TESTAMENT Frontman Says Stopping Smoking Pot Gave Him Confidence And Stamina

Andrew Sample recently spoke to vocalist Chuck Billy and guitarist Eric Peterson of Bay Area thrash legends TESTAMENT about their new album "The Formation Of Damnation" for the cover of Metal Maniacs' June/July issue. Excerpts follow:

Metal Maniacs: Your vocals on "Formation" are really, really strong and your performance is arguably your best in years. How did you prepare for the studio work this time around?

Chuck Billy: Well, to be honest, first and foremost I stopped smoking pot about eight months ago. I'm sure it's going to be a surprise to a lot of people and a lot of bands, 'cause I've smoked a lot of pot over the years with a lot of people [laughs]! Last year we were touring, doing a bunch of shows where we were going to be flying every day so I couldn't have any pot on me. Before that trip I had quit smoking a couple weeks before we left, did the tour, got home and realized it had been about a month since I had smoked. We were heading out again in a couple of weeks so I stuck with it, and when we did that second tour I had all this great stamina and my voice was stronger. So I got home and felt really confident about it. I knew we were going to start writing and eventually recording the record so I thought I'd better stick with it and do the record that way. I felt stronger in the studio, I had more confidence and my voice was really powerful. It improved my stamina and cleaned up my voice quite a bit.

Metal Maniacs: "Formation" has elements from "Practice What You Preach", "Souls Of Black" and "Low" as well as faster material reminiscent of "The Legacy" and the heavier, more recent studio albums. How tough was that to pull off without sounding like you're simply ripping yourselves off?

Chuck Billy: Eric's always been pretty good about coming up with new stuff and new styles. A lot of it has to do with his DRAGONLORD project and his love for black metal. He's got another element that he brings into the TESTAMENT picture, and also having Alex [Skolnick, guitar] back is great. The last couple of records we hadn't really constructed songs with lead sections, so this record we structured the songs knowing we were going to have more solos and leads. When Nick Barker started with us he lit a fire under Eric's ass too; he comes from a differing background of metal and playing and that inspired Eric. But he does write differently for TESTAMENT, and of course it has to be catchy it has to have hooks. That's where I come in. I'll sit down with him and work over the songs and riffs and tell him where I'm going to sing and where a chorus will be. We work together and pick and choose where it all goes and how it's put together.

Eric Peterson: A lot of it starts with me. Everyone has their opinions and we all agree on what the song's gonna do. Some of the stuff was written after "The Gathering", but I'd say a bulk of it was written over the past few years too. Some of the older riffs are the best ones from the stuff written way back. We sort of pieced together some of the older material with some of the more recent stuff.

Chuck Billy: It was nice not having a bunch of pressure to hurry and get a record out too. It had been over eight years, so what's another few months? We'll take our time and make sure we do it right.

Metal Maniacs: Eric, how has your DRAGONLORD experience affected your approach to writing for TESTAMENT, and in particular to the classic lineup?

Eric Peterson: DRAGONLORD was always a side-project, but something I had to get out because it was so necessary for me. We [TESTAMENT] don't tour as much as we used to, so there's always time to do some creative stuff on the side while at home. But TESTAMENT's always been the most important thing, and I've worked hard to keep it going over the years. A couple of the songs on the new album, "Persecuted" and "Henchmen", sort of have that darker, heavier black metal vibe, but ultimately I write differently for TESTAMENT than anything else. It's always the closest thing to me.

Metal Maniacs: What are some of your favorite new songs and why?

Chuck Billy: They're all favorites. They all stand on their own. I would have to say, "The Evil Has Landed" for me is a favorite, with the lyrics and message dealing with 9/11 and the planes flying into the Towers. The riff is just killer in that song. And "The Afterlife" is another one I like for the lyrics; it's inspired by Eric and I losing our fathers over the last couple of years. It was a tribute so it means a lot to both of us. There are some sleeper songs like "Leave Me Forever", which is a song that originally goes back to when Chris Kontos [former MACHINE HEAD drummer] was working with us, before the "Low" record. Eric told me they were working on an instrumental for the new album. I didn't know what it was going to be. When Alex came out here and recorded his leads for the instrumental, I heard it and knew what it was. That was an older song I never got to write vocals for. So I sort of stopped everything and told them to let me get some lyrics going, sing some patterns and get some ideas. Then I flew down to L.A., worked on some lyrics with a guy I work with all the time, came back and recorded it the next day. It turned out a lot better than we ever imagined.

Metal Maniacs: Since you don't tour as much as you used to, how hard is it to prepare to go out on the road and spend months away from home?

Chuck Billy: It's not hard, really. Me, Eric and Paul [Bostaph, drums] all live here in the Bay Area. Alex is the only one who lives out east he lives in New York. We'll all get ready and work on the songs and Alex will fly out about a week ahead of time for rehearsals. Alex is a true musician. He plays in so many projects that it's just natural for him to show up and be ready to go. We've got a good plate of shows lined up this year. It's not like we're going out five and six weeks at a time but we're doing a lot of weekend stuff and a few weeks here and there in Europe. Hopefully things will start happening in America starting in September and October. We're gonna wait to see how the new record does first, but we'll be pretty busy this year.

Metal Maniacs: Eric, I read something recently where you said the reason TESTAMENT was able to write such credible metal after 20 years was because the band never really "made it" but were always able to survive. Was there ever a time when the band didn't feel true, or natural? Either musically or personally?

Eric Peterson: Musically, around the time of "The Ritual" is when I let my guard down the most. Not all of the music felt right. There were definitely times I let things happen just to pretty much keep the band together at least that's how I saw it. So yeah, there were times, and we've certainly had some lineups in the past where I've thought, "this doesn't feel like TESTAMENT."

The June/July issue of Metal Maniacs is on sale now.

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