Testament’s Chuck Billy Describes New Album Sound + Influence

Testament are currently finding that balance between old and new, and singer Chuck Billy has a description of their new album that should intrigue longtime fans of the band. He tells Full Metal Jackie during her weekend radio show, “I’m not going to say you’re going to hear a 1980s Testament. I would have to say you’re going to hear a 1980s Modern Testament. Because it really is.”

Billy was quick to credit the band’s new drummer Chris Dovas, who has co-written much of their forthcoming album with longtime guitarist Eric Peterson. “I think those two spent the most time as a writing team than we’ve ever had in the past. And the songs are really, really good and strong,” he explains, adding, “I’m very excited that the new generation [of metal] influenced it. And Chris is bringing a big part of that to the table.”

Speaking of balancing the past and present, Testament are also in the midst of a reissue cycle after reacquiring their first six albums from Atlantic. In this chat, Jackie and Chuck Billy dive into the history of the Practice What You Preach album which is their most current reissue.

The singer also reflects on how the arrival of the grunge era impacted Testament and he speaks of their involvement with the new Brazen Testament coffee.

Check out more of the chat below.

It’s Full Metal Jackie and I have got the legendary Chuck Billy of Testament here with us. Let’s talk about Practice What You Preach as the band is ready to revisit the album through a new reissue. Chuck, this was such a pivotal album for you at the time. There’s so much growth, expanding the musical palette of influences and taking your songwriting in new directions. What are your reflections on that time and what was sparking such a creative step forward for the band?

Those first four records, we did a record every year, went on tour, wrote a record, recorded, went on tour. So by the time we hit the third record, Practice What You Preach, that’s when Atlantic Records really got involved, where we kind of crossed over from Megaforce to Atlantic.

At that time, we never had an A&R person and radio people and video people. It was just this big machine that all of a sudden took over us as an independent band. Especially being a metal band, things started changing. They wanted and requested more. They’re radio oriented, the label. We never had an A&R person saying, “Okay, what’s the next single? What is the video?” All these kind of things that they needed from us.

So the dynamic actually did change for us because we were just writing the songs and going on tour. The next thing you know, it changed to this whole different world. Wow, okay, you mean actually our metal can be played on the radio? Wow, okay, well, what do you need from us? So we did songs that were maybe more radio accessible, friendly.

They kind of always wanted something three minutes long, maybe more a type of a ballad or something like that. So things kind of change as far as the way we are presented as a metal band. And that record, Practice What You Preach, had pretty much our first ballad on there called “The Ballad” I believe. That’s how creative we were. We couldn’t even title it right. It was like, “Oh, it’s a ballad. Let’s call it ‘The ballad.'”

Things actually started moving quick for us and the power of radio took us to another level as far as our ticket sales and record sales. Things are still moving pretty quick for us. So it was definitely a whole new world for us.

Testament, “Practice What You Preach”

Chuck, Practice What You Preach came along in the 80s and obviously things have evolved in the studio in many ways since then. If you had the opportunity, would you have loved to have had the options in the studio you have from today’s technology to record back then? Or do you miss the way albums were recorded back in the day?

A little bit. That record in particular was the first record that we recorded live. Everybody played at the same time except for the vocals. So you had to nail it one take or start over again. So that was kind of different for us.

When we mixed records back then, you had the big sound consoles and five musicians, all had a fader and a job to do when we were going to lay down the track for the master. Actually back then we were actually mixing records to make them more for vinyl. It wasn’t really the CD era or digital era yet really.

So you would make the mix, play it back on the 2-inch, cut a vinyl, listen to it go up and then “Huh? This isn’t right. We need to do it again” and then do it again. So it’s definitely a different process. I wouldn’t say I would want to go back to that. it took a lot.

I guess at that time, when you really know your songs and really know what you wanted and what fader needed to be pushed at that time it was kind of cool, but I think us being such a young band, never making music and it happening so fast, by the third record, it was the third year we went into a studio to make a record. But looking back now, we probably would have tried to do things different, make them sound bigger.

But we’re still proud and you can never go back and capture the magic you had back then. Even like we did with the first couple of records, we thought, “Let’s go mix them,” but we knew there’s no way to go back and capture that again. So the best thing to do is just remaster it and maybe we can make it sound bigger, come across larger than it does.

Now we listen to it on these other formats that are digital and you can definitely hear that it was back in the 80s, the processing just wasn’t evolved and it wasn’t as big and maybe our ears weren’t as qualified to get a bigger sound. So we’ve had to live with it. But now that we control the first six records on Atlantic, we have the option to make it better. So that’s a good thing.

Chuck, the new Testament reissue is being bolstered by a new lyric video for “Time Is Coming.” Why is now the perfect time for this to be released and do you feel you’ve got a timeless track here?

Well, that song particular when we were listening after we got the remasters back, that song just kind of jumped out, especially with the political climate over the last few years. Reading the lyrics, listening to the lyrics, it kind of was talking about what’s going on.

The time’s coming. It’s a very crucial part for Americans who’s elected in or not elected in and what happens to all of us having to live with what happens. So it was kind of lyrically the song we chose just because the time was right. I’ve never really paid attention to that until we listened to the remasters and we’re like, “Wow, this kind of says it all. The Time Is Coming” It was just a perfect bit for the time.

Testament, “Time Is Coming”

Chuck Billy of Testament is on the show with us. We’re talking about the Practice What You Preach reissue. Outside of the title track, much of the album has been held out of live sets for some time. Obviously it’s hard to pack everything in there. But has this series of reissues led you to reconsider your live setlists as we revisit these records? Are there songs off here you’d like to bring back?

Of course. And actually now that we are doing these reissues, as we get control of them, next year we’ll get Souls of Black and then the next one after that. So we just are now finishing up touring The Legacy and New Order records. We’re playing all those songs off of those records right now. And when we finish, that’ll be probably the last time we do that.

READ MORE: Chuck Billy Speaks With Hardcore Icon About Album Collab

Now that we have Practice, we definitely want to set up a tour where we only play Practice What You Preach songs and make it just fun. Go out there, maybe not a huge production, maybe play it in smaller venues and just make it a tight one hour set. Let’s just play those songs, tell stories of the writing process and what the songs mean. We’ve done that in the past and it was very fun for us as a band. But the fans really commented how much they enjoyed it because they didn’t know what the songs meant, what they meant to us at the time while writing them, and what they mean to us now.

So it’s really made for an interesting show, for the fans and for us as well. So we’re like, “Let’s do that again once Practice comes back out.” Maybe after the remastered issues come back out, we will set up something next year and go out and do that.

Chuck, Practice What You Preach and Souls of Black were the last records you put out prior to the birth of grunge. The 90s were harder on metal bands to get any traction. What was your thought on that era? Were you a fan of some of the grunge stuff? And also, do you feel it impacted at all what your approach would be through the 90s?

Yeah, big time. I enjoy Alice in Change and Soundgarden, bands like that. But there’s people that say it killed metal. I don’t know if it killed metal. I just think some bands, and I can only speak for us, but it killed our momentum.

During that time, we were getting exposure on radio, actually having metal played during drive time traffic, which was awesome to us for both Practice and Souls of Black in that era. There was. God, it had to be a couple hundred stations across the country that were playing metal during drive time traffic. You just didn’t have the midnight show on college radio. So metal was getting a chance. It was getting exposure for a little bit, even more extreme style metal.

It didn’t kill us, but it changed our perspective seeing what was happening to the other bands. The momentum slowed down and we had to shift gears to kind of go back to our roots. It wasn’t about writing a song that’s going to get exposure on the radio anymore because it was kind of changing. And of course we weren’t going to try to be Soundgarden or Pearl Jam. So we shifted back to where we started.

Let’s go back and write heavier songs and more aggressive songs. Get back to what we know, what we love and just stick with that. I think it was the right choice because we do talk to fans today that praise us and say thank you so much for sticking around and being Testament. And that’s a big compliment.

Nobody was saying, “I didn’t enjoy these records in that time because of this or that. You tried to be someone you’re not.” We never tried to do that. So I’m glad we did that.

That was a very weird time for us because Alex [Skolnick] was leaving the band that following year and Louie [Clemente] left the band and the climate was changing. The label was about to end our career with Atlantic. and we maybe would not have a label. Who’s going to sign us? So it was a different time, a crossover time for this band. But I think we did have the full foresight to stay true to what we do and finally eventually find that right label that’s going to take us and do what we needed to do with our music.

Before we go, Chuck, I know Testament have been working on new music of late and I saw Floor Jansen is on a song as well. Firstly, what led you to Floor for the new song? And secondly, I’m just looking for an update on the new album. What’s been inspiring you as you ready your next musical offering?

The record’s finished. I have three songs to sing. Music’s done, drums, everything’s done. And Alex just needs to put some guitars on it once we wrap up these tours.

We’re very excited because we brought in new drummer Chris Dovas, which has influenced a lot of the writing for Eric [Peterson]. I think those two spent the most time as a writing team than we’ve ever had in the past. And the songs are really, really good and strong.

I think Alex and Eric had a surprise for me. They’re like, “Hey, we’ve been working on this I don’t want to say ballad, but we’ve been working on this slower song that I forgot what they entitled it, but I was like, “Okay, let’s, let’s hear it.” So they kept it from me for a long time. And it’s a really good, slow, emotional song. Something that we haven’t done for a long time. Much like songs like “Return to Serenity” and it has those kind of vibes. So when we got it, right away we thought, “Okay, especially with the lyrics, it would be cool to have a female sing on it with us.” We’re even incorporating some string sections in it.

I know Floor from doing some Christmas shows and I know she has a big, strong, beautiful voice. That was the first one that came to mind and I reached out to her. Of course, she’s like, “Yes, let’s send it to me and I’ll definitely participate.” So that was pretty exciting to do that.

But this record has everything from very fast to very mid tempo. I can get to scream a lot, but there’s more mid paced songs, slower, clean voices. So there’s a little bit of everything and we’re pretty pumped on this record. When people ask me what’s it like, I’m like, “Well, I’m not going to say you’re going to hear a 1980s Testament. I would have to say you’re going to hear a 1980s Modern Testament.” Because it really is.

I would say it reminds me and has influence of more bands of today that are coming up than the new generation of modern metal. It has a little influence of that vocally, musically and the speed of it. So it’s exciting for us because you’re going to hear it and go, “That doesn’t sound like a band that’s been around 38 years going on 40 years.” So I think that’s the cool thing.

I’m very excited that the new generation influenced it. And Chris is bringing a big part of that to the table. He’s very helpful in the studio with us, and he’s a great guy. An old soul. He’s young, he’s 26, but he’s got a nice old soul and he fits well in the band. We’re in a really good place and very excited for what’s coming for Testament next year.

Chuck Billy of Testament is with us, and I’m giving away this new Testament coffee. It’s called Brazen Coffee, and it’s a new collab with Concept Cafes. Chuck, tell us, are you a coffee drinker? How did this collab come about?

I wasn’t in the past. Over the last 10 years, I’ve been drinking a lot of coffee and drink more coffee now on the road than anything else.

It was brought to us and I saw that the Concept Cafes were putting out these coffees with bands like Cannibal Corpse and mine and a lot of cool bands. And the artwork and the packaging really caught me. So I’m like, “Well, that looks cool, but how’s the coffee?”

After talking with them, I learned that a lot of the artists actually got to really add their input and do a lot of tasting and try to hone in on what you like. We had that opportunity as well where we got to sample at least 10 different beans and roasts from all around the world. And we came up with the one that we really enjoyed. It’s a darker roast with a hint of cocoa in it, but it’s really flavorful.

It’s coming out through Concept Cafes, a company out throughout Florida. Right now we have the ones I think you’re going to give away are these limited edition tins that we came up with. And the artwork’s so cool on it. And it’s called Brazen. There’s snakes and fire.

I mean, what more do you need?

Yeah, And Baphomet sitting on the cover of it. So it’s very metal, but it’s very good. It’s something that we really stand behind and back. It’s just not one of them products like, “Oh, we got a coffee, here you go.” We really enjoy it. We have it set up in our dressing room every day. We drink. We went and bought a coffee maker and a grinder just to have it available to us every day in the dressing room. We’re enjoying it. So let’s be awesome to people. Experience what we’re experiencing.

Our thanks to Testament’s Chuck Billy for the interview. The Practice What You Preach reissue can be ordered through the Nuclear Blast website, while the Brazen coffee is available through Concept Cafes. You can stay up to date with Testament through their website, Facebook, X, Instagram and Spotify accounts. Find out where you can hear Full Metal Jackie’s weekend radio show here.