Name: Testament

Genre: Heavy Metal

Formed: 1983

At the Webster Theatre: 05/23/2009

Show Info: Doors: 7:00pm | Buy Tickets

Origin: Oakland, California

Website: testamentlegions.com/

Myspace Page: /testamentlegions

Originating in Oakland, California in 1983, guitarist Eric Peterson and his cousin began a band named Legacy. In 1986, they became Testament (due to some legal problems) and released their first album, fittingly named The Legacy. Testament was thrust into the spotlight and found themselves aligned with the sounds of Metallica (also from California).

Their Album, The Legacy, was followed by world tours, including one with Anthrax, and a quick succession of new albums including The New Order (1988), Practice What You Preach (1989) and Souls of Black in 1990. To date, Practice What You Preach is probably the bands most well known album, with its title track receiving heavy play on MTV.

Following Practice What You Preach, Testament attempted to redefine itself with its next release in 1992, The Ritual. The next ten years saw band members come and go, with different sounds and different influences in each of their releases.

The 2000’s saw two of testaments band members, including lead singer Chuck Billy, struggle with cancer. But in 2003, the band was back on tour, performing a few dates in Europe before announcing a larger tour schedule that included the U.S and Japan. In 2006, Testament played their first gig in the Middle East for the Dubai Desert Rock Festival.

In April 2008, Testament released their latest album The Formation of Damnation. And as of April 2009 are said to be preparing for another album to come. Testament plays the Webster Theatre on May 23rd 2009 along with Unearth and Lazarus AD.