TESTAMENT's CHUCK BILLY: 'We Never Do The Same Record Twice'

Patrick Emmett of Metal Obsession recently conducted an interview with vocalist Chuck Billy of San Francisco Bay Area metallers TESTAMENT. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal Obsession: TESTAMENT has been touring the new album "Dark Roots Of Earth" a lot over the past year, but have you been writing any new music on the road?

Chuck: After we finish our October/November tour with LAMB OF GOD and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, hopefully we'll take a break for a bit and write a new album, and get it recorded during summer.

Metal Obsession: When I spoke to Alex Skolnick a year ago, before the release of "Dark Roots Of Earth", he said that you wanted to do more melodic, clean singing as opposed to your death metal vocals. Have you decided on what direction you want to head in for the next album?

Chuck: I never know until Eric Peterson [guitar] throws a riff at me. He keeps me on my toes, and we never do the same record twice, so I don't know yet. If he writes something that sounds like the "Demonic" album, then I'll probably go with the death metal vocals. With that being said, I usually go with what he writes and what sort of vocals would suit it. I would definitely like to mix it up, though.

Metal Obsession: Your Native American heritage has been shown in some of your music, like the newer song "Native Blood" that won an award at the American Indian Film Festival. What do you think of the role that your fellow Native Americans have in the USA this century?

Chuck: I speak for what I see from our tribe and reservation. I think it's the same feeling everywhere, though, I feel like they're kind of on their own, making their own way. Our reservation has a casino that keeps a lot of people employed, which is really helpful. But to me, it's like a fight; we're not getting enough government assistance or anything like that, so you kind of feel like you're on the outside looking in still.

Metal Obsession: Tell me about your side-project with former EXODUS vocalist Steve Souza, DUBLIN DEATH PATROL. How often do you play shows and record?

Chuck: When we started the band, it was only meant to just be for fun. We weren't meant to ever do an album to release. We were working together once, writing some originals, and decided that maybe we should just release the album ourselves. So we did that, and played some shows around the Bay Area, when a record company offered to release our debut album and a second album that we had recorded, but never toured on. It's mainly just a band for fun, and most of the guys we did it with all have day jobs, so it's nothing serious.

Read the entire interview at Metal Obsession.