In a recent interview with Francisco Zamudio of KNAC.COM, Testament guitarist Eric Peterson shared additional details about the band's long-awaited upcoming album, the follow-up to 2020's Titans of Creation.
Peterson revealed (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): "I wrote a record with Chris Dovas [new Testament drummer] and it's gonna be an amazing record. I'm super excited for everybody to hear it. It's all over the place. It's very focused, but there's a lot of elements going on."
When asked about the current status of production, Peterson said, "I would say we're, like, 95 percent done recording it. There are some solos to do… Drums and bass are recorded. A little bit of guitars need to be done. Alex's [Skolnick, Testament lead guitarist] got some solos left to record, some solos for me. I think Chuck's [Billy, Testament singer] got, like, two or three songs left to do. But everything's pretty much in the can. All the hard work's done. So, we can definitely play it for people and go, 'Look, we've got a record.'"
Fans eager to hear the new material won't have to wait too long for a taste of what's to come. Peterson hinted at an early 2025 timeline for the release of singles, adding: "Definitely for singles, it will be early 2025, yes. Release-wise for the full album, I would say maybe more in the summer. I mean, I guess we could push it and put it out in May, but we'll see what the record company wants to do. Definitely, people will be hearing a couple of songs by April or May for sure."
There has been no shortage of news coming lately from the Testament's ranks, with Chuck Billy confirming the album will include a slower song – think maybe "The Ballad", or "Return to Serenity" style, featuring vocals by Nightwish's Floor Jansen.
In a recent interview with Brutal Planet Magazine, Peterson also shared their choice of producer for the record: "It's gonna get mixed in December 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."
And everyone seems to echo the sentiment about their new drummer being an important part of the puzzle for the new album, with guitarist Alex Skolnick revealing during a recent interview with SiriusXM's Trunk Nation "He's lit a fire under everybody and just great to play with. He nails everybody's parts from before, but he has his own style."
