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Testament

США

Heavy Metal
Thrash Metal

http://www.testamentlegions.com
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/testamentlegions
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/testamentlegions

22 апр 2025 :
3 фев 2025 :	CHUCK BILLY On Upcoming TESTAMENT Album: We 'Came Up With Some Killer Stuff'
9 янв 2025 :	CHUCK BILLY: 'Everybody's Getting Pushed To The Limits' On Upcoming TESTAMENT Album
27 дек 2024 :	TESTAMENT's CHUCK BILLY Warms Up His Voice For 90 Minutes Before Every Performance
25 дек 2024 :	New TESTAMENT Album Will Be 'Pretty Evil', Says STEVE DIGIORGIO
19 дек 2024 :	TESTAMENT's ALEX SKOLNICK: I'm 'Troubled By The Outsized Role That Religion Plays In Our Society'
10 дек 2024 :	ALEX SKOLNICK Names Only TESTAMENT Song That Is Always In The Band's Set
25 ноя 2024 :	TESTAMENT's ALEX SKOLNICK On His Early Guitar Solos: 'I Felt Like There Was Something To Prove'
18 ноя 2024 :	TESTAMENT Is '95 Percent Done Recording' New Album: 'It's Gonna Be An Amazing Record'
13 ноя 2024 :	TESTAMENT's CHUCK BILLY Says His Number One Ambition Is To One Day Tour With METALLICA
5 ноя 2024 :	TESTAMENT's CHUCK BILLY Says Upcoming Duet With NIGHTWISH's FLOOR JANSEN Is 'A Really Beautiful Song'
24 окт 2024 :	TESTAMENT Announce Multi-Format Reissue Of Practice What You Preach Album; "Time Is Coming" Lyric Video Streaming
23 окт 2024 :	TESTAMENT's ERIC PETERSON On New Drummer CHRIS DOVAS: 'He Brought Some Life Back'
22 окт 2024 :	TESTAMENT Recruits NIGHTWISH's FLOOR JANSEN For 'Slower' Song On Upcoming Album
6 окт 2024 :	TESTAMENT And Modist Brewing Co. Launch West Coast IPA "Apocalyptic City"
16 сен 2024 :	Watch: TESTAMENT Joined By 11-Year-Old Viral Rock Sensation MAYA NEELAKANTAN At Las Vegas Concert
14 сен 2024 :	TESTAMENT Unleashes 'Brazen' Coffee
12 сен 2024 :	CHUCK BILLY On Upcoming TESTAMENT Album: It Sounds 'New And Modern And Fresh'
2 сен 2024 :	ERIC PETERSON Says Next TESTAMENT Album Will Be Mixed By Swedish Producer JENS BOGREN
30 авг 2024 :	TESTAMENT Plans To Mix New Album In December/January
22 авг 2024 :	ALEX SKOLNICK Is 'Excited' About TESTAMENT's Next Album
12 авг 2024 :	Watch TESTAMENT Perform "The Haunting" At Wacken Open Air 2024; Pro-Shot Video
27 июл 2024 :	ALEX SKOLNICK On Next TESTAMENT Album: 'It Should Be Wrapped Up By The Fall Or At The End Of The Year'
26 июл 2024 :	TESTAMENT's CHUCK BILLY Says Seeing KISS In 1970s Changed His Life
25 июл 2024 :	TESTAMENT's CHUCK BILLY Says His Debut Solo Album Could Be Produced By HATEBREED's JAMEY JASTA
12 июл 2024 :

3 фев 2025

CHUCK BILLY On Upcoming TESTAMENT Album: We 'Came Up With Some Killer Stuff'

In a recent interview with Australia's Wall Of Sound, TESTAMENT singer Chuck Billy was asked when fans can expect to see the band's follow-up to 2020's "Titans Of Creation" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We don't have a date yet, but we're hoping the end of the first quarter, going into the second quarter. So definitely before we get to Australia [in June 2025], I would think. Definitely the single should be hitting. We start mixing it in January sometime. So, as soon as the label has an opening and things line up, we'll get it out there. But it's coming out really good. We worked on it for probably the last year or so with Chris [Dovas, TESTAMENT drummer], a lot with Chris. Eric [Peterson, TESTAMENT guitarist and main songwriter] and Chris got a lot done and came up with some killer stuff, man."

When the interviewer noted that Dovas came into TESTAMENT as the successor to some of the best drummers in heavy metal, including Dave Lombardo (SLAYER) and Gene Hoglan (DARK ANGEL, DEATH, DETHKLOK),Chuck said: "Well, I'll give him props. He's right up there with all those guys, man, because he's coming in young, new-influence chops, too, and adding a different dimension to TESTAMENT. That's why I'm excited about the writing, because he, I guess, inspired Eric enough to just write some pretty kick-ass, balls-out stuff, but a little bit around it of everything. So it was a really good writing session on this record… Eric had such a good writing session, he's already talking about after this [European] tour with ANTHRAX and KREATOR, starting [in] early [2025], they're gonna get together and just start writing more songs. Just keep chugging forward. And [2025] is gonna be a little slow. We're not going to Europe [this] year. We're gonna just probably have one headlining tour at the end of the year, and that's about it. Maybe a short run in America. We'll see. So we have a window to do a lot of jamming. So hopefully we can get some more songs written and get ahead of another record."

In November, Billy told Australia's The Rockpit, about TESTAMENT's upcoming LP: "Well, this [album is] gonna be very special. I think I'm more excited about this one, just because of the fact — the timing of everything. I'm a big person believer in things happen for reasons. And Chris Dovas jamming with us and having a lot of time to come up and spend with Eric at Eric's place, just jamming, coming up a lot of music and working on it hard and tracking it at home and doing demos. And I could tell, when I first started getting the songs and the riffs sent, that it was something different. It's still Eric and I recognize it, but he was being pushed and inspired 'cause Chris is a very fast, aggressive drummer, and I can tell that it just inspired Eric just to be Eric and play guitar instead of trying to think about building a song or making a song — 'Let's just jam.' And that's the kind of way they approached it. And next thing you know, they had 10, 11, 12 jams that were sounding pretty strong, but individually identified just different vibes. And I was, like, 'Okay, this is what it is.' And then, as it just built vocally and everything, that's when we were kind of, 'Wow. It just feels fresh and new and challenging again. Vocally, for me, I've got a wide range of tones on this one — I'm screaming again, which I haven't done that a lot on a lot of records in the past, but a lot on this one. And we are still writing for ourselves, but we're still excited that when we write a song, how it hits live, and that's always been the payoff, is do these songs we write in the studio hit live like we want 'em to? And that's the fun part."

Earlier in November, Billy was asked by Jaimunji if the new TESTAMENT LP will be a throwback to some of the band's early records or if it will once again be a step forward for the band. Chuck said: "I think we've always evolved. We never like to go backwards. These songs, definitely the old classic stuff, 'The Legacy' and 'The New Order', that's where we came from, those are the first songs we wrote, so definitely that's who we are, but we always wanna evolve. We don't wanna do something we've done. But I will say the new record, we're very excited for it 'cause Chris Dovas, the new drummer, it's probably the most a drummer has worked with Eric writing material, and it shows.'

He continued: "The songs are very strong, very heavy, very fast. We've got a little of everything. We've got some mid-tempo, but really crushing fast drums. I would even say that we went and put — I don't wanna say the word 'ballad', but it's a very slow, old classic TESTAMENT vibe, like 'Return To Serenity', that we had the confidence and the song is there that we wrote. This record, we're fired up 'cause, to me, it sounds modern. That's the one thing I've gotta say. It's TESTAMENT but modern-sounding, just because I think Chris, he shifts another gear on the songs. I mean, he just puts it to another level as far as the drum playing and inspiring Eric to what he's doing. And it actually opens up the doors for me, challenge-wise, to not just take it the easy way out. I've really had some challenges — a lot more screaming death metal, mid-tempo clean vocals. I'm doing a little bit of everything. So that's the fun part for me and the challenging part, is to make it all work."

Billy also confirmed that one of the new TESTAMENT songs will be a duet with Jansen. "Yeah, I reached out to her," he said. "Me and Floor became friends maybe under 10 years ago. Me and her, Joey Belladonna [ANTHRAX], Udo Dirkschneider [ex-ACCEPT], we all did this Christmas performance show through Europe. And we were singing our songs, but with a Christmas theme with an orchestra. And so we all traveled together and became friends. And she's a powerhouse of a vocalist. Great voice. And when we wrote the song and the lyrics, first thing I thought was, 'Okay, this song, it, it needs a strong girl's voice,' and, of course, Floor is the first one that came to mind. And this song, it's gonna be pretty epic. We're gonna put a string section on it, acoustic guitars. It's gonna have a lot going on, but it's a really, really beautiful song. It's really deep. And with Floor, it's kind of me and her kind of singing the lyrics kind of to each other, and the meaning of the song and what we're saying, it's kind of, like, I'll say my part and she's answering me through the vocal. So it's gonna be very strong, very cool. And I can't wait to hear what she's gonna do on it… We haven't sent it to her because we haven't laid down the acoustic guitars yet for it, but the song's done. I tracked it all. I tracked her parts. And I wanna wait till she hears it for the first time with the acoustics and get the vibe — I want her to be in the vibe once she gets it… And Alex has a connection to some guys that are gonna do the strings on it, who played on some huge records, so what we've heard so far, it's pretty cool."

Billy told Metal Express Radio's Bryce Van Patten about how TESTAMENT's songwriting process has changed since the band's early days in the late 1980s and 1990s: "Oh, it's night and day. Before, back then, we all lived the same place, we all had to go to the same studio, where now it's by e-mail, sharing the songs. Everybody has home studios to work out demos. Definitely a different writing process, but still Eric is one of the main writers. And ever since we brought in our new drummer, Chris Dovas, he's been here two years — he was 24 when he came into the band; he's 26 [now]. But he's a smart kid. [He] graduated [from] the Berklee [College] Of Music. [He] knows theory [and is] great in the studio with Pro Tools. He's really into modern bands and new and upcoming stuff, and he's got an old soul so he knows the history of the music. But I think him working hand in hand with Eric as long as they did, he really pushed Eric and drove Eric to get challenged. And I wouldn't say 'copy', but I think Chris and what he listens to and the style Eric likes, it brought an influence to the new songs."

Regarding the musical direction of the new TESTAMENT material, Chuck said: "To me, the new songs sound current, they sound fresh. They're touching what a lot of new upcoming bands are making good names for themselves are doing. So, again, it's raising the bar one more time. And I think when fans hear this record, especially new, younger fans are gonna go, 'Whoa. That's TESTAMENT. I know the TESTAMENT I know from 30-something years ago and grew up with, but what is this?' I'm excited for that because I wanna hear what people think. I'd love to see the expression of them hearing it for the first time. That would be great, because it does sound new and modern and fresh, even though we're still being challenged."

Asked if he and his TESTAMENT bandmates have more freedom to do whatever they want now than they did when you were on a major label like Atlantic, Chuck said: "Totally. When we were on Atlantic, that was a big machine. They had an A&R department, they had the radio department, they had tons of departments, tons of money, and they were always influenced by how well their big-selling artists were, which were radio bands and they were pushing radio. So that A&R guy would be whispering in our ears, 'What's the next radio song?' And we're thinking, "Well, we're not a radio band. That's not us.' And even to this day, when I hear some stuff like [on the SiriusXM channel] Ozzy's Boneyard or something, they play ballads by us, and it's, like, that doesn't represent us, but that represents that era in thinking maybe of what TESTAMENT did or what they chose to expose us to the public, which it's misrepresenting us. So, yeah, the freedom's huge now, especially being with Nuclear Blast as long as we have. There's no deadline. It's just, 'When you're ready, you have a record, give it to us.' And that's been really nice. And the beauty about this record is that usually we have Andy Sneap mix our record, so we usually write a record and give it to him and then it's done, written in stone, can't go back. But this record, we had to pick a somebody to mix it, which wasn't available till early next year, January. So we decided, 'Okay.' We tried to get all the tracking done before we went to Europe this June or July, and we got most of it done."

This past September, Peterson told Brutal Planet Magazine that TESTAMENT had tapped Swedish producer Jens Bogren, who has previously worked with OPETH, KREATOR, PARADISE LOST, SOILWORK and AMON AMARTH, among others, to mix the band's upcoming studio album. Peterson said about the LP: "It's, like, 90 percent done. And it's gonna get mixed by Jens Bogren. He's a producer from Sweden, and he's done — God, he's done KREATOR, he's doing the new BEHEMOTH right now, he's done IN FLAMES, ARCH ENEMY. A lot of European bands. We usually work with Andy Sneap, but he's [the touring guitarist] in JUDAS PRIEST and he's just, like, 'Bro, I need some time off.' It's a good switch, though. I think Jens will do a good job. And yeah, there's a lot of crazy stuff on this record. I'm excited for everybody to hear it."

In August, Billy told Oran O'Beirne of Overdrive.ie about the musical direction of the new TESTAMENT material: "We always try to outdo ourselves or make a better record or write better songs. It's always a challenge for ourselves, and I think this time we really took a long time to create the record. We kind of got everybody in the same room to really go through the songs and kind of put their two cents in to the arrangements. I think by having Chris — he's a younger drummer, a really great drummer — but I think he brought you know a new fire to Eric in the writing process. And I believe because we're going on 37 years of making records, it's kind of full circle right now. We're kind of inspired by new generation, I guess, of music and metal. And Chris is a big part of that. He's a big fan of that. So I think he inspired Eric just to write some really aggressive, fast, creative riffs. And it really inspired me to really push myself to try to do a little more screaming, death vocals, melodic stuff. We even went as far as writing — I don't wanna say 'ballad', but it's something really catchy that's really slow that's something we haven't done in over 30 years. So I think just the overall songs and the confidence in the writing this time really is gonna stand out on this record."

In June 2024, Chuck told Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco, California radio station 107.7 The Bone about the lyrical themes covered in the new TESTAMENT songs: "[It's] not as focused [on], like, the aliens, creating mankind and that kind of stuff, but there is some of that. There's a lot. Each song definitely has its own identity lyrically. And again, we're writing stuff that is real, that happens with the environment; we're singing about that again. A.I., we're singing stuff about that. That's a big thing. So, there's always an inspiration for songs. I think it's a little easier. There's so much going on in our world to write about now. It's a crazy world today, so there's a lot of stuff to talk about. And I like singing about what's real and what's going on instead of some fantasy lyrics, because, for me, I think when I sing 'em, I have more conviction, I believe in 'em a little more. And maybe it's easier for me to remember the lyrics live. [Laughs]"

Naming specific tracks, Chuck said: "There's a song, 'Havana Syndrome', which is about the Havana Syndrome. People, look that up. There's 'Infanticide A.I.', which is another song going A.I. direction. And there's actually a slower song. We haven't done a slower song. I'm not gonna say 'ballad', but I'm gonna say a slower song that has a lot of groove and soul, called 'Meant To Be'. And it's like a classic TESTAMENT-type ballad, I guess, if you wanna use that word. But we've got a little bit of everything, but, again, I think it's really sticking to TESTAMENT, having to have some melodic stuff, even though there's some really brutal lyrics and real brutal, more of a death voice. I still put the hook in with more of a melodic hook or something. It's still classic TESTAMENT. If you listen to it, you'll go, 'That's TESTAMENT, but a little more octane to it.'"

Also in June, Chuck told Canada's The Metal Voice that he writes most of TESTAMENT's lyrics with Del James. "Del, he works with GUNS N' ROSES," Chuck said. "He's been working with them and wrote with them a long time ago. I think he had big hits like 'November Rain' with them. And we've been working [together] for over 20 years. So I always go down and work with him because I come up with a lot of the ideas and concepts, but he really interprets and gets the right words, how to say what I'm thinking. And we work fast. When we get together, we'll knock out like two songs in a day. So we don't mess around. We get there, say hello to each other, we sit down and we go right to work. It's about what we do."

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