In an era when artists are slapping their names on everything from headphones to perfumes to energy drinks, it’s no surprise that some players have ventured into the vaporizer market. So far, rappers have dominated the vaping business with Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, and 2 Chainz getting their own signature vaporizers.
But just this past Friday the 13th, awesomely named San Francisco-based Lord Vaper Pens launched a device aimed squarely at metalheads with "The Chief." Teaming with Testament singer and Bay Area thrash-metal legend Chuck Billy, the company has offered up a signature vape pen super-charged to work at higher temperatures (to produce bigger clouds when firing up) with
a limited number of pens numbered and signed by Billy himself.
In tribute to this landmark local partnership dedicated to simultaneously banging and feeding heads, All Shook Down has put together the below list of five essential Testament tunes to crank while trying out “The Chief” for the first time. Billy and company kick off their Dark Roots of Thrash II Tour at
the Regency Ballroom on April 1, focusing on songs from the band's first three classic albums with support from fellow Bay Area thrash heroes Exodus and Texas sextet Shattered Sun.
#1 "Burnt Offerings"
To christen "The Chief" with your finest OG Kush, why not go back to the early days of Testament's debut album,
The Legacy? "Burnt Offerings" starts off with a quiet, atmospheric intro before diving into the kind of frenzied pummeling that has been the band's stock in trade for over three decades.
#2 "Return to Serenity"
This melodic "MTV Headbanger's Ball" staple from the band's 1992 album
The Ritual finds the band getting a little slower and spacier. The build to guitarist Alex Skolnick's ripping solo proves Testament could do the metal ballad thing as well as any Bay Area thrashers.
#3 "Rise Up"
Let's not get too mellow melting in your bean bag over here. "Rise Up" kicks off the band's most recent studio effort
Dark Roots of Earth with a ferocity that few of Testament's thrash contemporaries can match today.
#4 "Animal Magnetism" (Scorpions cover)
Yeah, there are a lot of Testament originals you could listen to next, but Metallica isn't the only local thrash band that has recorded crushing covers of classic tunes. The deluxe edition of
Dark Roots of Earth featured Testament putting their stamp on Queen's oft-forgotten gem "Dragon Attack" and an appropriately epic performance of Iron Maiden's "Powerslave," but this monolithic take on "Animal Magnetism" gets the nod based on sheer heaviosity.
#5 "Practice What You Preach"
So are you just going sit around all day, stoner? If you're looking for a tune to serve as a strong cup of coffee to get you off your ass and get moving, the title track from 1989's
Practice What You Preach should do the trick.