Testament

Influenced by the emerging Californian thrash metal scene, Testament was originally formed of vocalist Steve Souza, guitarists Eric Peterson and Derrick Ramirez, bassist Greg Christian, and drummer Louie Clemente in 1983. However, only with the arrival of lead guitarist Alex Skolnick did the group rise above their peers, creating a polished melodic thrash metal sound. The band’s debut album “The Legacy” released in 1987 brought them instant success within thrash circles and led to immediate comparisons being drawn with Metallica. U.S. and European tours alongside Anthrax did wonders for the group’s exposure and led to the band second studio album “The New Order” in 1988.

The band’s third full-length album “Practice What You Preach” left the antiquated themes of the occult and gothic behind and focused on modern day politics and corruption. It became the band’s most popular album and resulted in noticeable airplay from MTV. 1990’s “Souls of Black” was released to fairly average reviews but sold well, despite having to compete with the growing grunge movement famed by the likes of Nirvana.

Testament’s fourth full-length became their best selling, a marked a return to a more traditional metal sound, it peaked at No. 55 on the Billboard 100 and featured the single “Return to Serenity”. After the release the band began to fade from mainstream view, and were unable to change with the times necessary for continued large-scale appeal. As a result this period was marked by constant line-up changes, with Eric Peterson remaining the only original member, and a disappointing string of albums including “Low” in 1994, “Demonic” in 1997, “The Gathering” in 1999, and “The Formation of Damnation” in 2008.

Despite this, the band has managed to retain an active and loyal following within the metal underground, who continue to see Testament perform live regularly. The band’s tenth studio album arrived in 2012 entitled “Dark Roots of Earth” and subsequently the live album “Dark Roots of Thrash” in 2013.

The roots of Death Angel can be traced to California and a quartet of cousins, Rob Cavestany, Dennis Pepa , Gus Pepa and Andy Galeon who formed the original line up yet they were known by many other pseudonyms including Dark Fury and Cavestany before eventually deciding on Death Angel. Their first album 'The Ultra-Violence' was released in 1987 after experimenting with different variations of traditional metal. The album was released through Enigma Records, it failed to chart yet it was hailed as a cult success by the band's early fan base.

The band followed this with two albums, 'Frolic Through The Park' in 1989 which remains the only appearance on the US Billboard charts whilst 1990's 'Part III' scored the band moderate chart success across Europe. In late 1990 drummer Andy Galeon was critically injured when their tour bus crashed and this was seen as the catalyst that ended with the band's demise. Their record label encouraged them to replace Galeon with another drummer due him needing a year to recover yet when the band refused they were then dropped. Various members decided to pursue life outside music and by 1991 Death Angel was no more.

However in 2001 the band reunited for a benefit show, although Gus Pepa was unable to attend due to no longer being in the States so Death Angel continued with collaborator and friend Ted Aguilar. They released their first album in 14 years which was titled 'The Art Of Dying' in 2004. The 2010 release 'Relentless Retribution' peaked at #10 on the US Heatseekers charts as well as appearing on numerous European charts.