Testament’s Chuck Billy Says the Next Album Has “A Little Bit of Everything”
Four years after the release of their most recent album Titans Of Creation, influential thrash metal band Testament are working on their as of yet unnamed follow up. That’s not exactly new information, since we’ve known they’ve been in the process of writing new material since last December at the very least.
What is news, however, are the comments vocalist Chuck Billy made about the writing process so far in an interview with Jimmy Kay from The Metal Voice. Apparently, the band’s been recording the new album since May, with some of the parts already completed.
“The drums are finished and half the vocals are done and most of the guitars. No leads or bass yet. Steve’s (DiGiorgio, bassist) out on tour with Death To All, and Alex (Skolnick, guitarist) usually waits ’til Eric’s (Peterson, guitarist) done with all rhythms. But we’re trying to get it accomplished — we leave July 10th (for tour), so we’re trying to get it all recorded before then.”
Testament have plans to tour Europe next month, with some of the stops landing on some major festivals like Wacken Open Air and Brutal Assault Festival. We’ve got the dates listed below.
Having been in the game as long as he has, Billy said he’s taking a more varied approach to his vocals on the next record.
“Yeah, but I think last record, I think I stayed in one vocal tone and range where this one, I’m doing a little bit of everything — some death metal vocals, classic Testament-style vocals. And then we actually have — I don’t wanna say ‘ballad’, but we’ve got a slower song that has a lot of feeling. How’s that? And we haven’t done that in a long time. So, there’s a little bit of everything, but staying true to the band.”
As for the writing process itself as the band’s vocalist and main lyricist, Billy said he’s once again working with Del James to get the lyrics squared away.
“I write most of them with — I’ve been writing with Del James. Del, he works with Guns N’ Roses. He’s been working with them and wrote with them a long time ago. I think his big hit is ‘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.”
As mentioned before, we have no idea what the new album’s title is, when it’s coming out, or any other pertinent details. All we know is Testament hopes to be done with it soon and hopefully that means they’ll debut some new jams on tour.
Summer 2024 tour dates:
July 15 – SE – Malmö, Slagthuset (with BEHEMOTH)
July 16 – SE – Uppsala, Parksnäckan (with BEHEMOTH)
July 18 – FI – Laukaa, John Smith Rock Festival
July 19 – ET – Tallinn, Noblessner Foundry (with BEHEMOTH)
July 21 – PL – Warsaw, Progresja Summer Stage (with BEHEMOTH, GAEREA)
July 23 – SK – Kosice, Hádzanárska Hala (with BEHEMOTH, GAEREA)
July 24 – SK – Tolmin, Tolminator Festival
July 25 – RS – Novi Sad, SKCNS Fabrika
July 27 – BG – Sofia, Arena Sofia (with BEHEMOTH, PESTILENCE)
July 28 – GR – Athens, Release Athens (with BEHEMOTH, PESTILENCE)
July 31 – RO – Rasnov, Rockstadt Extreme Fest
August 02 – DE – Roitzschjora, Full Rewind Festival
August 03 – DE – Wacken, Wacken Open Air
August 05 – DE – Karlsruhe, Substage (with HAVOK, SPIRITWORLD)
August 06 – AT – Feldkirch, Poolbar (with SYLOSIS, HAVOK)
August 07 – DE – Ulm, Roxy (with HAVOK, DUST BOLT)
August 08 – CZ – Brutal Assault Festival
August 10 – BE – Kortrijk, Alcatraz Festival
August 11 – FR – Cercoux, Festival 666
‘Klash Of The Titans North American 2024’ tour
09/12/2024 Reno, NV – Grand Sierra Resort
09/13/2024 Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues
09/14/2024 Salt Lake City, UT – The Union Event Centre
09/16/2024 Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo
09/17/2024 Portland, OR – Roseland Theatre
09/18/2024 Vancouver, BC Canada – Vogue
09/20/2024 Calgary, AB Canada – MacEwan Hall
09/21/2024 Enoch, AB Canada – River Cree Casino
09/22/2024 Saskatoon, SK Canada – Coors Event Centre
09/24/2024 Winnipeg, MB Canada – Burton Cummings Theatre
09/26/2024 Maplewood, MN – Myth Live
09/28/2024 Huber Heights, Oh – Rose Music Center
09/29/2024 Detroit, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre
10/01/2024 Cleveland, OH – The Agora
10/03/2024 Toronto, ON Canada – History
10/04/2024 Montreal, QC Canada – MTelus
10/05/2024 New Haven, CT – College Street
10/06/2024 Boston, MA – House of Blues
10/08/2024 Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore
10/10/2024 Montclair, NJ – The Wellmont Theatre
10/11/2024 Bethlehem, PA – Wind Creek Casino
10/12/2024 Raleigh, NC – The Ritz
10/13/2024 Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
10/15/2024 Orlando, FL. – Hard Rock Live
10/16/2024 St. Petersburg, FL – Jannus Live
10/18/2024 Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall (Lawn)
10/19/2024 San Antonio, TX – The Aztec
10/20/2024 Dallas, TX – The Factory
10/22/2024 Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium
10/23/2024 Albuquerque, NM – Albuquerque Convention Center
10/24/2024 Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
10/26/2024 Los Angeles, CA – Palladium
10/27/2024 San Francisco, CA – The Warfield
