Holy Moses has been a thrash band since their first release and has stayed the course their entire career.
No.5 of the Big 6:
Testament began as Legacy back in 1984 in the town of Alameda, California. Drummer Louie Clemente met Derrick Ramirez and both of them wanting to start a band they began jamming and looking for like minded individuals . Unfortunately, Derrick had no time to play, so Derrick introduced Louie to his cousin, Eric Peterson. This turned out for the better as Eric became the Testament rhythm guitarist and has been in the band through out there entire career.
The band soon found out that the name Legacy was already in use by another band. They had no money to buy the rights to the name, so they ended up using the name Testament, which was offered to them by none other than Billy Milano of S.O.D. and M.O.D. fame. Steve Souza, the original vocalist, was contracted to work with Exodus and left. Not wanting to leave his old mates in a bind Steve contacted a friend of his, Chuck Billy, asking him if he wanted to join the band. Chuck tried out, and he was accepted as the Testament vocalist. During this time, the band was in the process of signing a record deal with MegaForce. With Chuck on vocals, Testament recorded their first full-length album, The Legacy, a brutal demonstration of classic thrash metal. Chuck Billy-Vocals, Eric Peterson - Guitar , Greg Christian - Bass , Alex Skolnick- Guitar , and Louie Clemente- Drums went on to record four more very successful studio albums,The New Order, Practice What You Preach, Souls of Black, and The Ritual.
After the 5th album it became clear that Alex and Louie were having creative differences with the rest of the band. Alex announced to the band after the tour for The Ritual that it would be his last. Alex Skolnick, a very impressive guitar virtuoso,
had been one the main reasons that Testament stood out in the crowd, and become the biggest and most respected band that truly hailed from the Bay Area ( Metallica, was originally an LA band, as was Megadeth and Slayer ). Chuck and Eric were surprised at first, but soon realized that they now had the freedom to do what they wanted and make even heavier music. Later on in the tour, Louie also left the band. Alex went on to play Jazz fusion in his band, The Alex Skolnick Trio. He did not return until 2001's, First Strike Still Deadly, which was a re-recorded comp. of early thrash classic, which utilized the vastly superior technology available at that time. And later recorded the comeback album, The Formation of Damnation (2008), which charted as high as no. 9 on the billboard chart. In the absents of Alex and Louie, Testament recorded Low (1994), Demonic (1997), a death metal album, and later The Gathering, which returned to the heavy thrash of Low. The originally line up has remained in tact since the reunion ( other then Louie who left again due to health issues ) and are scheduled to release,The Dark Roots of Earth, in April of this year.
Notable musicians who have played with the MIGHTY TESTAMENT over the years that original members we absent: the amazing James Murphy (guitar, 1993-96, 1998), drum Godz Gene Hoglan (drums, 1997) and Dave Lombardo of Slayer fame (drums, 1998-99) and the unbelievably talented, bassist extraordinary, Steve DiGiorgio (bass, 1998-2005), One of my all time favorite bands PERIOD thrash or otherwise, I have seen them live twice and own all their CD ( including live albums not mentioned here in this write up) and live DVDs.
Chuck Billy was among those recognized in the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian exhibit : Up Where We Belong. Chuck is a Pomo Indian, a tribe native to Northern California, and often times works his peoples mythology and spirituality, into Testaments lyrics.
1987 The Legacy
1988 The New Order
1989 Practice What You Preach
1990 Souls of Black
1992 The Ritual
1994 Low
1995 Live at the Fillmore
1997 Demonic
1999 The Gathering
2001 First Strike Still Deadly
2005 Live in London
2008 The Formation of Damnation
2012 The Dark Roots of Earth
Ebay for me has been perfect when it comes to the music I have bought. I hope it stays 100% in terms of the good record of purchases. Holy Moses judging the songs I heard seem like they wouldn't change or stray from the thrash roots. Ill take DKW word for it, he knows his metal.
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