Metal Loyalists of the world don’t need me to educate them about the importance or relevance to the genre when it comes to Testament. The proof is in the pudding they might say when it comes to the extensive body of work that has always managed to not only stay true to the band’s original vibe, but also managed to continue to raise their own personal bar and inspire any Metal fan and band who wisely choose to listen to them. PiercingMetal.com had been keeping up with the adventures of the band since the reunion of the original lineup and how the crushed the senses with numerous live appearances on events like the Metal Masters tour and the appearance with Children Of Bodom as they continued to support the stunning “Formation Of Damnation” CD that came courtesy of Nuclear Blast Records. Moving like a freight train on greased tracks, the adventure continues and brings us to this evenings most stellar of events.
This evening would be one that ranks up there in the “Special Moments in Metal History” book as members of the band Testament made their way down to the Sirius Satellite Radio station in NYC for an interview and performance segment on the “Artist Confidential” show. The band would be the guests of show host Lou Brutus who would field questions about the bands goings on at them in between the group delivering a whopping dose of Metal that would surely test the strength of the studio booth walls. The special nature of such an event found Testament bringing in about twenty or so lucky fans who would be able to sit and watch the entire thing take place with only a few inches of clear studio wall between them and their idols. Before the program began the host Lou Brutus came out to let the attendees know a little bit more about the show and how it had previously had such icons in music like Willie Nelson and Paul McCartney. Legends without any question and tonight the program was braving new waters by having the influential Bay Area Thrashers in the room dishing out what they do best.
Testament @ Sirius Studios: Bostaph, Christian, Billy, Skolnick, Peterson
The band would be inside the studio room with their host Lou and fortunately for everyone this was not going to be an acoustic evening with Chuck, Alex and Eric but instead a full on Metal set as the small space seemed loaded with a full compliment of gear for the axe slingers and a decent sized drumkit. The spacing of the event would find me outside with the other Metal Maniacs (and what better place would there be to hang for this) so shooting of the images would be a little bit difficult since I was dealing with two layers of glass or whatever it was made of. I like to think that this particular visual leaves you with the feeling of being there with us as opposed to being at home and reading about it.
Lead Guitarist, Alex Skolnick
One of the first questions that Lou directed to the guys was about the reformation of the original lineup and Chuck Billy essentially said that with Alex being so young when the band started out that he had wanted to branch out and try other things. The axeman was only sixteen when he joined the band and that led to many jokes about Alex only being a little over seventeen now. Many people know that he has not been idle all this time and periodically works with his jazz trio and a very underground hardly heard about holiday enterprise called The Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
While each of these musicial endeavors are incredible and recommended, one cannot argue with the fact about how awesome it is to have this guitar player dishing out the Metal on a regular basis. If you have ever seen them live you can tell that he is enjoying himself as well.
Chuck Billy
The band would deliver “Ove r The Wall” as their first tune of the night and this led to some discussion about the early videos that they had done. They mused with the host about how all of the footage that they did on Alcatraz was essentially done on the sly since no one was allowed to film on the island at the time. I’m not sure if this is still the case these days but it might very well be. They laughed at how they would pretend to be regular tourists whenever someone signalled that some form of security was heading in their direction and how the cameras were tucked inside the jackets as they walked merrily along until they could shoot some more film. I was amused at how they did this and the tale just goes to remind you of how much a band needs to think on their feet since no one is generally going to do things for you.
Greg Christian, Bass Guitar
Another question came with the premise of how is this actually done for the musicians at this stage of the game with none of them being 17 anymore and instead leading somewhat adult lives with that whole set of responsibilites. The main thought that I caught from this was that the band said you need to “believe in what you are doing” and that goes a long way, and of course there are not as many all-night parties at this point in life. Yes they do celebrate the good times, but it is done with a little more moderation and attention. Alex told everyone that he runs a lot to keep fit. “The New Order” would be the next song that they delivered and in the event you are wondering how this all sounded, well, considering we were listening to this via speakers that were piping out the goings on in the studio room it sounded pretty damn heavy. How else would you expect Testament to sound?
Chuck Billy
The host kept checking with the audience to see if they were approving of what was happening and when we were prompted to do so the screams and yells came out like thunder. Lots of horns being tossed up in the air and since the guys could see us as well there was a lot of mugging for the cameras and smiles in every direction. The next song came with “Practice What You Preach” and as Eric noted they were working their way up through the album titles. My angle made it hard to get a bead on drummer Paul Bostaph who was pounding away on the kit and really making the older material sound as fresh as it had when we first heard it. He is really a credit to the reunited lineup without question.
Alex Skolnick, Greg Christian
A great question came via the host when he inquired about one special memory or moment that made the whole thing worth it for the guys and Alex had the most to say on this when he lined out the story of the participants in the movie “Heavy Metal Baghdad”, which is a film that finds a band based out of Iraq trying to make their livelihood out of playing Metal music. I have only seen clips of the film but can imagine that those who feel that they have a hard time in their own band would think twice about complaining when they see what a band based out of this part of the world needs to go to. Another amusing portion of the discussion was when Alex mentioned how he fortunately gets to hear from bands that say he and his musical work had influenced their own band. The story continued as he said he was not sure who it was talking to him but the musician insisted on Alex being on the side of the stage when they played. The guitarist graciously agreed and ended up watching a full on set from none other than Slipknot. He made the room laugh as he thought aloud with the statement “wow, I influenced that???”.
Eric Peterson, Lead Guitar
“Into The Pit” from “The New Order” would be the next song and the question about building a set list to perform would inevitably come up. Billy answered with the idea was to keep the material at newly recorded songs and then any material that this particular lineup had recorded for the time being. That meant nothing from albums like “Demonic” or “The Gathering” for now, but such music might very well be looked at because all of the guys have certain tunes on the releases that are important to them even if they had not recorded it originally.
Alex Skolnick
Brutus inquired about who the band archivist is, meaning the one who has something from every gig or show that the band had done and so forth. Alex mused that Chuck has a couple of most things that they had created over the course of the bands tenure but lined out that one particular guy named Walter has pretty much of everything that ever transpired in regards to the Bay Area Thrash scene. He lined out that there are flyers from when Metallica was an opener for some other band whose name I can’t recall and that it really is some collection. Lou said that this should be set up as some kind of museum where all the fans can go, so perhaps Walter should contact the Rock Hall or someone like that and get an exhibit going. There is an interest in such things and I would love to see a lot more of this happening.
Chuck Billy
The band would close out the performance part of the session by delivering two crushing numbers from the “Formation Of Damnation” CD in “More Than Meets The Eye” & “The Persecuted Won’t Forget” and while this was only six songs in full there wasn’t anyone present who didn’t feel as though they were the luckiest person on earth. You can see more photos from the performance part of the show by clicking the link below, and I apologize again for having a slightly tricky visual. We were not permitted to use flash while the event was taking place. There are plenty of shots in the gallery and much more than we delivered in this narrative. Before they left the studio they made sure to mention that the new material will be worked on come around October 2009 and prepped for their next release. They enjoy being on Nuclear Blast Records and who can blame them with the extraordinary output this label dishes out to the Metal Faithful. They have long been one of my own favorite dealers of the heaviness. As this part of the fun closed out I had to say that as an observer to that which be Metal that I really enjoyed myself and would not be adverse to being a part of any future similar events. The host was great and asked really good questions and had a nice interaction that I felt made him a compelling person to listen to as the show went on.
Testament Performance Shots
The band then came out and walked around in order to meet the fans and let them take some photos with them. They also managed to get some time in with the Sirius Satellite Radio personnel and here are a couple of shots from that part of the night.
Testament & Sirius' Lou Brutus
Jose Mangin who is very instrumental on the Metal side when it comes to Sirius Satellite Radio and is the host of a program called “Hard Attack”. He has been a long time supporter of Testament and their efforts and was presented a guitar by the band which he was very floored by.
Testament & Jose Mangin
Also walking around was none other than Eddie Trunk who has a program on Sirius Satellite, a radio show called “Friday Night Rocks” on terrestrial radio and his own television program on VH1 Classic called “That Metal Show” – whew, talk about a schedule. The band was going to be interviewed on his Sirius show shortly after the pleasantries were exchanged by the band with their well wishers.
Testament with Jose Mangin & Eddie Trunk
I was happy to catch sight of Richard Christie who works with the Howard Stern program now but is very well known to the Metal heads as being the drummer for Death, Iced Earth and a new project that is called Charred Walls Of The Damned. I have no idea about what this band will hold for us all but with a name like that I am sure it will be nice and heavy. I also saw former Testament drummer Louis Clemente at the event but lost track of him when I was snapping the candids. It was nice to see him there showing some support for the guys.
Richard Christie & Chuck Billy
We’ve put a full gallery together of all the rest of the bands photo-op time with their Sirius Satellite supporters and they can be enjoyed via the link below. At the time of this writing I am unsure as to when the episode will air for this particular Artist Confidential, but in these days of MySpace, Facebook and even Twitter I am sure that the moment that it is announced that everyone who has interest in tuning in will be able to do so. Given I am not a subscriber to the Satellite Radio service myself, I am hoping that the recorded video that the band shot for this is made available on some future release or the record company’s YouTube.com page. Stay tuned to your usually checked sources and I am certain that the information will get to you.
Testament & Sirius Satellite Folks
If you have not yet purchased “The Formation Of Damnation” then get yourself onto that without any further hesitation because you are missing out on one of the best Metal releases of 2008. We’ve covered the band over on the main site so please feel free to search for them in the Reviews Main Page or on the Gallery Section. Congratulations and thank you Testament for continually reminding us about how this should be done.
April 1st, 2010 on 10:06 PM
Best ever =)