Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick has stated that while it “would be great” to tour with Metallica, he has no plans to ask them for a slot, preferring to keep his relationship with the metal giants on a friendly, peer-to-peer level. His pragmatic view, shared on The Jasta Show podcast, offers a different perspective from that of his bandmate, frontman Chuck Billy, who last year called a tour with Metallica his “number one” ambition.
Speaking with Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta, Skolnick was asked about the likelihood of the two legendary Bay Area thrash bands finally hitting the road together. He pointed to Pantera‘s current success on the stadium circuit as a hopeful sign.
“I think the fact that Pantera is out there with [Metallica now] and just killing it at the stadium level… it’s intense music… and they’re doing it at that level and proving that it works at that level. So you never know,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
“They’re great guys, and they’re so supportive,” Skolnick added. “I mean, sure, it would be great. But also that’s an organization now. Even if they want to handpick some lineup, they have [their management company] Q Prime [which oversees all of that].”
However, Skolnick made it clear that he would never personally lobby for the tour, valuing his friendships with the members of Metallica over any business opportunity.
“Whenever I run into the Metallica guys, I’m not gonna ask them, ‘Hey, man, take me on tour.’ [That would be] ridiculous,” he stated. “I’d rather talk to Lars [Ulrich] about movies. I’d rather talk to Kirk [Hammett] about vintage Gibson guitars. I’d rather talk to Robert [Trujillo] about Jaco Pastorius. James [Hetfield], whatever he wants to talk about.”
Skolnick‘s measured, peer-to-peer perspective contrasts with the more openly passionate desire expressed by his frontman, Chuck Billy, in an interview late last year. Billy called a tour with Metallica his “number one” goal, citing their shared history.
“[They are] a band that grew up in our scene, our area, paved the way for this kind of music. We’ve never had that opportunity to perform a tour with them,” Billy said at the time. “There’s a lot of history there that I really don’t know the answer why we never have… that would be my number one.”
