Chuck Billy tests his mettle; Testament's leader hits the road after a bout with cancer.

Byline: Scott McLennan

COLUMN: SCOTT MCLENNAN

The classic lineup of Testament, a band that blossomed during a heavy-metal renaissance in the 1980s around the San Francisco Bay Area, is back and doing great business.

It is a second chance welcomed by Testament singer Chuck Billy. But Billy is far more thankful for another kind of second chance.

In 2001, Billy was diagnosed with rare form of germ-cell seminoma, a type of cancer that required the singer undergo extensive treatment including radiation therapy.

"Music is important, but it is not No. 1 in my life anymore. Now my family and friends are the things I cherish most," Billy said. "Besides, the road is not a fun place to be. The playing is fun, but it's mostly crappy hotels and dirty venues."

Hotels and venues aside, Testament is back on the road and has a date tomorrow at the Artist Development Complex in Southbridge (which is really too new to be considered "dirty"). Skulltoboggan, Candy Striper Death Orgy and Rawhead Rex are also on the bill.

Billy's recovery coincided with the 2005 Testament release "Live in London," which captured the singer in fine form alongside founding guitarist Eric Peterson and returning guitar god Alex Skolnick, and original bass player Greg Christian (and true to Testament history, the drum set for those shows was rather fluid, as John Tempesta and Louie Clemente, another original member, alternately played the shows used for the recordings).

The reunited Testament, which now includes drummer Nicholas Barker, is at work on a new studio album and enjoying the sort of conquering-hero status of the sort that led to a special-guest headlining gig at a recent Sounds of the Underground festival-tour stop in New Jersey. The band is also touring globally, having recently completed dates in South America and Europe and looking forward to more shows at European summer festivals and dates in China, Taiwan and Korea later this month.

Not only is there renewed interest for the band, but Billy said there is likewise renewed appreciation within the band.

"It's just a lot more enjoyable to be in the band. And it's great that Alex and Greg can see the fan appreciation that exists for the older songs," Billy said.

Skolnick, a student of fellow Bay Area guitar master Joe Satriani, departed in 1992, pursuing various ventures in jazz and prog rock as well as taking a role in the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

But before Skolnick left, Testament crafted a series of genre-defining trash-metal efforts starting with 1987's "The Legacy." The band hit a commercial peak with "Practice What You Preach" in 1989, making itself a valued player in a scene already bustling with the likes of Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer and Exodus.

"We were aware of something happening in the Bay Area. Metallica were the kings. Their approach to the business was something everyone aspired to put together. They didn't make videos. They wrote heavy records and toured. Younger bands like us aspired to that way of going against what the industry said you had to do," Billy said.

The approach worked for a while, with Testament typically featured in the various metal packages and festival tours that were staples of the summer music scene in the late '80s and early '90s. The band embodied the standards of the genre, matching aggressive vocals with frenetic rhythms and speed-demon guitar playing, all of it wrapped up in themes of overarching darkness and antiauthoritarian platitudes.

Through the 1990s, Testament underwent various lineup changes, though still played with some of metal's prominent performers including drummers Dave Lombardo (Slayer) and John Tempesta (White Zombie), and guitarists James Murphy and Greg Alvelais (both axmen with lengthy resumes). The band moved away from its core speedy thrash sound for a few records, delving into both more brutal death styles of metal as well as some cleaner yet likewise aggressive melodic material.

Around the time Billy found out he had cancer, Skolnick rejoined Testament, which consisted of the founding vocalist and rhythm guitarist plus Tempesta on drums and Steve DiGiorgio on bass to re-record songs from the band's early albums, repackaging the thrash anthems as "First Strike, Still Deadly." The band dusted off such gems as "Burnt Offerings," "The Preacher," "The New Order" and "Disciples of the Watch."

The original versions of vintage Testament material provided fuel for the current generation of thrash 'n' rollers such as Soilwork, Shadows Fall and Lamb of God, a band that featured Skolnick on its last album.

Following Billy's recovery, Testament resumed touring, but it wasn't until 2005 that Skolnick signed on for active duty with the group and Christian rejoined after a 10-year hiatus from the group, reviving much of what is considered the "classic" Testament lineup.

The rejuvenated singer also lent his talents to the recently released album "4 Life," by Dublin Death Patrol, an all-star cast of Bay Area thrashers including the singer's brother Andy Billy on guitar and singer Steve Souza, who was in the earliest incarnation of Testament when it was known as Legacy but left to form Exodus, paving the way for Chuck Billy's arrival.

Billy said the band is building on its solid foundation, with Skolnick contributing new songs and that fellow guitarist Peterson is bridging the stylistic gaps between early Testament albums and the more caustic music of later projects such as "The Gathering."

"I like the dynamic range we are playing with. There are a lot of textures and I can use different voices," Billy said. "I just hope we strike a nerve again."

Scott McLennan can be reached at [e-mail].

Testament and others

When: 6:30 p.m. tomorrow

Where: Artists Development Complex, 18 Mill St., Southbridge

How much: $25

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: Testament, from left: Eric Peterson, Greg Christian, Chuck Billy, Nick Barker Alex Skolnick.