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Devotees of uncompromising thrash metal, prepare yourselves! This March, none other than the mighty American thrash legends Testament are bound for the big stages of Download Australia 2020, with a cool Brisbane show to boot.
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“I love going to Australia,” Testament’s iconic vocalist Chuck Billy says, “and I love playing Australia and it saddens me that we didn’t get to go back there after Soundwave [2014]. So I’m glad they’re bringing us back and it’s going to be great.”
Testament are truly one of the great live bands in thrash metal, and in true road warrior style, they’re hitting the road with fellow U.S. giants Exodus and Death Angel in the lead up to Testament’s Australian shows. While there’s some serious mileage between these bands over the last thirty odd years, Chuck informs us that this time, it’s kind of special. “We’ve never played all three of us together”, he says, “and we’ve been talking about it and really been trying to make it happen and it’s finally happened. It’s going to make touring much fun. It’s different touring when you have people that you know and you’re comfortable around most bands you even tour with, some of them we don’t know and we meet them for the first time, and of course we become friends by the end of the tour but this one’s special because we’ve always wanted to tour with each other and never have. We’re representing the Bay Area sound and the music scene and what we all grew up with so it’s very important for us to kind of send this ‘Bay Area strikes back’ message.”
It’s tough to keep creating records after this long of a career and we’ve been fortunate to find a new drive and just excitement, because metal’s doing so well and getting props again …
[ Chuck Billy ]
The thrash metal scene has gone through a few seismic shifts recently, including saying farewell to Slayer. On Testament’s involvement in Slayer’s final tour, Chuck says, “Well, I mean, everybody has their reasons why they do things. I’m saddened that I wont see a Slayer show again but I feel fortunate that they at least chose us to be on the farewell tour with them. We have a lot of shows, and a lot of history, and a lot of friendship, so it was a good feeling that we were actually chosen and it was a great feeling to be there and actually witness the final shows. It was sad at the end, because we watched the whole tour and every now and again like man, we kept forgetting that we’re not going to see this anymore. Then we got to the last show and it was like so sad, I think everybody in the place cried because the farewell love came out and it was so emotional, you know, there was something special about that. Slayer always stuck to their roots and bought what they wanted to bring, and that is awesome! The genre is still really strong of course, we’ll keep doing our part and contributing our music to the metal community.”
And what a part Testament is playing! As they head for Australia, we’re all getting excited to finally hear our first live experience of their most recent album Brotherhood Of The Snake, released in 2014. “Oh yeah!” Chuck exclaims at the thought that we haven’t seen Testament since the release, “Yeah we haven’t been there since 2014 and Brotherhood came out early after that. So we’re excited! We have a lot of new songs,” he says suggestively.
So … speaking of new songs, Testament are set to unleash Titans Of Creation barely a week after Download Australia, and it would seem that we are in for a double hit of new songs, with the recent album and a peak at the new album. “We will probably play some new stuff over there because it’s going to be so close to the release,” Chuck says, then adds as he reflects on the forthcoming album, “I feel really good about it. I think the song writing is very strong. It’s faster than the last, Brotherhood, it’s more thrashy, it’s still catchy though, it’s got some good hooks and some good feeling. Eric has a lot of solos, usually Alex just takes care of all the solos but Eric stepped up and did a lot of solos and he wrote the majority of the record, so we’re excited. It’s tough to keep creating records after this long of a career and we’ve been fortunate to find a new drive and just excitement, because metal’s doing so well and getting props again and its good, and we’re in a good place where we are as a band.”
Testament are seriously excited to bring their new songs to Australia, which for Chuck is one of his favourite destinations. “I’ve spent some vacation time there,” he says about Australia, “I feel when I’m there it reminds me so much of California! People in California are more laid back; they like to take it easy and no problems. I remember the first time we went to Australia the people are very friendly and like ‘no worries mate’ and if we asked them something they’re like ‘yeah no problem’ and it just had that real ‘take it easy’ feeling and that’s what I really enjoyed – the people, and everybody is just very nice and I love the beach and ocean and we went to Bondi Beach after a week we were there and just loved it and when I am asked what’s your favourite place to play in the world and I say I love going to Australia.”
Well, no worries mate, we’ll catchya at Download!
TESTAMENT AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES MARCH 2020
MELBOURNE // Friday 20 March // Download Australia Festival
SYDNEY // Saturday 21 March // Download Australia Festival
BRISBANE // Sunday 22 March // The Triffid
