2008 A HUGE YEAR FOR TESTAMENT AND THE FORMATION OF DAMNATION

TESTAMENT just wrapped up a HUGE year in 2008 which included the following accolades for their latest studio album, The Formation of Damnation:

* #9 Rock Album of the Year – iTunes US store
* One of MySpace’s Top Albums for 2008
* “Best Album of 2008” Metal Hammer’s Golden Gods Award
* #1 Most-Spun album on Sirius-XM’s metal channel (Hard Attack/Liquid Metal)
* #4 Album of the Year in Revolver Magazine
* #10 on Metal Edge’s Top 50 of 2008
* #1 in Metal Maniacs’ Top 20 of 2008 Critics’ Picks list
* Most played album on metal radio for 2008 (FMQB)
* #1 on FMQB Metal Detector chart for 8 weeks, maintained in the Top 10 for 17 weeks…8148 total spins
* #1 on CMJ Loud Rock charts – 1. Testament, 2. Meshuggah, 3. Cavalera Conspiracy, 4. Amon Amarth, 5. Metallica, 6. All That Remains, 7. The Sword, 8. Opeth, 9. Kingdom of Sorrow, 10. Motorhead
* Debuted at #59 on the Billboard Top 200 chart for selling over 11,500 copies the first week of release & remained in Top 200 for three weeks
* Best Long Term Promotion Project (FMQB)
* #1 on Metal-Rules.com Best of 2008
* #1 in Boston Herald Year-End Staff List (Dave Wedge)
* #1 on SMNnews.com’s Staff List (Aidan Gray)
* #5 on Illinois Entertainer’s Staff Picks Top Albums of 2008 (Trevor Fisher, Steve Forstneger)
* #1 on Lordsofmetal.nl People Poll of 2008
* Reached 30K scanned in 7 weeks, 50K in just over 6 months

Additionally, singer Chuck Billy recently returned home from Amsterdam, where he performed classic TESTAMENT songs with a six piece band and 30-piece symphony orchestra. Videos of the performances are available at the links below.

“Souls of Black”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CidIfl7gQ-Q

“More Than Meets The Eye”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nGM1gQ69gI

Billy commented on the performance, saying: “It was a challenge I’ve wanted to pursue for a long time, since I’ve never had the opportunity to sing with an orchestra. The songs took a new life with them. The arrangements they came up with were really spooky and eerie. When I did the first rehearsal, I wanted to pay attention to the music ahead of the performance. It was so cool sounding, I was blown away. It’s definitely something I would like to try more with Testament.”

TESTAMENT will embark on the historic PRIEST FEAST Tour across Europe with fellow heavy metal icons Judas Priest and Megadeth this February and March, which kicks off in Dublin, Ireland. TESTAMENT will also be headlining several off-dates along the tour. See below for the full list of dates.

Testament on PRIEST FEAST w/ Judas Priest and Megadeth:

2/10 – Dublin – 02 Arena – Ireland

2/11 – Belfast – Odyssey Arena – Northern Ireland

2/12 – Liverpool – Liverpool Academy II – England – Testament headline

2/13 – Sheffield – Arena – England – Testament headline

2/14 – Birmingham – NEC – England

2/16 – Glasgow – SECC Hall 4 – Scotland

2/17 – Manchester – Apollo – England

2/19 – Oxford – Academy – England – Testament headline

2/20 – Cardiff – Arena – Wales

2/21 – London – Wembley Arena – England

2/22 – Nottingham – Rescue Rooms – England – Testament headline

2/24 – Dortmund – Westfallenhalle – Germany

2/25 – Bamberg – Jako Arena – Germany

2/26 – Berlin – Max Schmelling Halle – Germany

2/28 – Stockholm – Globen – Sweden

3/01 – Gothenberg – Scandivium – Sweden

3/02 – Copenhagen – Vega – Denmark – Testament headline

3/03 – Horsens – Forum – Denmark

3/04 – Malmo – Arena – Sweden

3/05 – Karlsruhe – Festival Durlich – Germany – Testament headline

3/06 – Hamburg – Sporthalle – Germany

3/07 – Offenbach – Stadhalle – Germany

3/08 – Stuttgart – Porsche Arena – Germany

3/09 – Nurnburg – Hirsch – Germany

3/10 – Milan – Palasharp – Italy

3/11 – Wettingen – Sportzetrum Tagerhatd – Switzerland

3/13 – San Sebastian – Velodromo Andromo Anoeta – Spain

3/14 – Zaragoza – Arena – Spain

3/15 – Madrid – La Cubierta – Spain

3/17 – Lisbon – Lisbon Atlantico Pavilion – Portugal

3/19 – Barcelona – Badalona – Spain

3/21 – Paris – Le Zenith – France

3/22 – Brussels – Forest National – Belgium

3/23 – Amsterdam – HMH – Holland

3/25 – London – Islington Academy – England – Testament headline

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