“You were on the verge of being excommunicated if you had any interest outside metal”: Alex Skolnick explains why he left Testament in 1992
Alex Skolnick has opened up on his departure from California thrash metallers Testament in 1992, after which he went on to explore other musical styles.
Skolnick, who rejoined Testament in 2005 and has remained a member since, speaks to This Day in Metal about leaving the band and gives some context as to the strict “musical rules” in the metal community at the time.
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“The metal scene – it was very insular,” he says, “And there were not a lot of references outside of metal. It’s a little different now. I know plenty of people in metal bands, and I can bring up songs by artists that have nothing to do with that.
“I can talk about Zappa. I can talk about Motown. I can talk about the classic Blue Note period of jazz records. But at that time, you were kind of on the verge of being excommunicated if you so much had any interest outside the metal. It was very strange. I mean, it was also kind of a ‘youth thing’ as well. And people outgrow that.”
Skolnick, who previously compared going from metal to jazz to “going from tackle football to figure skating”, explains that he probably left the band at the right time, and that they all seemed to get on much better after he rejoined 13 years later.
He goes on, “I think I probably would have left anyway, because I realized I just I needed space to develop as a musician. I think it would have been a little less contentious if things were a little more functional, but at the time they weren’t. Now, it’s very different. The older version of Testament, it’s almost like a different band. I don’t think these guys today could deal with the guys that they were back then. And I’m sure I wasn’t that easy to deal with, either, in different ways.
“And it’s just being young, but I would say that when I came back, it was very clear that I would be able to do it and keep my instrumental side. And I made that very clear, I’m going to do other projects. I’m going to continue doing instrumental music. I want to continue improving, working with artists that might be completely removed from the metal scene. And it’s fine. I think it became more acceptable to do that.”
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