Testament
Explore the band's historical lineups, musicians, and studio albums.
Active9 formations13 studio albums
Formation chronology
Newest first
Formation 9 of 9
Apr 17, 2023 – Present
Members
- Chuck BillyLead VocalsFrom Apr 2023
- Alex SkolnickGuitarsFrom Apr 2023
- Eric PetersonGuitars, Backing VocalsFrom Apr 2023
- Steve Di GiorgioBassFrom Apr 2023
- Chris DovasDrumsFrom Apr 2023
Formation facts
- When Gene Hoglan left, drummers sent tapes. Eric Peterson later said Chris Dovas's was the one he wanted. Dave Lombardo then called, and the band set that tape aside. Lombardo took the seat and played the tours that followed. When he stepped away from the 2023 shows, the drummer whose tape had been waiting became the permanent one. Lombardo's only Testament studio album remains The Gathering. He did not record Para Bellum.
- Chuck Billy told Loudwire that Chris Dovas and Eric Peterson spent more time writing as a pair than Testament had ever had. Peterson and Dovas have both described working closely on song structures. One night at Peterson's house, after they watched Evil Dead Rise, they stayed up until two or three in the morning and wrote "Infanticide A.I."
- Eric Peterson said the beginning of the song "Para Bellum" is a heavy part from the song "The Legacy" on Souls of Black, not from the debut album of that name. He described the rest of the record as mostly new, with older riffs used here and there.
Studio albums
- Para Bellum (Oct 2025)
Formation 8 of 9
Jan 13, 2014 – Jan 21, 2022
Members
- Chuck BillyLead VocalsJan 2014 – Jan 2022
- Alex SkolnickGuitarsJan 2014 – Jan 2022
- Eric PetersonGuitars, Backing VocalsJan 2014 – Jan 2022
- Steve Di GiorgioBassJan 2014 – Jan 2022
- Gene HoglanDrumsJan 2014 – Jan 2022
Formation facts
- Making Brotherhood of the Snake, Eric Peterson said the band was trying to get away from the perfection of the Andy Sneap sound without losing the precision. He recorded two guitar tracks instead of four, so the rhythms would have more air.
Studio albums
- Titans of Creation (Apr 2020)
- Brotherhood of the Snake (Oct 2016)
Formation 7 of 9
Jun 2011 – Jan 13, 2014
Members
- Chuck BillyLead VocalsJun 2011 – Jan 2014
- Alex SkolnickGuitarsJun 2011 – Jan 2014
- Eric PetersonGuitars, Backing VocalsJun 2011 – Jan 2014
- Greg ChristianBassJun 2011 – Jan 2014
- Gene HoglanDrumsJun 2011 – Jan 2014
Formation facts
- After Paul Bostaph left the sessions because of an injury, Testament called Gene Hoglan back. Hoglan told them he wanted to be their drum machine: anything they were thinking, he wanted to try. Eric Peterson told Guitar World that they recorded everything in 10 days.
- Chuck Billy told Songfacts that "Native Blood" came from what he saw on the reservation as a kid: people with something to say, and nobody listening. In his account, his father and the tribal council spent years going to Sacramento over schools, housing, roads, and water, and a casino on the reservation was what finally drew attention. He said he had not grown up on the reservation. His father had left it, and the family came back in the summers to work the grape vineyards.
Studio albums
- Dark Roots of Earth (Jul 2012)
Formation 6 of 9
Oct 2007 – Jun 2011
Members
- Chuck BillyLead VocalsOct 2007 – Jun 2011
- Alex SkolnickLead GuitarOct 2007 – Jun 2011
- Eric PetersonRhythm GuitarOct 2007 – Jun 2011
- Greg ChristianBassOct 2007 – Jun 2011
- Paul BostaphDrumsOct 2007 – Jun 2011
Formation facts
- Chuck Billy told Louder that the 2005 reunion was supposed to be five shows. It stretched into three months, and then three years, and the band got through that stretch without breaking up. That was when they faced the question of making another record. The rest of the classic lineup held. The drum stool did not. The London show recorded on 8 May 2005 split one set between John Tempesta and Louie Clemente. In July 2006 Clemente sat out for medical reasons, Paul Bostaph filled those dates, and Eric Peterson said the album might split songs between Clemente and Jon Allen. That plan did not last, and the comeback record was still waiting on a drummer.
- On 8 July 2007, after Waldrock in the Netherlands, Nick Barker tried to re-enter the United States at Minneapolis as a tourist. He did not have the visa the work required. In a statement published that October, he said he was questioned, refused, and escorted in handcuffs onto a flight back to Amsterdam. He missed the East Coast dates. Paul Bostaph played them. In October the band asked Bostaph to record The Formation of Damnation rather than wait for the visa.
Studio albums
- The Formation of Damnation (Apr 2008)
Formation 5 of 9
2000 – Feb 2004
Members
- Chuck BillyLead VocalsJan 2000 – Feb 2004
- Eric PetersonGuitarJan 2000 – Feb 2004
- Steve SmythLead GuitarJan 2000 – Feb 2004
- Steve Di GiorgioBassJan 2000 – Feb 2004
- Jon AllenDrumsJan 2000 – Feb 2004
Formation facts
- In 2001, while Chuck Billy was being treated for cancer, friends organized Thrash of the Titans at San Francisco's Maritime Hall. Organizer Jerry Allen wrote that May that Billy wanted to help, and that a portion of the proceeds would be offered to Death's Chuck Schuldiner, who was also sick. Billy later said the night put former Testament musicians on the same stage for the first time in about fourteen years, including a Legacy set with Steve Souza, and that it opened the door to the reunion that followed.
- Testament set out to remix The Legacy and The New Order and to put the old videos on the disc. Chuck Billy told Metal Update that Atlantic, by then under AOL Time Warner, would not release the rights unless the band was distributed by them, so the remix was blocked. He said re-recording was the better path, because the late-1980s tapes would have been hard to make sound like the records they were making by then. He asked Eric Peterson about calling Alex Skolnick, and Peterson told him to go ahead. Billy asked Skolnick to think it over and called back months later. Skolnick agreed. Louie Clemente was lined up for the drums, then said he had been away from playing too long to do the record. John Tempesta played them. Billy started his own vocals the Monday after Thrash of the Titans, about an hour a day, because he had not sung for months. First Strike Still Deadly is that set of re-recordings. It is not one of the thirteen original studio albums.
Formation 4 of 9
1998 – 1999
Members
- Chuck BillyVocalsJan 1998 – Dec 1999
- James MurphyLead GuitarJan 1998 – Dec 1999
- Eric PetersonRhythm GuitarJan 1998 – Dec 1999
- Steve Di GiorgioBassJan 1998 – Dec 1999
- Dave LombardoDrumsJan 1998 – Dec 1999
Formation facts
- In March 1998 Eric Peterson called Dave Lombardo about a South American tour, because Jon Dette was not going. Peterson told Metal Rules that Chuck Billy expected Lombardo to say no, and that Lombardo answered "Eric? Eric who?" until Peterson said Testament. Lombardo could not tour. He agreed to jam. A weekend in the studio produced "Eyes of Wrath" and "Fall of Sipledome." The Gathering is the only Testament studio album he played on.
- James Murphy was already ill while Testament was touring The Gathering. He told Steel Mill that he still remembered the songs and never forgot how to play, but he forgot the bus call, where the bus was, and the name of the hotel. He was diagnosed in 2001 and said it was a little over a year before he could work again.
Studio albums
- The Gathering (Jun 1999)
Formation 3 of 9
1997
Members
- Chuck BillyVocalsJan 1997 – Dec 1997
- Eric PetersonGuitarsJan 1997 – Dec 1997
- Derrick RamirezBassJan 1997 – Dec 1997
- Gene HoglanDrumsJan 1997 – Dec 1997
Formation facts
- After Low, Testament quietly stopped for about a week and did not announce a breakup. Eric Peterson told Metal Rules in 1999 that they toyed with a new band called Dog Faced Gods, wrote three songs, and kept hearing something that still sounded like Testament. They nearly called the album New Eyes of Old. Gene Hoglan kept saying the word "Demonic" in a very low voice, and that became the title.
Studio albums
- Demonic (Jun 1997)
Formation 2 of 9
1994
Members
- Chuck BillyLead VocalsJan 1994 – Dec 1994
- James MurphyLead GuitarJan 1994 – Dec 1994
- Eric PetersonRhythm/Lead Guitar, Backing VocalsJan 1994 – Dec 1994
- Greg ChristianBassJan 1994 – Dec 1994
- John TempestaDrumsJan 1994 – Dec 1994
Formation facts
- "Dog Faced Gods," on Low, was the first Testament song Chuck Billy sang entirely in the heavier voice. He told Lollipop Magazine that the fan mail was strong enough that, when Demonic was being made, he tried the older voice and the band told him to sing it the heavy way.
Studio albums
- Low (Oct 1994)
Formation 1 of 9
1986 – Oct 1992
Members
- Chuck BillyLead VocalsJan 1986 – Oct 1992
- Alex SkolnickLead GuitarJan 1986 – Oct 1992
- Eric PetersonRhythm Guitar, Backing VocalsJan 1986 – Oct 1992
- Greg ChristianBassJan 1986 – Oct 1992
- Louie ClementeDrumsJan 1986 – Oct 1992
Formation facts
- The band was already recording its debut, titled The Legacy, when Megaforce told them other acts were using the name Legacy, including records turning up on the soul charts. The label said they could keep the name, but if someone sued, the cost would come out of the band's pay. Chuck Billy told Metal Forces in 1987 that Billy Milano of S.O.D. came up with Testament. The debut album kept the title The Legacy.
- Steve Souza left Legacy for Exodus and told Chuck Billy to call Alex Skolnick. Billy auditioned in a hallway, because the rehearsal room was too small, singing the three songs from the band's demo. Megaforce had already offered Legacy a deal and asked to hear the new singer, so Billy sent those three songs. He later said the label flew out for a rehearsal, and the band arrived the next morning to the news that Cliff Burton had died.
- Practice What You Preach was the first Testament album the band recorded live in the room. Everyone played at the same time except the vocals. Chuck Billy told Loudwire that a missed take meant starting the song over.
- Chuck Billy told Lollipop Magazine in 1998 that by The Ritual the music and the vocals had gotten softer, and that a band decision then had to be unanimous. He said Eric Peterson wrote the album while Alex Skolnick was on tour with Stu Hamm. In that account, Skolnick came home saying he did not want leads over the double bass or solos over the thrash parts, and that he wanted the songs tamed down, with Louie Clemente at his side. Billy said the two of them wanted something more commercial, while Atlantic was pressing the band in the same direction, including a request for an "alternative" record. He said he, Peterson, and Greg Christian had wanted to stay heavier.
Studio albums
- The Ritual (May 1992)
- Souls of Black (Oct 1990)
- Practice What You Preach (Aug 1989)
- The New Order (May 1988)
- The Legacy (Apr 1987)