TESTAMENT Is Recording New Album: ‘It is Taking place’

TESTAMENT frontman Chuck Billy has confirmed that he and his bandmates have entered the studio to start recording their long-awaited new album.

On April 28, TESTAMENT drummer Chris Dovas posted a photograph of his drum package within the recording studio and he captioned it, “It is taking place”. A day later, Billy shared Dovas‘s put up and included the next message: “New Album Recording below manner. Chris is killing it. Beware kiddos”.

A couple of months in the past, Chuck spoke to Michael Spedden of the 97 Underground radio station about TESTAMENT‘s recording and touring plans for the approaching months, together with a go to to the European continent in the summertime. He stated: “That is the norm. We normally go to Europe each summer time. So proper now we’re on form of a time restraint as a result of we’re engaged on a brand new document. We’re writing it proper now. And we’ve to get it performed and document it earlier than we depart in July. That is our purpose. So proper now we’re working laborious on that.”

In January, TESTAMENT guitarist Alex Skolnick advised Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program “Wired In The Empire”, in regards to the progress of the songwriting classes for the band’s follow-up to 2020’s “Titans Of Creation” album: “Effectively, we received delayed a bit bit by the truth that 2020 mainly did not exist [due to the coronavirus pandemic]. It is a yr that went away. After which there was a lot touring to make up for. And for a few yr of that, we had Dave Lombardo [ex-SLAYER] on drums, which was incredible. And he is develop into a terrific good friend and a terrific musician, however he is additionally unfold very skinny in many various bands. And now we’ve Chris Dovas [playing drums with us]. And he is a man sufficiently old to be any of our sons. However he’s simply unbelievable. He actually brings the best vitality. I imply, he brings the vitality that the music had within the early days. So, yeah, we have been working with him on new materials. I do know Eric‘s [Peterson, TESTAMENT guitarist] been getting along with him. Eric has been on the East Coast a few occasions and we have gotten collectively and hashed out materials. So between their classes and my classes and the recordings that we’ve, there’s lots of sketches which might be performed on digital audio workstations. There’s so much — there’s lots of stuff. I made a listing and there is virtually a few dozen sketches that simply have to be consolidated and organized. [We have to] discover the perfect components, develop them a bit extra, add vocals, but it surely’s undoubtedly nicely on its manner.”

Skolnick went on to say that there isn’t a set timetable for the discharge of the following TESTAMENT album. “You may’t rush it,” he defined. “I feel this band discovered very early on, you possibly can’t rush it. Just like the occasions up to now that the band type of rushed to place out a recording, it by no means felt fully passable. So typically it takes longer than it ought to, however you possibly can all the time rely on outcome.”

Final August, Dovas was requested by Pod Scum if it was “unnerving” to step into a gaggle whose record of earlier drummers consists of such heavyweights as Lombardo and Gene Hoglan. He responded: “It was, particularly at first as a result of I knew that lots of eyes had been on me, and in addition I appeared as much as the band since I used to be a child. Particularly Lombardo and Gene — these are two of my favourite drummers proper there. So to be put in that state of affairs of taking on for them, I felt like I had lots of duty and lots of… I felt like I had one thing to show a bit bit, and I am nonetheless practising so much and I simply wanna do the perfect that I can do. Proper now I am probably not nervous anymore as a result of I’ve performed two full excursions with them now and we’re engaged on the [new TESTAMENT] album and the friendship has been creating now and all of us get alongside tremendous nicely. They’ve welcomed me with open arms and it has been nice and the followers have been nice. I have been placing hours and hours of observe into it to make it possible for I can do the perfect that I may do. And I look as much as Dave and I look as much as Gene as nicely, so, yeah, I simply wanna play the songs nicely dwell and preserve making the band sound good.”

Requested what his position has been to this point within the artistic course of for TESTAMENT‘s subsequent album, Chris stated: “I do not know precisely what I am allowed and what I am not allowed to share but, however what you have seen publicly, although, proper now’s that Eric and I’ve been engaged on lots of stuff collectively. And so it has been actually cool to get into their brains, in a manner, and the way they write stuff. I am used to individuals sending me tracks with scratch MIDI drums or programmed drums or one thing, and I’ve gotta put my drums to them after which hop on a Zoom name and we will edit issues and transfer stuff round. However with them, Eric and I, he set a timer at one level for, like, 20 minutes and we might simply jam random concepts. After which typically we might make errors and stuff and that will be cool, and we may take that… It’s totally natural, although, and it’s totally concerned, I assume. It is a completely different manner of writing and I am tremendous excited to be part of that methodology of writing. And I may see why they’re so profitable for all these years, now lastly being part of this present writing cycle, I assume.”

In July 2023, Peterson stated that he and Dovas had spent just a few days engaged on materials for TESTAMENT‘s subsequent studio album. Eric shared just a few pictures on his Instagram and wrote in an accompanying message: “Had a really productive week with the child! Mr. @chrisdovas and I labored up new 7 jam concepts starting from thrash to nwobhm blended in w/ black thrash to darkish heavy laborious rock blues…let’s have a look at what occurs! tremendous stoked to this point!”

Dovas shared the identical footage on his social media and he added: “New TESTAMENT materials within the works! Eric and I’ve been working laborious all week on new concepts. Stoked to this point!”

In a 2023 interview with Loud TV, Peterson stated that the brand new TESTAMENT materials is shaping as much as be “fucking killer.” He added: “I am a fan. For me, I would not launch something except I am a fan of what I am doing. I’ve to get goosebumps. Once I hear it, I am, like, ‘Yeah.’ After which, after all, I play it for mates. A couple of of them go, ‘Ehh.’ However most of them go, ‘Fuuuck!’ Besides Chuck — Chuck goes, ‘Eh.’ After which 4 years later, [he goes], ‘That is the perfect tune ever. Write extra shit like that.’ I am, like, ‘Yeah, however 4 years in the past you stated that sucked.'”

Peterson was additionally stuffed with reward for Dovas, who formally joined the band final yr because the alternative for Lombardo. Eric stated: “Once we had been auditioning for brand new drummers, his video tape was the primary for me. After which, after all, Dave Lombardo known as us, so we simply form of pushed all the pieces apart; we stated, ‘Okay, we’ll strive Dave.’ And when Dave was, like, ‘Oh, I’ve received this present arising. I’ve received this present arising,’ I went again to my [videos], [and I said], ‘Oh, yeah, this man.’ I keep in mind the opposite guys going, ‘Let’s name Paul Bostaph.’ ‘Let’s name John Tempesta.’ And, after all, they’d most likely do it, however with the stipulation of, like, ‘I can solely do that date,’ ‘I can solely do that date.’ I known as Chris. He was, like, ‘I am in. I will do all the pieces.’ And so we tried him, and had been simply, like, ‘What?!’ Excellent tempo. All the things right — bam, bam. Very well mannered. Very nice man. I can not say sufficient good issues about him. He is only a actually good drummer. He is 24; he is my son’s age. Younger blood again in TESTAMENT. For me, too, he loves black steel, so he was, like, [into] blast beats. However he additionally graduated from a college known as Berklee. So, jazz… He is very fluent. He isn’t, like, ‘Oh, I solely know blast beats.’ He is aware of blues… TESTAMENT‘s actually various — we’ve ballads, we’ve rock songs, we’ve blast beats. That is simply it — when he came over me earlier than this tour, we had been rehearsing for the tour however we’d return to my home at night time, do some Jäger actually late at night time and simply begin jamming at my home. And the following morning we had been, like, ‘Woah!’ Actually cool shit. So I am excited for the following document. It is gonna be killer.”

Lombardo, who was the visitor drummer on TESTAMENT‘s 1999 studio album “The Gathering”, formally joined the long-running San Francisco Bay Space act in early 2022. The previous SLAYER drummer is presently a member of the MISFITS, MR. BUNGLE, EMPIRE STATE BASTARD and SATANIC PLANET, amongst others. He additionally performed with SUICIDAL TENDENCIES from 2016 up till 2020.

Previous to becoming a member of TESTAMENT as a full-time member, Dovas beforehand crammed in for Lombardo on the primary six dates of TESTAMENT‘s summer time/fall 2022 leg of “The Bay Strikes Again Tour”.

Picture credit score: Stephanie Cabral