Chuck Billy, frontman of long-running Bay Area thrash metal band Testament, will release his memoir, “Holding My Breath: The Two Testaments of Chuck Billy,” on Nov. 10, 2026, via Permuted Press. Pre-order it here.
Structured as two interlocking testaments, the book traces the full arc of Billy’s life.
The “Old Testament” plunges readers into the birth of Bay Area thrash metal, the formation of Testament, the rivalries, the brotherhood and the chaos of becoming one of the genre’s most powerful voices.
The “New Testament” is 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 Thrash of the Titans benefit concert, which rallied old rivals into brothers and helped ignite a genre revival while keeping Billy in the fight.
“This book is about two versions of me that are really just one story,” Billy said. “The guy who thought he was invincible and the guy who learned how fragile life really is.”
“Holding My Breath” was co-written with Dave Erickson, with a foreword by Rob Halford (Judas Priest) and an afterword by Randy Blythe (Lamb of God).
“Chuck Billy is a major influential voice in the thrash metal scene,” said Anthony Ziccardi, publisher of Permuted Press. “Permuted Press is thrilled to be publishing his remarkable personal journey.”
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