Testament (band)

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Testament (a.k.a. Legacy) is a North American thrash metal music group from California. Being one of the most influential American thrash metal bands, they were perhaps the most popular band of that scene to not break into the mainstream and see the success that the Big Four of Thrash did.

1 Biography
2 Members
3 See also
4 External links

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Biography

Testament was formed in the San Francisco area in 1983 by drummer Louie Clemente, guitarist Eric Peterson and his friend, Derrick Ramirez, also a guitarist, originally using the name Legacy. The band soon recruited bassist Greg Christian and vocalist Steve Souza. Ramirez was subsequently replaced by young guitar prodigy Alex Skolnick, who had studied under the legendary bay-area guitarist Joe Satriani. Steve Souza subsequently left the band to join Exodus (band), 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 because another band held a trademark for the name "The Legacy".

Testament's first album, The Legacy, was released in 1987 on Megaforce Records. It is a concise and technical album of vintage thrash metal, still referred to as a classic by many fans of the genre. 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, Practice was an extremely focused effort that minimized the occult and gothic themes found on 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.

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.

Lead guitarist Alex Skolnick had long been frustrated by the stylistic limitations of the band and left soon after The Ritual's release to temporarily join Savatage. Drummer Louie Clemente soon split with the band as well, 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, 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. After their 1994-1995 tour, Greg Christian, John Tempesta, and James Murphy departed the band.

The band's follow-up album, Demonic, released in 1997, took a new approach, and found Testament experimenting with death metal. The album featured Eric Peterson on both lead and rhythm guitar, early member Derrick Ramirez on bass guitar, and former Dark Angel drummer Gene Hoglan. By 1999, Hoglan had departed and James Murphy had returned for the release of The Gathering. The rhythm section on Gathering was highly respected, consisting of metal fretless bass pioneer Steve DiGiorgio (formerly of Death and Sadus) and original Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo.

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 cancer and began treatment. In spite of these difficulties, Testament managed to release First Strike Still Deadly, a compilation of their best songs from the first two albums. The album featured the lineup of Billy, Peterson, DiGiorgio, and the return of Alex Skolnick on guitar and John Tempesta on drums, although neither on a permanent basis.

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 featuring the original lineup of Billy, Peterson, Skolnick and Christian, with drum duties shared between John Tempesta and Louie Clemente. Clemente played some of the older songs, but because his skill level had declined over the years, Tempesta would handle the rest. After the success of the initial tour dates, Testament announced more dates in the US, Europe and Japan with the classic lineup. While nothing official has been announced there is some speculation that Alex Skolnick may be rejoining Testament permanently. He had been touring the East Coast with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

A new album is expected sometime in 2006.

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