NASHVILLE, TN — He screamed his way into metal history. Then cancer tried to silence him for good. Now, for the first time, Chuck Billy—the iconic frontman of Bay Area thrash legends Testament—tells the whole truth in his unflinching memoir, Holding My Breath: The Two Testaments of Chuck Billy, publishing November 10, 2026, from Permuted Press.

This is not your typical rock memoir. Structured as two interlocking testaments, the book traces the full arc of a life lived at maximum volume—and then something louder than any riff: the fight to stay alive. The Old Testament plunges readers into the explosive birth of Bay Area thrash metal, the formation of Testament, the rivalries, the brotherhood, and the reckless, glorious chaos of becoming one of the genre's most powerful voices.

The New Testament is something rarer and more raw—a frontman at 38, blindsided by a devastating cancer diagnosis, drawing on his Native American and Mexican-American heritage, spiritual healers, visions, and the fierce love of a metal community.

At the center of that community: the legendary Thrash of the Titans benefit concert—one of the most galvanizing moments in heavy metal history—which rallied old rivals into brothers and helped ignite a genre revival while keeping Chuck Billy in the fight.

Co-written with Dave Erickson, Holding My Breath delivers the unfiltered insider story of thrash metal's rise alongside a deeply human account of mortality, miraculous recovery, cultural identity, and chosen family. It is, equally, a gift to lifelong Testament fans and to anyone who has ever faced the unthinkable—and refused to let go.

I got to sit down with Chuck Billy where we talked about the memoir, the recording for Testaments new album, 'Para Bellum', and so much more!

With great stories, chats and banter this is not one to be missed.

Avalible on all streaming platforms.

Check out Chuck Billy here: https://www.instagram.com/growthnoise/
Track Played, 'Remember Me As Fire', ©️ all rights reserved Growth.

Edited by Richie Duhig of The Metal Cell Podcast.
Like, subscribe and always support the scene. Horns up and stay safe 🤘🤘

The Smashing Skull Sessions: https://www.instagram.com/thesmashingskullsessions/

More than the sum of their parts and born again through perseverance, grit and cosmic horror, Kent’s INFECTED DEAD marks their arrival into 2026 as a newly fine-tuned and reincarnated beast.

Having regrouped with a new line-up in 2024, the five-piece technical death metal band boasts alumni from the likes of Pupil Slicer, Dawnwalker and Overthrow. Gelling as a unit on stages throughout their home country of the UK, which includes previous touring alongside Bloodshot Dawn and Reprisal, as well as sharing a stage with the likes of Ingested, Vader, Immolation and Pestilence. INFECTED DEAD’s second era is set to be cemented in stone with their forthcoming 'Invicta' EP.

Conceived conceptually as far back as 2020, the past 12 months saw the band enter the studio to record their most devastating and widely ambitious material to date. 'Invicta' sees production handled by V.Santura (Triptykon, Dark Fortress and Obscura), and comprises of four tracks, with thematic focus on eldritch abominations and anticosmicism with the connecting thread of Lovecraftian horror.

Where complacency breeds horror in the 21st century’s very real and deeply felt dystopian tendencies, be it ecologically, collectively, or personally, INFECTED DEAD has grown from their hiatus into a wisened collective that brings forth astutely parabolic storytelling without giving way to apathy. Tying together Invicta’s themes, the band also brought in acclaimed artist Artem Grigoryev (Profound Lore) for the cover. In the face of cosmic horror and insanity, the UK quintet’s return is a proclamation of being unconquerable in and of itself.

I got to sit down with band members Alex and Luke where we talked about how the band started, the recording for their EP and WWE!

With great stories, chats and banter this is not one to be missed.

Avalible on all streaming platforms.

Check out Infected Dead here: https://www.instagram.com/infecteddeaduk/
Track Played, 'In Spaces Beyond', ©️ all rights reserved Infected Dead.

Edited by Richie Duhig of The Metal Cell Podcast.
Like, subscribe and always support the scene. Horns up and stay safe 🤘🤘

The Smashing Skull Sessions: https://www.instagram.com/thesmashingskullsessions/

Growth wear their pain on their sleeve when it comes to their creative output. A lot of these strong emotions stem from vocalists LF's career in social work which often has him faced with the darker side of humanity, the kind of stuff that your average person can be blissfully ignorant to. His career, coupled with his own personal life hurdles, has set the scene for what listeners will find on 'Under the Under'. It's stark and at times bleak, but within it shines a glimmer of hope. There's light at the end of the tunnel, but one must crawl through barbed wire to reach it.

Over half a decade on from the release of their debut album, 'The Smothering Arms of Mercy', Melbourne progressive-death outfit Growth have re-emerged with 'Remember Me As Fire', the first new music from the long-awaited second chapter of their planned trilogy aimed at going beyond expressing emotion, illustrating pathways of recovery while acknowledging the most dread-filled aspects of it.That second chapter, titled 'Under The Under' is planned for release on March 27 via Wild Thing Records.

The gap between releases has been deliberate….and necessary. Where 'The Smothering Arms of Mercy' was written from within collapse, sickness and isolation, 'Under the Under' exists in the far more uncomfortable space that follows: what happens when survival is no longer the question and you’re forced to confront who you are once the wreckage settles. In the bands own words, healing, is not gentle. It is an ugly process. Chaotic, disorienting and often more confronting than the pain that preceded it..

With great stories, chats and banter this is not one to be missed.

Avalible on all streaming platforms.

Check out Growth here: https://www.instagram.com/growthnoise/
Track Played, 'Remember Me As Fire', ©️ all rights reserved Growth.

Edited by Richie Duhig of The Metal Cell Podcast.
Like, subscribe and always support the scene. Horns up and stay safe 🤘🤘

The Smashing Skull Sessions: https://www.instagram.com/thesmashingskullsessions/