TESTAMENT Pay Tribute To Fallen Inspiration

February 6, 2002

Several current and former members of TESTAMENT have offered their tributes and messages of condolences on the recent passing of EXODUS frontman Paul Baloff. The following are their words:

Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT vocalist)
“I would like to say that I will miss Paul Baloff and think of him always as a great frontier in the Metal Music family. I have many fond memories of Paul that I will always cherish. Paul lived, breathed, and ate Metal 100%. He loved the music and all the people, and was always ready for a good time.

“The world has suffered a great loss of a wonderful man. R.I.P., Paul.

“Your Friend,
“Chuck Billy”

Eric Peterson (TESTAMENT guitarist)
“Pioneers of the Bay Area Thrash Metal genre, Paul Baloff and EXODUS have influenced the metal community worldwide with their debut release Bonded by Blood. It is and will always be a favorite of mine. My sympathies go out to his family, friends, and bandmates, as we all feel his untimely loss. I/we will miss Paul greatly, especially his stories and hearing him say: 'That's so heavy!' Paul was genuinely kind to everyone he met and always made me feel special.

“So go now to the metal kingdom in the sky and rest easy...

“I will forever remember you!
“Eric Peterson”

James Murphy (ex-TESTAMENT/DEATH guitarist)
“I still remember the day I bought Bonded by Blood on vinyl. It was the day it came out and I had heard about this band whose demo was or pre-release of the album was supposedly just awesome. So, I went out of my way to get it. When I dropped the needle on the disk for the first time I knew what all the hype was about. That album was awesome and I still love it to this day. I remember thinking that the vocals were the sickest, most twisted, and uniquely killer voice I'd heard to that point. I loved them. I still have my original copy to this day, at my sister's house where it stayed safe even though I lost everything that I had taken to California. I met Paul Baloff a few times during my stay in the Bay Area, and he was always nice. I never told him how much I liked his vocals, and I regret that now. He didn't deserve to go out like that.”

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