In a new conversation with “Tone-Talk,” Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick revisited the dynamics of the Bay Area thrash scene during the mid-to-late 1980s, a stretch widely viewed as the genre’s defining era.
Asked whether that time was driven more by rivalry or brotherhood, Skolnick looked back with hindsight, offering insight into how the bands related to one another and how competition fit into the scene overall.
He said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “Interesting question. I think overall more camaraderie and encouragement, because I don’t think any of the bands ever sounded the same. I grew up listening to Exodus and early Metallica. I discovered Metallica. They were already touring for the first record. By the time I played on my first record, Metallica was off to the races; they were already on Master Of Puppets. Slayer had a few records out; I think Reign In Blood came out the same year. Anthrax had a few records out; they’d already been through a couple singers. So all those bands — even Megadeth had a couple records out — they were already off and running, so I never really saw them as competition.”
Skolnick explained that the thrash scene was largely built on mutual support, though he acknowledged there was a short-lived moment when that sense of unity briefly gave way to rivalry.
“I think the only time where I did feel a sense of competition was after I’d been in my band for about a year — yeah, I think it was just over a year — Exodus parted ways with their singer [Paul Baloff], and they poached our singer [Steve ‘Zetro’ Souza, from the pre-Testament band Legacy]. Gary Holt is a great friend — Slayer [and] Exodus guitarist Gary Holt — I’m actually reading his book [“A Fabulous Disaster: From The Garage To Madison Square Garden, The Hard Way“] now, and I just got to the part where he’s talking about that. And I didn’t know this. Apparently they had split from their singer, Paul Baloff — may he rest in peace — either way.”
“We didn’t know that at the time, but at the time we thought, ‘Oh, they’re coming after our guy. They’re trying to be more like us.’ And so there was a little sense of competition. But then we found a new guy — his name’s Chuck Billy, and he’s still in the band today. And it kind of made us sound really different, and we couldn’t have sounded like Exodus. And then they found a different sound once they had their singer, Steve ‘Zetro’ Souza, who had been in our band. So only for that time period, suddenly it felt, like, ‘Okay…’ It’s like a team. ‘Oh, they took our guy.’ But other than that, no — I think everybody that got along surprisingly well, especially for how crazy everybody was. It was kind of a hard-partying scene. [We were] young and wild… And everybody’s great friends now.”
Looking past inter-band relationships, Skolnick also touched on the internal balance within Testament, addressing how the group manages the creative and logistical challenges that come with a dual-guitar lineup—a hallmark of the thrash metal sound.
“Yeah, I think it’s different for everybody,” he said. “There’s different types of two-guitar situations. I think for the genre that I came up in, which became known as thrash heavy metal, yeah, you had to have two guitars; it’s two-guitar music. So all the essential thrash bands — I mean, Metallica is not really a thrash band now; they’re mega supergroup, but they started out kind of leading this thrash movement with two guitars. Megadeth, two guitars, Slayer, two guitars, and it was modeled after groups like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. And there’s different types of situations. There’s some groups where you have — Scorpions, for example. You have one guy who’s just the rhythm guy, main songwriter, Rudolf Schenker. AC/DC [is] the same model. And then you have other groups where you have somebody who’s, they’re the same ability [and] they play similar solo styles — Iron Maiden, Judas Priest — and it’s always different. And then you have somewhere — Megadeth is a good example where there’s a guy that’s very dedicated and more of a virtuoso player, but another guy that also plays solos — Dave Mustaine — and he’s got his own personality. And you have to figure out what type of group it is.”
Earlier in December, Testament have announced the U.S. dates for their “Thrash Of The Titans” world tour, which will see the Bay Area legends sharing the stage with Overkill and Destruction throughout March and April.
2026 “Thrash Of The Titans” U.S. Tour Dates
- March 14, 2026 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theater
- March 15, 2026 – Boise, ID – Treefort Music Hall
- March 16, 2026 – Salt Lake City, UT – Rockwell at the Complex
- March 18, 2026 – Denver, CO – Summit Music Hall
- March 20, 2026 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
- March 21, 2026 – Minneapolis, MN – The Fillmore
- March 22, 2026 – Chicago, IL – Ramova Theatre
- March 24, 2026 – Detroit, MI – St. Andrew’s Hall
- March 25, 2026 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Ballroom
- March 27, 2026 – Worcester, MA – The Palladium
- March 28, 2026 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
- March 29, 2026 – Reading, PA – Club Reverb
- March 31, 2026 – Atlanta, GA – Buckhead Theater
- April 1, 2026 – St. Petersburg, FL – Jannus Live
- April 3, 2026 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
- April 4, 2026 – Dallas, TX – The Bomb Factory
- April 5, 2026 – San Antonio, TX – Aztec Theatre
- April 8, 2026 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
- April 9, 2026 – Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco
- April 10, 2026 – Berkeley, CA – The UC Theatre (no Overkill)
