TESTAMENT Takes Top Honors In 2008 'Metal On Metal' Listener Poll

January 2, 2009

TESTAMENT's "The Formation Of Damnation" album took the No. 1 spot in WJCU's "Metal On Metal" annual listener Top 25 countdown show. The album beat out second-place finisher, METALLICA's "Death Magnetic", by a 36% margin on the recently broadcast program (see chart below).

"The Top 25 countdown show has always been very popular with my listeners", says "Metal On Metal" host Bill Peters. "It's pretty crazy. People start looking forward to the program months in advance, host listening parties and even gamble on the winners. It is hard to believe it has been 25 years! We started it back in 1984 after my second year on the air for fun and it quickly caught on and has become an annual tradition. This year we received over 900 votes from listeners. I have some very loyal, serious and incredibly knowledgeable heavy metal fans who listen to the show each week, not only in Cleveland but from all around the world. It's a chart put together by true heavy metal fans — not critics, label reps, industry insiders or DJs — who are actually supporting these bands. My listeners are the best and never cease to amaze me. They have assembled yet another great year-end chart."

Peters recalls a time early on in the late '80s when he attempted to stop the countdown show. "I thought it had run its course," he said. "It had only been set up as an informal, fun event originally. I had no idea just how serious the listeners were about the program. After I made the announcement they revolted and threatened to beat me up in the radio station's parking lot after my show if I stopped (laughs). A true 'lesson in violence.' Needless to say, the show goes on."

WJCU's "Metal On Metal" show can be heard every Friday night from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (EST) on 88.7 FM in the Cleveland, Ohio area or streamed worldwide at www.wjcu.org.

"Metal On Metal"'s top albums of 2008:

TESTAMENT - "The Formation Of Damnation" (Nuclear Blast)
METALLICA - "Death Magnetic" (Warner Bros.)
MOTÖRHEAD - "Motorizer" (SPV)
AMON AMARTH - "Twilight Of The Thunder God" (Metal Blade)
JUDAS PRIEST - "Nostradamus" (Columbia)
DEATH ANGEL - "Killing Season" (Nuclear Blast)
FIREWIND - "Premonition" (Century Media)
OPETH - "Watershed" (Roadrunner)
CHILDREN OF BODOM - "Blooddrunk" (Fontana)
AC/DC - "Black Ice" (Columbia)
THE SWORD - "Gods Of The Earth" (Kemado)
CELLBOUND - "Fallen Angels Of Sui Caedere" (Cellbound)
BULLET - "Bite The Bullet" (Black Lodge)
CRADLE OF FILTH - "Godspeed On The Devil’s Thunder…" (Roadrunner)
AXEL RUDI PELL - "Tales Of The Crown" (SPV)
GUILLOTINE - "Blood Money" (Pulverised)
AIRBOURNE - "Runnin’ Wild" (Roadrunner)
GRAND MAGNUS - "Iron Will" (Candlelight)
ALICE COOPER - "Along Came A Spider" (SPV)
VOLBEAT - "Rock The Rebel/Metal The Devil" (MRI)
DRAGONFORCE - "Ultra Beatdown" (Roadrunner)
NEBULA - "Heavy Psych" (Salt Of The Earth)
UNLEASHED - "Hammer Battalion" (SPV)
YNGWIE MALMSTEEN’S RISING FORCE - "Perpetual Flame" (Rising Force)
METAL CHURCH - "This Present Wasteland" (SPV)

TESTAMENT's "More Than Meets The Eye" video:

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