersey’s Overkill were the

leading lights of NYC-area thrash in the early-mid 80s (along with Anthrax) and came to

prominence with the legendary Power in Black demo in 1983, and the hammering Feel

the Fire debut LP on Megaforce Records in 1985, before signing to Atlantic Records

through the early 1990s. Headliners Testament came slightly later than Overkill and

Destruction, and arose in the fertile San Francisco Bay area thrash metal scene,

originally called Legacy, but changed their name to Testament when they signed up

with Megaforce Records on the east coast, and became arguably the biggest of the

‘second-wave’ thrash band with ripping records (on Megaforce/Atlantic Records) like

The Legacy (1987), The New Order (1988) and their biggest record, Practice What You

Preach in 1990. This is a great triple-bill, and all three bands have released mighty

records over the years.

Here’s a few of my throwback photos going back to 1989, 1990,1991 when I

photographed Testament and Overkill.

A word about The Palladium and Worcester. This is a really nice venue which has

hosted countless shows over the years (metal and otherwise), a large, terraced floor

which extends upwards back to the bar, a floor in front of the stage big enough for a big,

active mosh pit (which was the case tonight), and a balcony. There’s plenty of spots in

the venue to see the stage from even if you don’t want to be up front in the scrum, both

downstairs and obviously upstairs on the balcony. Worcester is a metal town, and close

enough to Boston to pull from that large city. The venue was packed out on the lower

level, and about half-full up on the balcony. The crowd went nuts for all three bands,

and the mosh pit was big, active with many crowd surfers bouncing around up top.

Worcester brings it.

So did the bands. Destruction hit the stage early, hitting the stage at 6:45, and gave the

crowd a relentless 8-song set of classic, no-frills, leather-clad, pure old-school thrash.

Only bassist/vocalist Schmier remains from the 1980s version of the band, backed by

more recent additions Randy Black (drums) and excellent guitarists Damir Eskic and

Martin Furia. A couple from their newest record were played (“Scumbag Human Race”

and the set-closer “Destruction”), but emphasis was on more vintage stuff like “Mad

Butcher”, first-album rager “Bestial Invasion”, and Eternal Devastation’s “Curse the

Gods”. A highlight was “Thrash ‘Til Death” from the 2001 record The Antichrist.

Destruction was killer, and Worcester was all-in. Excellent.

Overkill was no less monumental. Both Overkill and Destruction were coming off a

breakout show in Albany, NY the night before (a Testament day off), and in Worcester

Overkill reduced their 16-song set from Albany to a 9-song set in Worcester, slightly

more balanced towards the older material, but with several newer tracks mixed in there.

Only Bobby Blitz from the classic lineup was in tonight’s band – founding bassist DD

Verni is on medical leave due to shoulder surgeries, so ex-Fear Factory bassist

Christian Olde Wolbers was ably deputizing on bass. Also, only Dave Linsk is on guitar

for this tour - second guitarist Derek Tailer is on family-related leave - but this did not

change their ripping power. Overkill was a one-guitar band back in days of yore, so the

older-leaning setlist may have been due to the truncated guitar-team issues.

A killer Overkill set: the earworm, howling title track of the most recent album Scorched

started off proceedings, straight into the vintage thrasher “Rotten to the Core”, from

debut album Feel the Fire. Bobby Blitz is a great frontman, a jovial-but-intense

ringleader whose voice has not faded over the years, although he’s stated in interviews

that he keeps an oxygen tank handy side-stage which improves his singing, and during

this set he left the stage occasionally during longer instrumental breaks no doubt for that

purpose. The set ranged from headbanging old classics like “Deny the Cross”, “Hello

from the Gutter” and “Elimination”, to a couple from 2010’s Ironbound (the title track,

and “Bring Me the Night”), to the excellent “The Surgeon” from the newest record. They

finished with (as always) their cover of The Subhumans’ “Fuck You”, a great set, and

the crowd responded ferociously (yet collegially – anyone who was knocked down in the

pit was grabbed and lifted to their feet immediately throughout the show).

All the bands had great lighting and big backdrops, but none more so than headliners

Testament. The Bay Area band have a larger percentage of the ‘classic lineup’ intact of

tonight’s bands – vocalist Chuck Billy and guitarists Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick

remain from the first record – but this setlist did not hark back to the 1980s

overwhelmingly, but balanced song choices evenly between the 80s (4 songs), 90s (4

songs) and 2000s (6 songs, including three from newest record Para Bellum). Thrash

classic “Into the Pit” brought the old-school to start the show, but they really mixed up

the set – second song “The Evil has Landed” (from The Formation of Damnation) hasn’t

been played in over ten years, and “John Doe” and “So Many Lies” haven’t been played

live in over 25 years. So, kudos to Testament for playing some deep tracks, and for not

avoiding songs that were released during the 13 years Alex Skolnick was out of the

band (and Skolnick himself seemed to be having a great time, all smiles and moving

around the stage).

The 70-minute setlist covered the majority of the discography, and on the home stretch

the band wrapped it up with relatively uncharacteristic slower track “The Ballad” (from

Practice What You Preach, and before 2025 long absent from their set list for many

years), before wrapping up a great show old-school, as they started, with the blasting

“Over The Wall”, from debut record The Legacy. A great gig, and proof that old-school

thrash metal is still vital and drawing crowds.

Destruction setlist 3.27.2026

Curse the Gods

Death Trap

Nailed to the Cross

Scumbag Human Race

Mad Butcher

Bestial Invasion

Thrash 'Til Death

Destruction

Overkill setlist 3.27.2026

Scorched

Rotten to the Core

Bring Me the Night

Hello From the Gutter

Deny the Cross

The Surgeon

Ironbound

Elimination

Fuck You

Testament setlist 3.27.2026:

Into the Pit

The Evil Has Landed

Henchmen Ride

For the Love of Pain

Infanticide A.I.

Shadow People

WWIII

John Doe

Low

Native Blood

Sins of Omission

So Many Lies

Over the Wall