CHUCK BILLY On TESTAMENT's Musical Evolution Over Last Four Decades: 'It's Totally A Different Universe, That's For Sure'

In a new interview with the She Shreds With Rasan podcast, TESTAMENT singer Chuck Billy spoke about the band's musical evolution, from TESTAMENT's debut album, 1987's "The Legacy" to the group's latest effort, "Para Bellum", which came out in 2025. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, it's totally a different universe, that's for sure. From 'The Legacy', a bunch of young kids creating that thrash metal, as we interpreted it back then as a new form or style of music to where we are today, I think especially with Chris [Dovas], our new drummer added in there, I think it's really keeping up with the times, especially the drums. If you put [those albums] both side by side, you would maybe know that it's the same band, but you would definitely go, 'Wow, they're definitely a different band.' Our tuning is much different than we did back then, because we really didn't know what was comfortable for tuning. Where now we're in a comfortable tuning for my voice. So, it's night and day in that sense, where those sound really high-pitched, where another one sound a lot more warmer and deeper and aggressive."

Billy also talked about the fact that TESTAMENT has served as an inspiration for a whole new generation of younger metal bands, many of who weren't even born when TESTAMENT's debut LP was first released. He said: "Well, metal's like a weed. [Laughs] You just can't kill that thing. It just keeps growing and surviving. It keeps surviving, and it's great to see that it's spawned off in different music. But it's always nice that, just as history goes, it started with someone and was inspired by something back early, punk rock into thrash, into something. So it's great just to be a part of that inspiration and chain of inspiration, is awesome to see it developed and keep developing."

"Para Bellum" came out last October via Nuclear Blast. The LP was recorded with Juan Urteaga and mixed for the first time by Jens Bogren. The cover art was once again painted by Eliran Kantor.

When "Para Bellum" was first announced in August 2025, it was accompanied by the official music video for "Infanticide A.I.", directed by Joey Durango.

Billy's memoir, "Holding My Breath: The Two Testaments Of Chuck Billy", is due on November 10, 2026 via Permuted Press.

Co-written with Dave Erickson, "Holding My Breath" features a foreword by Rob Halford (JUDAS PRIEST) and an afterword by Randy Blythe (LAMB OF GOD) — two of metal's most revered voices bearing witness to Chuck Billy's enduring legacy.

"Holding My Breath: The Two Testaments Of Chuck Billy" is split into two sections: an "Old Testament" and "New Testament". The first part of the book plunges readers into the explosive birth of Bay Area thrash metal, the formation of TESTAMENT, the rivalries, the brotherhood, and the reckless, glorious chaos of becoming one of the genre's most powerful voices. The second part of the book addresses Billy's cancer diagnosis at age of 38, with the singer further reflecting on "his Native American and Mexican-American heritage, spiritual healers, visions, and the fierce love of a metal community."