Biography and Lineups

Testament was formed in 1983 by Eric Peterson (Guitar), his cousin Derrick Ramírez (Guitar), Louie Clemente (drums) and "Zetro" Souza on vocals under the moniker "Legacy." In 1984 Derrick left the band, and was replaced by Alex Skolnick. In 1985 they put out a demo titled "First Strike is Deadly," with Steve singing on it. In 1986 they changed their name from Legacy to Testament. Later "Zetro" Souza left to join Exodus, and Chuck Billy (Who used to sing in a glam band around 1982-1983) was chosen as the new singer. In 1987 they released their first album obviously titled "The Legacy."

From left to right: Greg Christian (Bass) Louie Clemente (Drums) Alex Skolnick (Lead Guitar) Eric Peterson (Rhythm Guitar) Chuck Billy (Vocals)

After a successful debut album, they played at The Dynamo Fest in Eindhoven, Holland, and they put out an EP titled "Live At Eindhoven." Next year they recorded their second album titled "The New Order," again with Alex Perialas as producer. This album put Testament as one of the Top Metal Bands in the world. In "The New Order" tour, they played with Megadeth, Voivod, Anthrax, Judas Priest, and other metal bands. In this year Testament made its first appareance at "The Monsters Of Rock" Festival. In 1989 the band changed a little bit the direction of their Speed Thrash Metal, to a more Melodic oriented Thrash Metal. They recorded again with Alex Perialas their third album "Practice What You Preach," which has sold more than 400, 000 copies. After the tour the band entered the studio and recorded their fourth album "Souls Of Black," now with Michael Rosen as producer. Although this album was recorded in less than a month, it shows Testament`s maturity and versality with songs like "The Legacy." This album was followed by a big promotion which included the release of their first and only one Home Video "Seen Beetween The Lines." In 1991, Alex Skolnick did a tour with Jazz bassist Stuart Hamm. After that Alex returned, and they started to write songs for the upcoming album. In 1992 they released their long awaited album titled "The Ritual," with Tony Platt as producer. This album shows how Testament attempted to conquer the mainstream scene changing their Thrash Metal to a more oriented commercial Heavy Metal. Finally on Octuber 18, Testament made its first show in México.

After a few shows, Alex and Louie left the band due to musical differences. Alex formed his own band Exhibit-A and later joined Savatage. Their replacements were ex-Forbidden men Glen Alvelais on lead guitar and Paul Bostaph on drums. With this lineup the band recorded a live EP titled "Return To The Apocalyptic City."

Lineup (from left to right): Paul Bostaph (Drums) Eric Peterson (Rhythm guitar) Glen Alvelais (Lead guitar) Chuck Billy (Vocals) Greg Christian (Bass)

After releasing this live EP, Paul left to join Slayer. The new drummer was ex-Exodus John Tempesta. With this line up Testament did the tour to support "The Ritual."

Lineup (from left to right): Glen Alvelais (Lead guitar) Greg Christian (Bass) Chuck Billy (Vocals) John Tempesta (Drums) Eric Peterson (Rhythm guitar)

Glen left the band after the tour. To fill the vacant, Testament originally intented to auditionate ex-Ozzy axe-man Jake E. Lee, but when they heard James Murphy (Death, Obituary, Cancer, Disincarnate, Agent Steel and Konkra), they were so impresionated with him that they chosen him. In the fall they released the band´s sixth studio album titled "Low." This album shows a big change in Testament´s music, and they attempted Death Metal with "Dog Faced Gods."


Lineup (from left to right): James Murphy (Lead Guitar), Chuck Billy (vocals), John Tempesta (drums), Greg Christian (bass) & Eric Peterson (Rhythm & Lead guitar and Background vocals)

After the recording of "Low," John left to join White Zombie.The new drummer was ex-Evildead´s Jon Dette. In early 1995 the band was dropped from Atlantic Records, and Testament decided to make their own label: Burnt Offerings Inc.. After this the band released a self-financed live CD titled "Live At The Fillmore."

From left to right: James Murphy (Lead guitar and acoustic steel string guitar), Jon Dette (drums), Chuck Billy (vocals), Eric Peterson (Rhythm & Lead guitar, acoustic nylon string guitar and background vocals) & Greg Christian (bass)

In early 1996 Jon Dette left to join Slayer (to replace Paul Bostaph), and ex-Machine Head Chris Kontos was the new drummer. During the pre-producrion for the seventh album Testament split up, because the band wasn´t marketable any more. Chuck announced that he, Eric and Chris would form a new band possibly called Dog Faced Gods. James left to do a personal project and Greg formed a band called Flangue.

Luckily Testament returned. The new lineup included ex-Dark Angel, ex-Death drummer Gene Hoglan, Glen Alvelais, who was in the band in 1993 and original guitarist Derrick Ramírez on bass. Finally they released the long awaited self financed seventh album titled "Demonic," which was supposedly to be produced by Daniel Bergstrand (Stuck Mojo, Strapping Young Lad). This album is their most brutal album to date.

From left to right: Chuck Billy (vocals) Gene Hoglan (drums) Glen Alvelais (Lead guitar) Eric Peterson (Rhythm and Lead guitar) Derrick Ramírez (bass)

After the recording of the album, Gene Hoglan left to join Strapping Young Lad, and Jon Dette returned to the band. From left to right: Chuck Billy (vocals) Glen Alvelais (Lead guitar) Eric Peterson (Rhythm and Lead guitar) Derrick Ramírez (bass) Jon Dette (drums)

Months later James Murphy returned to the band. Also they announced that Dave Lombardo (ex-Slayer, Grip Inc.) and Steve DiGiorgio (Death, Sadus, Dark Hall, Control Denied) would play in the new album. In 1999 the new album, titled "The Gathering", was released, and it was a gathering of great musicians.


Lineup (from left to right): James Murphy (Lead Guitar), Steve DiGiorgio (bass), Chuck Billy (vocals), Eric Peterson (Rhythm & Lead guitar) & Dave Lombardo (drums)

After the USA tour. Dave and James left the band, and they were replaced by ex-Forbidden drummer Steve Jacobs and ex-Vicious Rumours guitarist Steve Smythe.


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