The way we listen to music has changed drastically over the past two decades. With streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon Music dominating the market, physical formats such as CDs, cassette tapes, and even vinyl records have seen a steep decline in mainstream sales. Yet, despite the convenience of digital, vinyl is experiencing a notable resurgence — and some fans insist it just sounds better.
In a recent interview with Jacob Ridenour on the Wildman Podcast, TESTAMENT vocalist Chuck Billy shared his thoughts on the evolving music landscape and why vinyl — and even CDs in the right setting — can deliver a listening experience that digital formats often miss.
On the broader challenges musicians face in the streaming era, Billy noted the shift away from physical sales.
“There’s no Tower Records anymore. Walmart stopped selling CDs. Best Buy stopped selling CDs. Record shops are just a handful of mom-and-pop record stores now, so the physical sales are just kind of gone,” Billy explained (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “There’s the specialty stuff that labels put out, ’cause true fans like collectible, special stuff. It’s there, but it’s not just the physical CD anymore; it’s that digital print. But the sad thing is a lot of bands gotta figure out how to either renegotiate and get a better digital rate since things have changed. And once you’re stuck in your old contract, you’ll kind of wanna change the deal. It’s like that credit card that just kind of keeps growing on you, that interest rate.”
When the conversation turned to vinyl, Billy agreed that the analog format does indeed offer a distinct sound. “Yeah, it does to a certain point,” he said. “I would say the earlier records, like our first couple of records, when we were mixing those records, we were actually burning them to vinyl to listen to them, ’cause that’s what we were putting out back then. So you were actually mixing records to sound correctly through the turntable, where down the road when bands or labels were just taking CDs, albums made for CD quality, transfer them right to digital without really EQing them properly and making them correctly, don’t transfer the same. ‘Cause I could hear some records I put on that sound really thin still, that don’t have that warm feeling like a record from 1980 or before that has that really warm feeling.”
Billy also highlighted that CDs can outperform digital streaming in certain contexts. “CDs sound better when you play ’em through a CD player, than digital, like [when] you listen to it off your phone or something. There’s something to that, like when I put a CD in, I’d rather listen to that in my vehicles than the digital. Something about — it’s made to sound better.”
TESTAMENT are currently touring in support of their latest studio album, Para Bellum, released on October 10 via Nuclear Blast. In addition, the band recently announced the U.S. leg of their upcoming “Thrash Of The Titans” world tour. Kicking off in March 2026, the trek reunites TESTAMENT with fellow thrash legends OVERKILL and DESTRUCTION for a nearly month-long celebration of thrash metal’s enduring legacy.
2026 “Thrash Of The Titans” U.S. Tour Dates:
- March 14 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theater
- March 15 – Boise, ID – Treefort Music Hall
- March 16 – Salt Lake City, UT – Rockwell at the Complex
- March 18 – Denver, CO – Summit Music Hall
- March 20 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
- March 21 – Minneapolis, MN – The Fillmore
- March 22 – Chicago, IL – Ramova Theatre
- March 24 – Detroit, MI – St. Andrew’s Hall
- March 25 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Ballroom
- March 27 – Worcester, MA – The Palladium
- March 28 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
- March 29 – Reading, PA – Club Reverb
- March 31 – Atlanta, GA – Buckhead Theater
- April 1 – St. Petersburg, FL – Jannus Live
- April 3 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
- April 4 – Dallas, TX – The Bomb Factory
- April 5 – San Antonio, TX – Aztec Theatre
- April 8 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
- April 9 – Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco
- April 10 – Berkeley, CA – The UC Theatre (no OVERKILL)
Reeder, the visionary behind Metal Addicts, has transformed his lifelong passion for metal into a thriving online community for metal aficionados. As a fervent devotee of black metal, Reeder is captivated by its dark, atmospheric, and often unorthodox soundscapes.