Test Dept in Birmingham

Test Dept are a British industrial music group formed in New Cross, London, in 1981. They became known for forceful percussion played on scrap metal and industrial machinery, politically engaged performances, and records including Beating the Retreat and The Unacceptable Face of Freedom. During the 1984–85 miners’ strike, Test Dept mounted the Fuel to Fight Tour with the South Wales Striking Miners’ Choir to raise money for mining communities, a collaboration documented on Shoulder to Shoulder. They later presented Ministry of Power at Battersea Power Station, while Gododdin joined their percussion-led music to the physical theatre of Welsh company Brith Gof.