The Legacy Remains

The seed of Testament‘s reunion was planted in 2001, the year Chuck Billy was fighting for his life. Diagnosed with germ cell seminoma, the hulking frontman was undergoing chemotherapy and drowning in medical bills. So friends from the Bay Area and beyond united for the Thrash Of The Titans benefit gig in San Francisco. On an evening that included icons (some of whom reunited specifically for the show) like Death Angel, Heathen, Vio-Lence, Exodus, Anthrax, and S.O.D., the highlight was a headlining appearance by Legacy, Testament’s earliest incarnation. Though it was only a semi-reunion it did include guitarist Alex Skolnick, significant because he had been largely M.I.A. in heavy metal (concentrating largely on his jazz trio) since he left Testament in 1992. Later in ’01, after Billy recovered, Skolnick participated in the re-recordings of some old tunes for First Strike Still Deadly, and in 2005 the entire classic-era lineup (Billy, Skolnick, Eric Peterson, Greg Christian, and Louie Clemente) did a handful of European dates and recorded the Live In London CD/DVD package. Billy and Peterson (who kept Testament together through countless lineup changes) didn’t push the issue of a full-blown reunion reunion on Skolnick, though – slyly letting fans do their bidding instead. “I think he really got a sense from the fans that a lot of the music we wrote back then stood the test of time,” Billy says of the ’05 gigs. Apparently, it worked. The almost-classic (Paul Bostaph for Clemente) lineup releases the very-awesome The Formation Of Damnation (Nuclear Blast) April 29th and play Chicago Powerfest at the Pearl Room in Mokena May 3rd.

Mosh: So what’s the vibe approaching the new record release?

Chuck Billy: We’re very pleased, very happy with the record, of course. Going into writing the record, ’cause we’re coming off a record [The Gathering] we haven’t done in eight years, and The Gathering was a pretty strong record for us, and our feelings were if we didn’t deliver as good if not better than The Gathering, we might have some problems [laughs]. You never really know until you finish the record and get all together and sit back and take a listen. And when that day came we all sat back, looked at each other, and it was like high fives, and saying “Yeah we did it.”

M: Is Alex adjusting to being a metalhead again?

CB: Yeah, I think so. He is definitely listening, ’cause we’re exposing him, to more metal stuff which he wouldn’t really go out and buy, a lot of the newer, younger, up-and-coming bands that have made good names for themselves over the last 10 years. It’s been him really going “Wow, cool, there’s some really good players out there.” And we’re just gonna stroke his back and say “C’mon Skolnick, you’ve gotta show ’em how it’s done” [laughs]. He was in New York and really doing his Trans Siberian Orchestra while we were really writing most [of] this record. We were sending him songs over the Internet, and he was going “Wow, this is really good, really catchy, really digging the stuff.” Then surprising enough, he flew out to practice some of the songs we wrote, and he came out with two songs – “F.E.A.R.” and “Dangers Of The Faithless.” He was like “I’ve gotta couple songs,” and we thought well, it’s been such a long time since he’s actually written some metal songs, we were kind of interested to see what he would come up with. The songs were really in the groove and vein of what we were writing.

M: I was surprised how aggressive the record is. Did it have anything to do with the fact there hasn’t been new material in eight years?

CB: It’s all timing, ’cause I’d say about four years ago we started writing a record. We kind of threw it all away because it just wasn’t the right feeling, the right vibe, the right songs. So we just kind of scrapped that. And during those times, we weren’t the happiest with our record label [Spitfire]; we didn’t want to work really hard and give them a record that they probably weren’t going to do anything with, and hurt our career. We kind of just rode the wave out and hopefully they would throw in the towel, and it kind of worked that way.

M: There’s a lot of groove too.

CB: Yeah, for sure. We really wanted to get melodies and hooks in there. And subconsciously we knew that’s kinda what Alex wanted. I’m sure he just didn’t wanna play solos over thrash beats.

M: What are your thoughts on this whole thrash revival?

CB: I like all the newer bands; I like the style of thrash they’re playing, and that’s the kind of bands I like listening to. I’m a big fan of those bands, and when I hear them say they’re influenced by Testament and I can hear their thrash and how they’re playing, I dig it. And now it’s kind of full-circle. I’m kind of influenced by what they do in today’s market. I take interest and kind of put that to what we do now. I think that’s kind of what keeps us sounding current, not dated.

M: Do you still follow all the old-schoolers like Exodus, Death Angel, and Megadeth?

CB: Oh yeah, I love those bands. The only one I wish would still stick to their guns would be Metallica.

M: Is there any use anymore in looking forward to their new album?

CB: I always do because I’m a big Metallica fan. I’ve always been a loyal, big James Hetfield/Metallica fan until that last record. I think that was the first record I’ve ever returned. I’m not really into returning records, but that one, he really let me down. But now I hope, for the sake of music and being a Metallica fan, Rick Rubin makes ’em dig down deep inside and pulls something killer out.

Chicago Powerfest is Friday, May 2nd and Saturday, May 3rd. Iced Earth headline a Friday night bill with A Life Once Lost, Epicurean, Ion Vein, and Arise And Ruin, and Testament lead a Saturday lineup that includes Darkane, Suidakra, The Autumn Offering, Twelfth Gate, and Chaoswave.

OUT NOW: Pelican don’t thrash as much as plod (“Last Day Of Winter” live actually feels 24-hours long) on their kinda-new (January 22nd) After The Celing Cracked DVD (Hydra Head). Cracked is highlighted by the seven-song, 2005 London concert, but the instrumentalists also throw in the “Autumn Into Summer” music video, the only interesting DVD photo gallery I’ve ever seen, and choice cuts from six other concerts dating all the way back to 2003. Six concerts from across the U.S., but not one from their hometown (two in Ohio!)? Where’s the love?

OUT SOON: I’m a sucker for folk metal, so you can imagine my delight when two new folk metal records landed on my desk last month. Napalm Records have become a trendsetter (have you heard Svartsot?!) in this area, but their April releases are hit and miss. The Netherlands’ Heidevolk call themselves a “Pagan folk metal” band and apparently wax Gelderland history and Germanic mythology on Walhalla Wacht (April 22nd), though unless you speak Dutch you won’t know anyway. But it will make you want to wear animal fur and drink huge frothy steins of ale. Guaranteed. Midnattsol also call themselves folk metal, but, with the exception of some occasional classical guitar, I don’t know why. Nordlys (April 1st) just sounds like Nightwish or, worse yet, the solo album by the lady who used to front Nightwish.

GUESS WHO: The lineup isn’t official, but if the roster I saw sticks, Alehorn Of Power III (August 9th at Double Door) will be officially fucking devastating.

BASSIST WANTED: Less than a month after the March column featuring Reptoids came out, the band are down a member. Bass player Chris LaFrambois has left the band to focus on becoming a recording engineer, and to avoid any “curse of ‘Caught In A Mosh’ talk, I’d like to mention the Chicago group is actively hunting for a replacement. Serious applicants can contact Reptoids through www.reptoids.net or www.myspace.com/reptoids.

mosh@illinoisentertainer.com

– Trevor Fisher

Category: Caught In A Mosh, Columns, Monthly