Testament’s Chuck Billy confirms “Souls Of Black” is being remixed for late 2025 / early 2026 release

Bay Area thrash legends Testament are remixing their fourth studio album “Souls Of Black” to celebrate its 35th anniversary. The record first arrived in 1990 and remains one of the band’s cornerstone releases.

Frontman Chuck Billy revealed the plans in a recent interview with The Rockpit:

“We’re gonna remix it. We actually have the two-inch tape, so instead of just remastering, we’re gonna remix it. And it’s actually being mixed right now. And we got a new packaging. So I think that’ll be out towards the end of the year or early next year.”

Billy also mentioned that Testament want to perform the album in full to support the release.

“Touring this record [the upcoming Para Bellum], we’ll find some time somewhere to go just play that record [Souls Of Black] just to celebrate and help market and promote that release when it comes out. And that’ll be fun.”

The vocalist added that the band will continue with more reissues in the future. They recently regained rights to their first six Atlantic albums. The next reissue after “Souls Of Black” will be 1992’s “The Ritual”.

Back in 2013, guitarist Eric Peterson reflected on “Souls Of Black”. He admitted that the record was rushed:

“I wouldn’t have rushed out Souls Of Black like we did. That album could’ve been something different. It is a classic record now, but it was just thrown together so quickly.”

Reissues and new music

In 2023 Testament signed a new partnership with Nuclear Blast. The deal secured reissues of their first six albums in the United States. The first two albums were re-released later that year. In January 2025 the band followed up with a new edition of “Practice What You Preach”. That release included a CD, a swirl-colored vinyl, a limited orange cassette, and a long box set with extras.

Meanwhile, Testament’s 14th studio album “Para Bellum” will drop on October 10th, 2025 via Nuclear Blast. The record was produced with Juan Urteaga, mixed by Jens Bogren, and painted once again by cover artist Eliran Kantor.

“Para Bellum” was recorded with producer Juan Urteaga, mixed for the first time by Jens Bogren, and features cover art once again painted by Eliran Kantor.