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Testament

United States · formed 1983 · last active 2025

Testament are a Bay Area thrash metal band formed in Berkeley in 1983 (as Legacy, renamed Testament in 1986), long regarded as one of the leading second-wave thrash acts alongside the genre's 'Big Four.' Built around constants Chuck Billy (vocals) and Eric Peterson (guitar), with jazz-trained lead guitarist Alex Skolnick, they broke out with The Legacy (1987) and Practice What You Preach (1989) before pushing into heavier, death-metal-inflected territory on Low (1994) and Demonic (1997). Drummer Gene Hoglan — also of Strapping Young Lad, Dark Angel and Death — anchored the band from 2011 to 2022, recording Brotherhood of the Snake (2016) and Titans of Creation (2020) and becoming their longest-serving drummer.

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SCORE PROFILE

JazzyBalkanHardcoreSurfBarbershopDeathBlackTechnicalGlitchTheatricalFolkDoomDroneShoegazeAmbient8-bit
Jazzy3
Balkan0
Hardcore2
Surf0
Barbershop0
Death4
Black0
Technical5
Glitch0
Theatrical0
Folk0
Doom0
Drone0
Shoegaze0
Ambient0
8-bit0

Accent numbers counted towards the index. Hover an axis — or hold it on a phone — for what it means.

WHY THOSE SCORES

  • Jazzy 3 — Wikipedia notes their early-1990s sound drew on 'jazz fusion' alongside thrash, and lead guitarist Alex Skolnick is a formally jazz-trained player (New School jazz-performance degree) who leads the Alex Skolnick Trio. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Skolnick

MEMBERS

CONNECTIONS

member · 12
tour · 2
  • Napalm Deathsatellitepath →

    Along with Anthrax, Lamb of God and Behemoth, Testament and Napalm Death both opened for Slayer on its final North American tour (the Slayer Farewell Tour, spring-summer 2018). source ↗

  • Sepulturapath →

    Sepultura supported Testament on the latter's Brotherhood of the Snake tour in North America, April-May 2017 (with Prong) — independently corroborated on Testament's own page, which names Sepultura, Prong, Infernal Tenebra and Dying Gorgeous Lies for the same dates. source ↗

artwork · 11
  • Age of Silencepath →

    Both bands' cover art was done by freelance illustrator Travis Smith: "Artwork" credit on Testament's First Strike Still Deadly (2008 reissue) and "Design [Graphics Design], Artwork [Artwork Photography], Layout" credit on Age of Silence's Acceleration (2004), both confirmed via Discogs extraartists. Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Smith is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. Companion credit logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Between the Buried and Mepath →

    Both bands' cover art is by Travis Smith (Discogs artist id 1829438, Seempieces): Between the Buried and Me's "Immersed" (2005, Artwork) and Testament's own Travis Smith-credited release. Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Smith is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. Part of Smith's existing 9-band client cluster, now 10 with this addition. source ↗

  • Casualties of Coolpath →

    Both bands' cover art was done by freelance illustrator Travis Smith: "Artwork" credit on Testament's First Strike Still Deadly (2008 reissue) and "Artwork" credit on Casualties of Cool's Casualties of Cool (2014), both confirmed via Discogs extraartists. Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Smith is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. Companion credit logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Deathpath →

    Both bands' cover art was done by freelance illustrator Travis Smith: "Artwork [Artwork By]" credit on Death's The Sound of Perseverance (1998) and "Artwork" credit on Testament's First Strike Still Deadly (2008 reissue), both confirmed via Discogs extraartists. Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Smith is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. Companion credit logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Devin Townsend (maximalist era)path →

    Both bands' cover art was done by freelance illustrator Travis Smith: "Artwork" credit on Testament's First Strike Still Deadly (2008 reissue) and "Artwork" credit on Devin Townsend's Ziltoid the Omniscient (2007), both confirmed via Discogs extraartists. Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Smith is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. Companion credit logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Opethpath →

    Freelance illustrator Travis Smith is credited "Artwork" on Opeth's Blackwater Park (2001) and on Testament's First Strike Still Deadly (2008), both confirmed via Discogs extraartists. Pairwise artwork tie per PROTOCOL rule 7 — Smith is not an atlas band member. Companion credit logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Sighpath →

    Both bands' cover art was done by freelance artist Eliran Kantor: Testament's "The Formation of Damnation" (2008, "Artwork") and Sigh's "Scenes from Hell" (2010, "Artwork"). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Kantor is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Soulflysatellitepath →

    Both bands used cover art from two independent freelance artists: Eliran Kantor ("Artwork" on Testament's The Formation of Damnation, 2008; "Cover, Illustration" on Soulfly's Archangel, 2015) and Travis Smith ("Artwork" on Testament's First Strike Still Deadly, 2008; "Layout" on Soulfly's Omen, 2010), all confirmed via Discogs extraartists. Pairwise artwork tie per PROTOCOL rule 7 — neither artist is an atlas band member. Companion credits logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Strapping Young Ladpath →

    Both bands' cover art was done by freelance illustrator Travis Smith: "Artwork" credit on Testament's First Strike Still Deadly (2008 reissue) and "Artwork [Visuals]" credit on Strapping Young Lad's SYL (2003), both confirmed via Discogs extraartists. Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Smith is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. Companion credit logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Viruspath →

    Both bands' cover art was done by freelance artist Eliran Kantor: Testament's "The Formation of Damnation" (2008, "Artwork") and Virus's "The Agent That Shapes the Desert" (2011, "Cover [Cover Art By], Artwork [Cover Art By]"). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Kantor is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Windspath →

    Both bands' cover art was done by freelance illustrator Travis Smith: "Artwork" credit on Testament's First Strike Still Deadly (2008 reissue) and "Design, Layout" credit on Winds' Reflections of the I (2002), both confirmed via Discogs extraartists. Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Smith is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. Companion credit logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

label · 15

FURTHER LISTENING

Nearest score profiles in the atlas.

  • UnaffiliatedEI 4
    Tenetsatellite
    Technical

    Tenet was a Canadian thrash metal supergroup from Vancouver, formed in 1996 by Strapping Young Lad/Zimmers Hole guitarist Jed Simon and eventually rounded out by guitarist Glen Alvelais (ex-Forbidden/Testament), bassist Byron Stroud, drummer Gene Hoglan and Exodus vocalist Steve 'Zetro' Souza. Simon conceived the project as a 'very straight-up, right-in-your-face style of metal' built on 'pure aggression, with feeling,' deliberately eschewing keyboards, multi-layering and over-production. Their sole album, Sovereign, finally surfaced on Century Media in 2009 after years of delays; reviewers pegged it as old-school thrash in the vein of Exodus, Testament, Overkill and Slayer, executed with melodic leads and skilled shredding rather than any experimental streak.

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    Blind Idiot God
    TechnicalJazzy

    Blind Idiot God is an instrumental trio formed in 1982 in St. Louis, fusing noise rock, dub, funk, free jazz and metal; Greg Ginn signed them to SST Records after hearing their demo. Their 1988 album Undertow was produced by Bill Laswell and featured saxophonist John Zorn, and the full band performed on Laswell's Praxis album Sacrifist (1993) alongside Buckethead, Bootsy Collins and Yamatsuka Eye. Khanate drummer Tim Wyskida joined in 2001 and remains the band's drummer through their 2015 reunion album Before Ever After.

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  • UnaffiliatedEI 4
    Dark Angelsatellite
    TechnicalDeath

    Dark Angel are an American thrash metal band formed in Downey, California in 1981, whose extremely fast, lengthy, tempo-shifting songs earned them the nickname "the L.A. Caffeine Machine" and the motto "too fast, my ass." They are widely credited as one of the progenitors of technical/progressive thrash — Time Does Not Heal (1991) was famously advertised with "246 riffs" — and their second album Darkness Descends (1986) is cited as a major influence on the later death, doom and groove metal scenes. The band launched the career of drummer Gene Hoglan, who joined in late 1984 and went on to Death, Testament and Devin Townsend's projects.

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  • Kayo Dot-verseEI 8
    The DRX
    TechnicalJazzy

    The DRX is the avant-rock vehicle of New York drummer/composer Dan Romans, active since 2008 with a rotating cast of collaborators drawn from Kayo Dot, Psalm Zero, Buke & Gase and other Brooklyn/Rochester experimental circles. Across Thesis (2009), the Deepening Hole EP (2011) and the concept album Throughout Within (2016, Nefarious Industries), the project layers polyrhythmic riffs, hardcore breakdowns, horns/strings/choir and synthesized drones under Romans' despondent, catharsis-driven songwriting. The sound sits at the progressive/avant-metal edge of art-rock — dense, horn-inflected and structurally restless rather than genre-orthodox.

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  • UnaffiliatedEI 4
    Deli Creepssatellite
    Technical

    Deli Creeps is guitarist Buckethead's formative avant-garde/funk-metal band, formed in Claremont/San Francisco in the early 1990s and built around Maximum Bob's manic vocals and Buckethead's already-virtuosic, genre-hopping lead guitar. Their sole album, Dawn of the Deli Creeps (2005), compiles re-recorded demo-era material and functions as an origin document for Buckethead's later solo vocabulary — several of its riffs and songs were repurposed on his solo records. Mike Patton has praised the band, and it sits at the root of the Bay Area Buckethead/Praxis/Primus-adjacent avant-metal cluster.

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  • Bay Area / SGMEI 3
    Laundrysatellite
    Technical

    Bay Area funk-metal vehicle formed in 1993 by Primus drummer Tim 'Herb' Alexander during a break from that band, pairing his drums (and eventually lead vocals) with Tom Butler's guitar and Ian Varriale's Chapman Stick/Warr guitar. Two albums, Blacktongue (1994) and Motivator (1999, Rinse-N-Repent Records), trade on the same proggy, slap-and-stick alt-metal chops Alexander brought to Primus. A minor node whose interest for the atlas is almost entirely its direct Primus lineage rather than any genre-scrambling ambition of its own.

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  • UnaffiliatedEI 8
    Zimmer's Hole
    TechnicalDeath

    Zimmer's Hole is a Canadian comedic thrash/heavy metal band formed in Vancouver in 1991 as a side project for members and friends of Strapping Young Lad. The lineup pairs vocalist Chris Valagao with three Strapping Young Lad alumni — guitarist Jed Simon, bassist Byron Stroud and drummer Gene Hoglan — playing fast, riff-driven thrash laced with tongue-in-cheek humor and song parodies rather than genuine genre experimentation. Across three albums (Bound by Fire, 1997; Legion of Flames, 2001; and the Motley Crue-inverting concept record When You Were Shouting at the Devil...We Were in League with Satan, 2008) the band trades on satire and over-the-top metal imagery. The debut was produced by Devin Townsend and released on his Hevy Devy Records label.

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  • UnaffiliatedEI 8
    Agabas
    TechnicalDeathJazzy

    Agabas is a six-piece 'deathjazz' band formed in Trondheim, Norway, fusing death metal aggression with jazz harmony and improvisation, anchored by saxophonist Alexander Dellerhagen alongside a full metal rhythm section. Several members hold jazz performance master's degrees, and press coverage draws comparisons to Meshuggah, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Gojira crossed with John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman. The band signed to Mascot Records around their 2025 album Hard Anger.

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  • UnaffiliatedEI 10
    Sanity Theorist
    TechnicalDeathJazzy

    Sanity Theorist is a DIY solo avant-garde/progressive death metal project based in Clermont, Florida, releasing free (donation-based) albums via Bandcamp since at least 2016, including Time Erosion, Escher Architecture, Ferrofluid Quicksand, and Existent Suffering. The composer's own bio describes progressive/death/funk metal roots layered with tribal Taiko drums, '70s prog rock, eastern folk, psychedelia, lead bass, jazz fusion, and neoclassical influences over extreme-metal rhythms. The same artist is also credited as a member of the multi-instrumentalist duo Refusal Knot.

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  • UnaffiliatedEI 4
    Daemonsatellite
    DeathTechnical

    Daemon is a Danish death metal band from Copenhagen, launched in the mid-1990s by Konkhra frontman Anders Lundemark as a side vehicle for a heavier, thrash-inflected strain of death metal. Across three albums on Diehard Records - Seven Deadly Sins (1996), The Second Coming (1999) and Eye For An Eye (...and the World Turns Blind) (2002) - Lundemark cycled through name-drummers, with Nicke Andersson of Entombed on the debut and Per M. Jensen (The Haunted) on the second. The band is best known for its final album, on which Strapping Young Lad and ex-Dark Angel drummer Gene Hoglan guested behind the kit.

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