In 1991 he recorded and toured with the Stuart Hamm band. Skolnick has since recorded two more albums with Testament, Brotherhood of the Snake (2016) and Titans of Creation (2020).ДЄfter his first departure from Testament, Skolnick joined the band Savatage in 1994 for the recording of Handful of Rain, as well as its follow-up live album and home video release Japan Live '94. 12 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, at No.1 on the Billboard Hard Rock and Rock albums chart, and No. Their next album, Dark Roots of Earth (2012), debuted at No. On April 29, 2008, Testament released The Formation of Damnation, its first studio album with original material in nine years and with Skolnick in sixteen years. A CD/DVD release was put together from the London show of May 8, 2005. He officially rejoined the band in 2005 for a short European tour with some American dates appended. Skolnick returned briefly to Testament by re-recording old material for their ninth album First Strike Still Deadly, as well as the Thrash of the Titans performance in 2001. In late 1992, several months after the release of The Ritual, Skolnick opted to leave the band, citing his weariness of playing thrash metal music and his desire to explore musically outside of Testament as the reasons behind his departure. The band's next four albums, The New Order (1988), Practice What You Preach (1989), Souls of Black (1990) and The Ritual (1992), cemented Testament's reputation as one of the premier bands of the thrash metal genre and nearly gave them the same level of popularity as the 'Big Four' ( Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax).

Skolnick was just eighteen years old when he recorded his debut album with Testament, The Legacy (1987), which received critical acclaim from both music critics and fans alike. Skolnick joined the San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal band Testament, then-called Legacy, in 1984 as the replacement of original guitarist Derrick Ramirez. He was a student of guitarist Joe Satriani. He was influenced by Eddie Van Halen, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Johnny Winter, Randy Rhoads, Michael Schenker, Yngwie Malmsteen, Kiss, and Scorpions. Skolnick began playing guitar at age nine. His parents, Jerome Skolnick and Arlene, both PhD graduates from Yale University, taught sociology at New York University and University of California, Berkeley. Skolnick was born and raised in Berkeley, California, in a non-traditional Jewish family. He briefly reunited with Testament in 2001 for the re-recordings of their early songs on the album First Strike Still Deadly, and then returned to the band on a permanent basis in 2005, contributing to four more albums. ДЄfter his first departure from Testament, Skolnick went on to pursue various musical careers, including briefly replacing Criss Oliva in Savatage for their album Handful of Rain (1994), and starting his jazz band The Alex Skolnick Trio in the early 2000s, which remains active as of 2021. By the time he left Testament in 1992, Skolnick had found considerable fame among the thrash metal and guitar communities Guitar World magazine named him one of the greatest guitarists of all time, and as one of the 'fastest guitarists of all time'. Skolnick began his musical career at the age of 15 when he joined the local Bay Area thrash metal band Legacy, who eventually became Testament and Skolnick performed on five albums with them, between The Legacy (1987) and The Ritual (1992). He is best known as the lead guitarist and one of the songwriters of the thrash metal band Testament and has played with several other bands, including The Alex Skolnick Trio, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Savatage and the heavy metal supergroup Metal Allegiance. Alex Skolnick (born September 29, 1968) is an American musician.

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