Interviews : Testament (Chuck Billy) – 26/07/2010

Bay area thrashers Testament are undeniably one of the world’s strongest thrash bands, despite (unfairly) not being part of ‘The Big Four’. With a varied yet extremely consistent discography going back to the late 80’s, these guys are a force to be reckoned with on the live scene. Ask anybody who was lucky enough to attend the band’s last couple of Australian tours (such as myself), and a recommendation to see them live will fly your way. On the eve of their latest Australian tour, Metal Obsession had the opportunity to have a quick chat with one of the most powerful metal vocals to ever walk this earth; Chuck Billy.

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Metal Obsession: Straight into things, what is the band up to at the moment?

Chuck Billy: Well at the moment we’re just rehearsing for the American Carnage tour, with Slayer and Megadeth. The first show is on the 23^rd, so next week. So we’re just getting the rest of the set together.

MO: Has there been any work on the next album?

CB: Oh yeah, we’ve been working on it. Originally, this year, we weren’t supposed to tour, but instead get this record done. But the first American Carnage tour got postponed; that was supposed to be back in something like January, but now has been blown back til July. We’ve been working off and on, on the album and we’ve got a lot done, we just haven’t finished the songs. So we’re going to ride out the touring we’ve got scheduled at the moment, and then not do anymore after that until the album is done.  We’re aiming to release it early next year.

MO: Is there any particular direction that the album is heading in; the classic thrash style of ‘Formation…’ or maybe back to the groovier stuff of ‘The Gathering’?

CB: It’s definitely going to sound classic but what me and Eric have talked about is that bringing back some of the elements that were on ‘The Gathering’; the grooves, blast beats and stuff like that which we didn’t really use on the last album. So yeah, we really want to combine the different elements.

MO: You’ve toured Australia quite a few times already. Will you be mixing up the setlist a lot, to keep things interesting for the fans?

CB: I think last time that we came through with Alex, we were playing a lot more of the classic Testament songs. Now we’re adding a lot more of ‘The Gathering’ and ‘Demonic’ stuff; a lot of the heavier tracks. As a band, I think that’s where we’re at right now.

MO: Ah cool. Onto a different topic, you recently joined Devin Townsend on stage to sing “Planet Smasher’ during his Ziltoid performance, which sounded awesome. How did that come about?

CB: We’ve been friends for a while. We’ve toured with Strapping Young Lad before. They contacted me via email, and I gave Devin a call and he said he needed someone to sing on “Planet Smasher”. And I said “sure, I’m happy to help, send me what you’ve got”. He threw this clip together and I saw that I had to wear this long cape, like a robe, and all that stuff [laughs]. So I though “yeah, why not, it’s easy enough and should be fun”.

MO: Is anything happening with the Dublin Death Patrol at the moment?

CB: Actually yeah, we’ve got all of our second album written. When I’m out on the American Carnage tour they’ll actually be in the studio recording. We’re shooting to have done that album by September.

MO: Does that band play live very often or is it mostly a studio project?

CB: No not often at all. It’s sort of like a New Years thing, or something special. We did play a couple of weeks ago, as a benefit show for a guy that owns a rehearsal studio with High On Fire and a lot of other local bands.

MO: The whole ‘thrash revival’ wave is going stronger than ever at the moment. Are there any young thrash bands in particular that have caught your ear?

CB: I think any thrash band catches my ear! There are a lot around, just too many to name. I guess some of the stronger ones now would probably be Lamb of God or Killswitch Engage, and other bands like that.

MO: Time to wrap things up. Any last words for your Australian fans?

CB: We always look forward to coming to Australia. It’s got a wonderful vibe and great people. It’s a shame that it took us twenty something years to finally come down there as much as we do now. We just hope we can give you all a good selection of songs, and we’re hopefully as good as last time!

You can catch Testament live, with national support from Melbourne’s Dreadnaught, on the following dates:

Melbourne – August 6
Billboard, tickets through Moshtix and Billboard Box Office

Sydney – August 7
Manning Bar, tickets through Moshtix, Oztix and Manning Bar Box OfficeBrisbane – August 8

Brisbane – August 8
The HiFi, tickets through HiFi Box Office Only

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Reviewer: Mitch Booth