Thrash gods reveal details of new record
Legendary bay area thrash metal giants TESTAMENT have revealed the cover artwork for their upcoming 12thalbum, ‘Brotherhood Of The Snake’, which will be released on October 28th, 2016 via Nuclear Blast.
The expressional cover was created by renowned artist Eliran Kantor who also created the artwork for TESTAMENT‘s last album, ‘The Dark Roots Of Earth’, and has also worked for bands such as Hatebreed, Soulfly and Kataklysm in the past.
The album was recorded under the watchful eyes of producer Juan Urteaga (Exodus, Heathen, Machine Head), guitarist Eric Peterson and singer Chuck Billy and was mixed and mastered by well-known metal producer Andy Sneap (Accept, Arch Enemy, Cradle Of Filth, Kreator, Machine Head, Megadeth).
Peterson commented:
“It’s very diverse, but it’s very epic. There’s nothing on there that breeds commercial. And I think for thirty years of recording music and trying different formulas and stuff, we’ve found a formula that is very metal. I think for the metal fan that is looking for something, for the nooks and crannies… not just your normal, ‘Oh, it’s got a thrash beat and a riff.’ There’s a lot going on here.”
“It’s different. This one is more thrash. I mean, this has got some of the fastest stuff that we have ever played. Usually, we have one or two thrash songs, and then we have some mid-tempo, and then we have a slow, heavy one, and then up-tempo kind of stuff. Half of the new record is thrash, which we’ve never done before.”
“It’s kind of like ‘Demonic’ and ‘The Gathering’, but a little bit wiser. Chuck’s not singing so death. I mean, he does some death stuff but he’s singing more like he did on the last record and then with the craziness of ‘The Gathering’ or even heavy stuff like ‘Demonic’.”
Testament are planning to celebrate the release of ‘Brotherhood Of The Snake’ on their upcoming UK/Ireland tour with Amon Amarth and Grand Magus this autumn.
Tour dates are as follows:
(w. Amon Amarth & Grand Magus)
31st October @ Manchester, Academy
1st November @ Glasgow, O2 ABC
2nd November – Dublin, Vicar Street
4th November – London, Roundhouse
5th November – Birmingham, O2 Academy
Testament were one of the first thrash metal band to emerge from the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980’s, originally formed as ‘Legacy’ in 1983 by founding members Eric Peterson (rhythm guitar), Derrick Ramirez (guitar) and Louie Clemente(drums), the line-up included vocalist Steve Souza and Greg Christian (bass). Ramirez was later replaced by renowned playerAlex Skolnick (lead guitar). Souza soon departed to join Exodus and suggested that the imposing Chuck Billy take over as frontman. The band became known as ‘Testament’ 3 years later while recording their debut album in Ithaca, New York. ‘The Legacy’ was a brutal introduction in 1987, putting Testament at the forefront of the flourishing thrash metal scene.
Following ‘Live At Eindhoven’, an EP recorded at Holland’s Dynamo Festival, ‘The New Order’ (1988) was very well received, producing one of the band’s most memorable classics ‘Disciples Of The Watch’. Next came the highly successful ‘Practice What You Preach’ (1989), then the release of ‘Souls Of Black’ (1990) coinciding with the famed European ‘Clash Of The Titans’ tour with Slayer, Megadeth and Suicidal Tendencies – which helped cement their place in thrash royalty.
Testament signed with Nuclear Blast in 2007 and have since released two critically acclaimed studio albums; ‘The Formation of Damnation’ (2008) and ‘Dark Roots Of Earth’ (2012).
