Testament (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Testament

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Img_capt = Testament in 2008
Img_size =
Landscape =
Background = group_or_band
Origin = San Francisco, California, United States
Genre = Thrash metal, heavy metal
Years_active = 1983 – Present
Label = Atlantic, Megaforce, Spitfire, Burnt Offerings, Nuclear Blast
Associated_acts =Alex Skolnick Trio, Dragonlord, Dublin Death Patrol, Vio-Lence, Slayer, Pitch Black Forecast
URL = [http://www.testamentlegions.com Official site]
Current_members =Chuck Billy Eric Peterson Greg Christian Alex Skolnick Paul Bostaph
Past_members = See: Testament former members|

Testament is an American thrash metal band from California. Testament has two Top 40 albums and one Top 50 album to its credit in the UK. Their 2008 album entered the Top 20 in Germany at #15. The 1999 album "The Gathering" also entered the Top 50 in Germany. They had minor top 100 album success in the United States.

History

First decade

Testament was formed in the San Francisco area in 1983 by guitarist Eric Peterson and his cousin, Derrick Ramirez, also a guitarist, originally using the name Legacy. The band soon recruited bassist Greg Christian, drummer Mike Ronchette, and vocalist Steve Souza. Ramirez was subsequently replaced by guitarist Alex Skolnick, who had studied under bay-area guitarist Joe Satriani. The band released one self-titled 4 song demo in 1986. Ronchette left shortly after the recording and was replaced by Louie Clemente. Steve Souza subsequently left the band to join Exodus, and suggested that Chuck Billy should replace him on lead vocals. While recording their first album, the band was forced to change their name to Testament (which, according to Maria Ferrero in the May 2007 issue of Revolver, was suggested by Billy Milano of S.O.D.) because "The Legacy" was already trademarked by a jazz band.

Testament's first album, "The Legacy", was released in 1987 on Megaforce Records. Testament received instant fame within thrash circles and were often compared with fellow bay-area thrash pioneers Metallica. The band quickly managed to increase their exposure by heading out on a successful tour of America and Europe with Anthrax, who were then touring in support of their "Among the Living" album. On this tour the "Live at Eindhoven" EP was recorded.

The next album, "The New Order", was released in 1988, and found the band continuing in a similar vein. After another successful world tour the band headed back into the studio to record "Practice What You Preach". Released in 1989, the album minimized the occult and gothic themes found in the lyrical content of their first two albums, instead focusing on real-life issues such as politics and corruption. The album was the band's most popular to date and even MTV took notice, giving the title track extensive airplay on Headbanger's Ball.Fact|date=April 2008

However, Testament would never be able to equal the success they found with "Practice". In 1990, "Souls of Black" was released to mixed reviews and slow album sales. Attempting to reconnect with an audience distracted by the growing grunge movement, Testament released "The Ritual" in 1992. "The Ritual" saw a stylistic move away from thrash to a slightly more traditional heavy metal sound. Sales were poor and the band began to implode. [ [http://metalupdate.com/interviewbilly.html http://metalupdate.com/interviewbilly.html] ]

Changes in formation

The next two decades were marked by a series of changes in the formation of the band, followed by a change of pace in its musical style. Lead guitarist Alex Skolnick and drummer Louie Clemente, who had begun to involve more mainstream thinking which did not jibe with Peterson, Billy, and Christian's traditional thrash preferences, as a result of this clashing, left soon after "The Ritual"'s release. Skolnick would subsequently leave to temporarily join Savatage. Drummer Louie Clemente moving towards a more stable non-musical career, whereas Peterson and Billy wanted Testament to become more metal, not less.

In 1993, Skolnick and Clemente were temporarily replaced by Glen Alvelais and Paul Bostaph respectively, both of the thrash band Forbidden. This lineup released the 1993 live EP, "Return to Apocalyptic City". Soon after, Alvelais quit the band and Paul Bostaph departed to join Slayer. 1994's "Low", featured John Tempesta on drums and death metal guitarist James Murphy, formerly of Disincarnate, Death, Cancer, and Obituary. "Low" was a diverse album, featuring various influences such as death metal, groove metal, and as well as a ballad: "Trail of Tears". The band's remaining fans reacted favorably to "Low" although it did little to expand Testament's fanbase. Some fans, however, viewed Testament's move away from the mainstream as a liberation that allowed them to expand artistically, not being pressured by sales and success as they once were. Tempesta left after the recording of the album, being replaced by Jon Dette for the following tour. After their 1994-1996 tour, Greg Christian, James Murphy Jon Dette departed the band.

Dette departed temporarily to join Slayer to replace Bostaph, a former member of Testament. Dette's temporary replacement was Chris Kontos, formerly of Machine Head and he featured on the 1996 club tour.

The band's follow-up album, "Demonic", released in 1997, took a new approach, and found Testament experimenting with death metal more. The album featured Eric Peterson on both lead and rhythm guitar (although Glen Alvelais made a guest appearance, and played on the subsequent tour), early member Derrick Ramirez on bass guitar, and former Dark Angel drummer Gene Hoglan. Hoglan left before the tour to join Strapping Young Lad, with once again Jon Dette returning to tour. By 1999, Ramirez and Alvelais had departed and James Murphy had returned for the release of "The Gathering". The rhythm section on "The Gathering" was highly respected, consisting of metal fretless bass pioneer Steve DiGiorgio (formerly of Death and Sadus) and original Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo. The sound of the album was largely a combination of death metal, thrash metal, and a minor black metal influence from Eric Peterson's side project, Dragonlord.

Soon after the release of "The Gathering", lead guitarist James Murphy was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Through various fundraisers, Murphy was able to afford surgery and eventually made a full recovery. Nevertheless, he now cannot recall anything from the recording of "The Gathering". In 2001, Chuck Billy was also diagnosed with a type of cancer called germ cell seminoma. This kind of cancer is a rare form of testicular cancer, but it only affected Billy's lungs and heart. His cancer was also treated successfully. In August 2001, friends of Billy organized the "Thrash of the Titans" benefit concert, featuring seminal Bay Area thrash bands Vio-Lence, Death Angel, Exodus, Heathen, and others. The show was headlined by a Legacy reunion, featuring Steve Souza on vocals, and former guitarist Alex Skolnick, who had not played with the band since 1992 and Greg Christian. Late in 2001, Testament released "First Strike Still Deadly", a collection of re-recordings (with modern studio technology) of songs from their first two albums. The album featured the lineup of Billy, Peterson, DiGiorgio, the return of Alex Skolnick on guitar and John Tempesta on drums.

Recovery of Billy, reunion and new album

By 2003 Chuck Billy had completely recovered, and the band began performing live again with a new drummer, John Allen of Sadus. In 2004, the band changed their lineup once again for their summer festival live appearances, and John Allen was replaced by Paul Bostaph, returning to the band for a second stint after a decade's absence. Lead guitarist Steve Smyth also departed to join Nevermore, and was replaced by ex-Halford guitarist "Metal" Mike Chlasciak. Ironically, shortly after Steve Smyth's departure, Eric Peterson fell down a flight of stairs, breaking his leg, and was unavailable for some dates. He was temporarily replaced by Steve Smyth.

In May 2005, it was announced that Testament would be doing a brief Europe-only reunion tour - known as the "10 Days in May Tour" - featuring the original lineup of Billy, Peterson, Skolnick and Christian, with drum duties shared between John Tempesta and Louie Clemente. After the success of the initial tour dates, Testament announced more dates in the U.S., Europe and Japan with the classic lineup. Alex has also been touring the East Coast with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Testament played for the first time in the Middle East at the Dubai Desert Rock festival in March 2006. Other notable bands that performed for the Desert Rock Festival were Iron Maiden, Megadeth and 3 Doors Down.

In July 2007, the band played a show at Jaxx Nightclub in Springfield, Virginia, with Paul Bostaph filling in on drum duties. It was later confirmed that Bostaph would be officially returning to the band to record the new album. The band debuted a new song at that show, currently entitled "The Afterlife" [ [http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=27495 http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=27495] ] , which they also played again at Earthshaker Fest.

In February 2008, the band released the song "More Than Meets the Eye" from the new album on their MySpace page.

In April 2008, Testament was confirmed for Ozzy Osbourne's Monsters of Rock festival to take place on July 26, 2008 in Calgary, Canada. [ [http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=94858 Blabbermouth.Net - Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Cavalera Conspiracy, Voivod Confirmed For Monsters Of Rock ] ]

Testament released its new album, titled "The Formation of Damnation", on April 29, 2008. Their first studio album in nine years, it is the first Testament album to feature Alex Skolnick on guitar since 1992's "The Ritual", also the first to feature bassist Greg Christian since 1994's "Low". Interviews on the "Live In London" DVD suggest that a follow-up to "The Formation of Damnation" may be written with the classic album lineup. Eric Peterson did say that Skolnick has been writing songs for the new album. [ [http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=53641 TESTAMENT Guitarist: 'New Material Is Sounding Pretty Old-School'] ] They then signed to Nuclear Blast Records. [ [http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=75714 http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=75714] ]

Also, the band was confirmed to be the main event on the first day of the "Gillmanfest," a rock festival to be held on May 24, 2008, in Valencia, Venezuela. Testament will also be visiting Colombia for the second time in the band's extensive career. Testament will also be touring the U.S., as a supporting act for Judas Priest, Heaven and Hell, and Motörhead on the "Metal Masters Tour".

Members

Testament has had numerous lineup changes, and Eric Peterson and Chuck Billy have been the only constant members.

Current members

* Chuck Billy - vocals (1986-present)
* Eric Peterson - guitar (1986-present)
* Alex Skolnick - guitar (1986-1993, 2001-present)
* Greg Christian - bass (1986-1996, 2003-present)
* Paul Bostaph - drums (1993, 2007-present)

Former members

* Nick Barker - drums (2007)
* Louie Clemente - drums (1986-1993, 2005)
* John Tempesta - drums (1993-1994, 2001-2005)
* Dave Lombardo - drums (1999)
* Gene Hoglan - drums (1997)
* Glen Alvelais -guitar (1993, 1997)
* Derrick Ramirez - bass/guitar/vocals (was also in the band when they went under the name Legacy. Did the guitar and vocal duties on their first demo) (1997)
* James Murphy - guitar (1994-1996, 1999)
* Jon Allen - drums
* "Metal" Mike Chlasciak - guitar
* Steve "Zetro" Souza - vocals (1983-1986) (When they went under the name Legacy. He did the vocals on their second demo.)
* Jon Dette - drums
* Shawn Gairdner - drums
* Steve Smyth - guitar
* Steve DiGiorgio - bass (1999, 2001)
* Chris Kontos - drums
* Mike Ronchette - drums
* Steve Jacobs - touring drummer, South American leg of the Demonic tour 1997 and Japanese leg of the Gathering tour 1999

Discography

tudio albums

References

External links

* [http://www.testamentlegions.com Official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/testamentlegions Testament at] MySpace
* [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1586694/20080501/id_0.jhtml MTV News Interview with Alex Skolnick]
* [http://www.metalinjection.net/tv/view/374/testament-interview Video interview with Chuck and Alex at Sounds of the Underground 2007 on Metal Injection]