Testament简介

美国著名的敲击/鞭笞金属乐队。 Country of origin: United States Location: Oakland, California Status: Active Formed in: 1987 Genre: Thrash Metal Themes: Society, Suffering, Evil, Occult, Religion, Death, Life, Corruption, Politics Current label: Nuclear Blast Years active: 1983-1987 (as Legacy), 1987-present Steve Souza from Exodus was the lead singer from 1985-1986, and he has done vocals for Testament at some points. There was precisely one show played as Legacy with Chuck Billy on vocals, in July 1986. Although still named Legacy at the time of recording, they couldn't release the album under that name, as there was a jazz band who had registered it. Billy Milano suggested they name themselves Testament, and they liked it. They used their old name as the album title. Legacy's final show took place at The Stone in San Francisco on March 4th, 1987, about a month before the release of The Legacy. Testament was one of the early thrash metal bands to sign to a major label, having signed to Atlantic in 1986. In 1992, having released the more melodic and mellowed down "The Ritual" album with Testament, Eric, Chuck, and Louie, together with Legacy alumni Derrick Ramirez and Chris Kontos formed a side-project named Legions, to highlight their more "extreme" side. They planned to release an EP. Greg Christian had reportedly auditioned for bass or was asked to join Metallica following Cliff Burton's death. He was among the few who were considered for the role. In 2001, Chuck Billy was diagnosed with germ cell seminoma; a rare kind of cancer in Chuck's case because this is usually in the testicular region of a man's body, but Chuck had in his chest region near his heart. He had been undergoing numerous treatments and survived cancer. Festivals and concerts had been held in helping raise money for Chuck's sickness. He has since fully recovered.

乐队档案

国籍：美国
组建时间：1986年
风格： Hardcore（硬核） Heavy Metal（重金属） Speed Metal（速度金属） Thrash（鞭挞金属）
Testament were the biggest thrash metal band never to reach the platinum plateau. In fact, the San Francisco quintet seemed on the verge of challenging Metallica (their most obvious influence) in the melodic thrash sweepstakes, but their run toward the top was eventually derailed by inconsistency, bad business decisions, and the genre's dwindling appeal. Unable to change with the times like Metallica, Testament quickly faded from sight in the early '90s, but have remained active and very popular within the metal underground.
Influenced by the then-emerging Bay Area thrash metal scene, vocalist Steve Souza, guitarists Eric Peterson and Derrick Ramirez, bassist Greg Christian, and drummer Louie Clemente came together as Legacy in late 1983. But it wasn't until the arrival of lead guitarist Alex Skolnick and a name change to Testament two years later that the band's Metallica-inspired thrash metal began distinguishing it from less-refined peers such as Forbidden and Vio-lence. By 1986, the group was attracting record company attention, but was handed a severe blow when Souza abruptly quit to join original Bay Area scene legends Exodus. Ironically, however, his departure would prove a godsend, as the band soon drafted a significantly more versatile (and downright intimidating) replacement in Chuck Billy. His greater melodic talents and inimitable, bowl-shaking growl would better complement the band's increasing diversity and mastery of melodic crunch.
Signed by thrash metal mecca Megaforce Records, the group lent its original name to the following year's remarkable debut, The Legacy. Hailed as an instant classic within thrash metal circles, the album's coupling of furious riffs and harmonic sensibility stood second only to Metallica in controlled power, technical delivery, and sheer confidence. It also benefited from Megaforce's recently obtained distribution deal with Atlantic Records, and Testament lived up to their promise while touring America and Europe in support of Anthrax - then experiencing their peak with the Among The Living album. Recorded on that tour, the Live At Eindhoven EP cemented Testament's standing as champions of thrash's second wave, and despite lacking the consistency of their debut, 1988's sophomore The New Order maintained their forward momentum and led to yet another lengthy world tour that took the band as far as South America.
More focused and driven than ever, Testament took painstaking care in constructing their follow-up, 1989's Practice What You Preach - a massive achievement that saw them expanding their melodic reach while losing none of their power and aggression. A yearlong tour, including a long stint headlining over Savatage and Wrathchild America across the U.S.A., ensued, and even MTV gave their videos a respectable amount of exposure. Testament truly seemed to be poised on the verge of greatness when everything started to unravel. Offered the chance to support Judas Priest on their career-revitalizing Painkiller tour (also featuring Megadeth), Testament rushed straight from the back of their tour bus and into the studio to record 1990's Souls Of Black. A hodgepodge collection of rehashed demos and unfinished ideas, the album stalled on record store shelves and the seeds of frustration and discontent were sown. Not even a coveted slot on the European leg of the Clash Of The Titans tour, alongside Slayer, Megadeth and Suicidal Tendencies, could stall the inevitable, and the band started tearing apart at the seams.
By the time they regrouped with 1992's somewhat improved The Ritual, grunge had arrived, musical tastes had changed drastically, and Testament were only one of countless casualties whose once highly anticipated albums fell on deaf ears. Ace guitarist Skolnick, who had long complained of the creative limitations imposed by the band's style, was the first casualty, leaving to join Savatage. He was replaced by Glen Alvelais (ex-Forbidden) for the subsequent tour, which also saw the firing of drummer Clemente midway through, replaced by another Forbidden alum, Paul Bostaph. Following the rather pointless Return To The Apocalyptic City EP, 1994's brutally negative Low - featuring journeyman James Murphy (Death, Obituary, Cancer, etc.) on guitar and Exodus' John Tempesta on drums - would be their last with Atlantic. Tempesta was soon off to join White Zombie and new drummer Jon Dette only lasted long enough to perform on their next tour before also leaving to join Slayer.
Amazingly, Testament persisted, launching their own Burnt Offerings label to release 1995's Live At The Fillmore and another studio effort, 1997's Demonic. The latter renewed their violent commitment to going back to basics, and featured legendary drummer Gene Hoglan (ex-Dark Angel, Death) and returning founding member Derrick Ramirez, now replacing departed bassist Christian. While their former home Atlantic was busy releasing the Signs Of Chaos greatest-hits collection, Testament were moving forward with yet another independent release, 1999's The Gathering, which saw usual suspects Billy and Peterson supported by bassist Steve DiGiorgio, returning guitarist James Murphy, and the awesome talents of original Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo.
A major snag was right around the corner, however, when popular frontman Chuck Billy was diagnosed with cancer, prompting a slew of benefit concerts throughout the Bay Area to raise funds for his treatment. Thankfully, he recovered in due time, and Testament chose to celebrate by welcoming back former members Steve Souza and Alex Skolnick (now involved with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, but predominantly acting as a jazz player fronting his own New York-based trio) to participate in a personally sanctioned collection of their best-loved songs, released in 2001 as First Strike Still Deadly. Eric Peterson was also active with a black metal side project named Dragonlord around this time, and little was heard of Testament in the next few years.
Another retrospective collection (Days Of Darkness, featuring one disc of highlights from the group's late-'90s releases and a second simply recycling First Strike Still Deadly) was released in 2004, and in 2005 Testament's classic lineup of Billy, Skolnick, Peterson, Christian, and Clemente reunited for a tour including several major European festival engagements, bringing along occasional drummer John Tempesta to spell their long inactive original drummer on some of their more challenging material. In 2008, Testament released their first studio album in nine years, The Formation Of Damnation, followed by a steady stream of live performances, including a stint as the supporting act for Judas Priest, Motörhead, and Heaven And Hell on the Metal Masters tour. The band's tenth studio album, Dark Roots Of Earth, arrived in 2012 on Nuclear Blast.
现任阵容
Chuck Billy - Vocals 
Eric Peterson - Guitars
Alex Skolnick - Guitars
Greg Christian - Bass 
Paul Bostaph - Drums 
过去阵容
Vocals:
Steve "Zetro" Souza
Guitars:
Metal Mike Chlasciak
Glen Alvelais
James Murphy 
Steve Smyth
Bass:
Derrick Ramirez
Steve DiGiorgio
Drums:
Louie Clemente
Dave Lombardo
Chris Kontos
Gene Hoglan 
John Tempesta
Jon Allen
Steve "Horse" Jacobs
Nicholas Howard Barker

演艺经历

1983年，一支名为LEGACY的乐队由节奏吉他手Eric Peterson和他的表兄弟主音吉他手Derrick Ramirez，以及贝司手Greg Christian，鼓手Louie Clemente还有主唱Steve Souza组成，Ramirez不久即被年仅16岁的Alex Skolnick取代。
1985年，乐队自己制作了一张小样First Strike is Deadly，这也是最后一次Souza作为乐队主唱的作品。由于LEGACY这个名字已经有别的乐队使用，乐队只好更名为TESTAMENT。正当 TESTAMENT日渐被唱片公司看好的时候，却遭受了一个不小的打击，主唱Steve Souza突然宣布加入另一支著名的Thrash Metal乐队——EXODUS，于是Chuck Billy被选中担任乐队的主唱，这正是塞翁失马，焉知非福，如果不是Souza的离开，我们也就永远不会听到Chuck充满激情的咆哮了。
签约Megaforce Records之后，TESTAMENT于1987年发行了自己的第一张专辑，The Legacy，之所以起这个名字大概是旧情难忘吧，呵呵，初恋总是美好的。由于Megaforce与唱片业巨人Atlantic Records签订的合作协议，使得这张专辑可以通过更多的销售渠道被人们所接受。这张专辑一经发行立即被奉为Thrash Metal圈中的经典,狂暴的riffs夹杂着地狱般的旋律，暴戾的能量被精确地控制着再慢慢释放——就像受控的核聚变，人们仿佛看到了又一个 METALLICA。随后乐队进行了美国与欧洲巡回演出，作为ANTHRAX的嘉宾。在巡演期间，乐队录制了一张现场EP，Live in Eindhoven，这是乐队在参加荷兰Dynamo Festival时的现场，不过反响一般。
1989年的专辑Practice What You Preach在不失攻击性的前提下将旋律化的Thrash Metal发挥到了极致，这种讨好的做法显然深得人心——这张专辑卖出了40万张，MTV的盛行无疑起到了推波助澜的作用。
在与SAVATAGE，WRATHCHILD AMERICA一道进行完全美巡回演出后，乐队再次回到录音室录制了第四张专辑Souls of Black。这张专辑的制作人由以前的Alex Perialas换成了Michael Rosen，而乐队内部的矛盾也似乎在其音乐中有所反映。之后是与SLAYER, MEGADETH ,SUICIDAL TENDENCIES进行了名为Clash Of The Titans的欧洲巡演。
随着92年的专辑The Ritual的发行，Alex，Louie和乐队其他成员的矛盾已经非常明显了，实际上从88年的The New Order开始，Alex就不断抱怨乐队的风格过于单一，这极大的限制了Alex的创造性，他的兴趣不只是金属，还有对Jazz,Fusion等音乐也很感兴趣。显然此时的TESTAMENT已经不能满足他的欲望，于是他最终还是选择退出乐队，不久鼓手Louie也步其后尘。Alex先是去了 SAVATAGE乐队，不过没干多久就又辞职了，后来干脆搞了个爵士乐队，而Louie则彻底退出了音乐圈
TESTAMENT在短时间的休整之后，吉他手Glen Alvelais (ex-FORBIDDEN)，鼓手Paul Bostaph (ex- FORBIDDEN, SLAYER)暂时填补空缺。93年的小专辑Return To Apocalyptic City正好给这二位新成员热热身，热完了身，这两位也都各自忙各自的去了。本来乐队打算找前OZZY的吉他手Jake E. Lee来试试，不过当他们听说James Murphy竟然对TESTAMENT感兴趣时，当然就义无反顾的选择了后者。在找来了鼓手John Tempesta (ex- EXODUS)后，1994年专辑Low问世了。Chuck自认为这是TESTAMENT重新的开始，再次回归到以前残忍黑暗的时代。
1995年，TESTAMENT脱离Atlantic Records，成立了自己的厂牌Burnt Offerings Inc，此后乐队成员的更换如走马灯般频繁，来来去去，分分合合。鼓手Tempesta去了WHITE ZOMBIE, John Dette (ex- EVIL DEAD)接替他完成巡演，并录制了现场专辑Live At The Fillmore，由乐队的新厂牌自主发行。
1996年对TESTAMENT来讲完全是糟糕的一年，差点就四分五裂。先是鼓手Dette加入SLAYER顶替原来从TESTAMENT跑过去的 Bostaph，James则忙于自己的专辑而不得不暂时离开，Greg成立了自己的乐队FLANGUE，而Chuck甚至宣布，他，Eric和新来的鼓手Chris Kontos (ex-MACHINE HEAD)可能考虑另组一个乐队，名字都想好了，叫DOG FACED GODS，幸运的是最终他没有这样做。
1997年，大难不死的TESTAMENT发行了第七张专辑Demonic，令人吃惊的是此时的乐队成员除了鼓手Gene Hoglan(ex-DARK ANGEL, ex-DEATH)外，竟然都是老面孔。Glen Alvelais以前曾经作为乐队的临时吉他手，而Derrick Ramirez更是乐队的元老级人物，此番也被请回来做贝司手顶替离队的Greg。当然一切都是暂时的，这张专辑之后Alvelais，Ramirez相继离队，Hoglan去了STRAPPING YOUNG LAD，接替他的居然又是Jon Dette，Faint...。新任贝司手是Steve DiGiorgio (ex-DEATH, SADUS) ，而James Murphy也在此时归队了，鼓手更是请来了Dave Lombardo (ex- SLAYER, GRIP INC.)。
拥有这样一套超豪华阵容的TESTAMENT似乎离胜利不远了，然而99年的专辑The Gathering却不怎么令人满意，看来明星组合的效应总是要打打折扣。之后这豪华宴席该收场了，James Murphy因病不得不退出乐队，Steve Smyth(ex- VICIOUS RUMORS)成为巡演的吉他手。Lombardo忙于其他的project而分身乏术，Jon Allen (ex- SADUS)继续。
更为不幸的消息是，为促销The Gathering进行的世界巡演Riding The Snake结束后，主唱Chuck Billy也被检查出患有一种罕见的癌症。好在发现的及时，并无大碍，在与病魔作斗争的同时，Chuck仍没有忘记乐队，2001年TESTAMENT把以前的经典老歌重新又录制成了一张专辑First Strike Still Deadly，在这张专辑中歌迷又可以听到久违了的Alex Skolnick的演奏。
2005年，Alex Skolnick(阿历克斯·斯克尔尼克)通过媒体向外界宣布，在离开乐队的第13个年头，他将重新回到传奇乐队TESTAMENT，此前，1996年离队的贝斯手Greg Christian(格里格·克里斯坦)也发表声明，所有的“旧约”迷将从2005年起再次于乐队中看到自己的身影。而主唱Chuck Billy(恰克·比利)在以超凡毅力成功战胜病魔之后，将继续与Eric Peterson(埃瑞克·皮特森)、阿历克斯·斯克尔尼克、格里格·克里斯坦联手创作并演出。
2007年7月29日晚，Testament在北京星光现场进行演出。