Longue interview chopée sur Metalasylum, où Peterson nous parle du nouveau line-up et de l'album à venir.


1. So are you in the middle of working on the new record?

ERIC: Yeah actually we are doing some tracking and pre production for the record.


2. The last Testament record of new music was “The Gathering” in 1999. You must have written a considerable amount of songs since then. What do you do with all that material now that Alex is back in the band?

ERIC: Well its still all Testament stuff, its not like we are conforming to jazz or anything you know. I am just all the more ahead of the game and if anything we are just picking the really good good stuff out of that batch, which to me all of it is really good but people are a little more picky. First we make sure everybody really likes what they hear in the song. With Alex on board again when it comes time for the lead section its just a matter of showing him where the spots are, see what his ideas are to see if he wants to add another riff or whatever put, he is pretty on when it comes to that stuff you know. That’s the way we have always done it.


3. So as far as writing the basic structure of a song you are the guy that does it?

ERIC: Well I have about six songs down on tape with our new drummer Nick Barker and then I have about five or six more left to record. In between that we have written a couple new new ones like within this month.


4. What’s going to be different about the songs that you write by yourself and the ones you collaborate on with the other guys in the band?

ERIC: So far we are using all the ones I have done on my own and then I pretty much have a basic structure of what I want it be like. Then when I am working with the drummer, depending on who it is, they will put their own style on it. Working with Nick you know he is filling it out but he is also putting his own little Nick Barker tricks in it. Its cool man its sounding really good.


5. Was there a lot of stuff recorded already before Nick Barker started working with the band?

ERIC: Yeah there was a lot actually and we re recorded that stuff with him.


6. And what has he brought to Testament’s music?

ERIC: A lot actually just listen to the last couple Dimmu Borgir records that he played on. To me that’s like the best stuff he has done and he has to top that (laughs) or be up to par with it. I mean its sounding really good so far, the riffs are really strong and him coming in with his style is helping the music a lot.


7. Will Nick do the tour also?

ERIC: Yes.


8. What previous records can you compare the new Testament music to?

ERIC: I think it has the power and heaviness of “The Gathering”, overall meets “The Legacy” “New Order” vibe but a little more modern maybe like “The Gathering”. Whatever comes out of the speakers that sounds good there you have it and this ones gonna be good too, its slammin. Its like “Over the Wall” meets “Damage Inc” but I don’t want to give too much away. When people hear it so far, I am very interested in people’s reaction, and people are just like “Fuck”. And Nick’s rolls are just crazy you know (as Eric does some air drums over the phone for me), and we are pushing him too.


9. Can you tell us a title for the disc or songs?

ERIC: Well we have a couple working titles but nothing I want to reveal yet. Songs titles right now are just working titles after the months of the year. Like we have one called “March”, just certain things that represent the way the songs sounds you know. There’s one I got that’s pretty close to being finished called “The Great Revenge”, that’s pretty cool. I’m just waiting for Chuck to get some lyrics for it.


10. Speaking of that’s what I was going to ask next. Does Chuck Billy write just the lyrics?

ERIC: Yeah pretty much, we rock out together once I get my ideas down with the drummer and he figures out what he wants to write, and you know he’s real hard on me too as far as what the music is sounding like, laughs. And I am hard on him as well. You know it makes for quality in the end.


11. Does the new record have the variety/dynamics of “The Ritual”, or is it more straight ahead thrash like “The Gathering”?

ERIC: You know this record is for us really. No record label is saying “You know this is your third or fourth record so this is it, make or break”. We are not looking at it like that you know. We are looking at it like we are Testament and its really about that we are a thrash band, melodic heavy thrash with songs that go over live and move people……”Into the Pit”, “The Preacher”, all the earlier heavy stuff you know…..”DNR”, “Three Days in Darkness”….that’s what we are really framing the new stuff around. That’s what we are all about.


12. How about the “Live in London” DVD with the reunited classic lineup. Are you happy with that and is there anything you would change?

ERIC: Well it captured a period when we got back together I mean we hadn’t played together with that lineup for over thirteen, fourteen years. It was like the fourth show of the tour so that was pretty cool. Would I want to do another recording now with “DNR”, “Burnet Offerings” and more songs yeah and I’m sure we will.
We are also bringing back Bill Benson the artist who did the covers for our first five covers, that being “The Legacy”, The New Order”, “Practice What You Preach”, “Souls of Black”, and we already got the cover and its awesome. When you see it you’ll go “Oohh that’s Testament”.


13. Will Louie Clemente play anything on the new record or will it be all Nick Barker?

ERIC: At this point no. I mean he is a brother and a great friend, we all talk to him. He came back for a little while, it was a lot of fun and then the pressure got put on and there was a lot of questions regarding his playing, introducing him to “D.N.R.” and stuff like that. The double bass stuff was a little ruff for him. You know I mean “Over the Wall” was pretty crazy for the drums but that stuff is embedded in his brain you know. That’s one thing Testament never really did in the past, all the double bass you know, although “Over the Wall” is…I don’t know I can’t figure it out Hahaha. All I know is that the new stuff is really slammin and I think its gonna be worth the wait.
I’ve been really excited over the last five years working with different drummers and then that falling apart but this time around its going to pay off I think.


14. What is the projected time frame for the new records release?

ERIC: I would say this fall. Definitely right after the summer and it will be recorded in the summer.

Ils sont en pleine phase d'écriture. Ca s'annonce vrutal :

BILLY: The plan is to, hopefully, get in the studio in April. Nick’s gonna be here up through there working with Eric. We’ve got probably four really great songs pretty much in the can and with a few months of writing we’ll hopefully have it ready to go. Alex has been out here working with the guys too, so the ball has started rolling. And as soon as they give me the music, I’ll be listening to it in my car all the time until the words and melodies appear.

One song they played me is really brutal, it is beyond like even [i]The Gathering stuff, like D.N.R., it was really, really crushing, tight, heavy. It had everything, I loved it. If we can write 10 more songs like that, then we’re going to have a fucking great record[/i].

Des photos du groupe en plein boulot ici

J'espere en tout cas que ça enverra autant la purée que The Gathering

c'est vraiment c'qu'on appelle répéter dans son salon

oui avec l'armoire de mémé derrière
'Suis curieux d'ecouter le boulot de l'ex Black metalleux Barker.

D'ailleurs, ça m'emballe moyen, l'arrivée de Barker.

J'ai pas dit qu'il était mauvais, hein, mais tout ça m'a l'air d'être une lubie de Peterson qui a passé les 5 dernières années à fond sur Dragonlord, son groupe Black sympho.

Et si c'est pour nous faire du Dragonlord, ben non merci... Et vu ce que dit Billy sur les nouveaux morceaux qu'il a écouté, ça semble très typé Black.

Faudrait pas que Peterson oublie que c'est un album de Testament qu'il doit pondre, et pas le nouveau Dragonlord.

Tu n'as pas aimé Dragonlord?
C'est pas du TESTAMENT on est bien d'accord!

T'as répondu toi-même à la question.

C'est pas ce que j'attends de Testament.

oui moi non plus. Mais sinon le projet de peterson, tu as aimé?

Pas de quoi se la taper contre la rampe, mais c'est plutôt pas mal.

M'enfin, moi, le Black...

oui moi aussi le black c'est pas trop ma tasse de thé, mais le 1er album m'avait bien scotché avec un coté thrashy assez prononcé.
Le second album est plus quelconque!

J'ai surtout peur de retrouver le son de batterie de Dimmu ... j'espère qu'il aura (Barker) l'intelligence de nous pondre un truc sans blasts inutiles...

Tu parles de la prod ou du jeu de Barker, Drunk ?

Parce qu'à la prod', ce sera Andy Sneap, normalement, on aura donc un gros son, identique à celui de The Gathering.

Un peu des deux en fait.. Barker a presque toujours joué triggé a mort et ça

se ressent bcoup dans son jeu ( en fait je sais pas s'il sait faire sonner une

batterie sans électronique outrancier et à des Tempi plus " conventionnels").

Par contre Andy Sneap c'est du lourd , assurément.

Plusieurs infos :

-Le groupe a signé chez Nuclear Blast.
-Ils sont entrés en studio fin Août.
-Produit par Andy Sneap.
-Sortie prévue en Décembre, au plus tard.
-On aura droit à un journal de bord et des photos incessamment sous peu sur leur site.

RHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA MAIS QU'ILS SE MAGNENT LE FION !!!

D'autres infos. Ca n'arrête pas. C'est la foooolie :

-L'album contiendra 13 titres.
-Sortie en Mars 2008 (fait chier).
-Skolnick a, pour la première fois, écrit des titres entiers, qui s'annonçent très Thrash old school ("Alex has a couple of songs that he brought to the table, and they have some smashing double bass. It's just crushing! We were all like, "Whoa, Alex, this stuff is thrashing!" dixit Billy).
-Ce sera dans la continuité de The Gathering au niveau du style, on le sait, mais aussi au niveau du chant ("When we did "The Gathering", the songs didn't push me to death metal like "Demonic", it made me use more of a variety of voices. I think I used three different voices on that record. To me, I actually feel more comfortable with that and enjoy listening to that better"). Satan merci, pas de growls incessants.
-Il y aura des solos partout.

Ah Tiens ! déjà un nouveau album de Nightwish, ils sont rapide ....

Ca sera Bostaph et non Barker derrière les futs.

ah merde what's happened ? t'as vu l'info où ? je pars à la pêche ...

EDIT : trouvé sur le site du groupe

UPDATE!!!
October 08, 2007

For Immediate Release:

TESTAMENT officially working with acclaimed drummer PAUL BOSTAPH

Paul Bostaph will join the ranks alongside originating classic thrash legends Chuck Billy on vocals, Alex Skolnick on lead guitar, Eric Peterson on rhythm guitar and Greg Christian on bass.

Unfortunately Nick Barker will not be recording with TESTAMENT on this new album, due to Homeland Security and International Work Visa issues. Rather than delaying this long awaited return of TESTAMENT, the band has chosen to recruit Paul Bostaph, long time friend and member, to record on the much anticipated album, which is tentatively scheduled for a spring 2008 release via Nuclear Blast. Paul Bostaph will join the ranks alongside originating classic thrash legends Chuck Billy on vocals, Alex Skolnick on lead guitar, Eric Peterson on rhythm guitar and Greg Christian on bass.