Alex Skolnick Says Testament’s Next Album is “Actually Gonna Come Out Next Year”
Legendary thrash band Testament may have recently celebrated the 35th anniversary of Practice What You Preach, but don’t let that distract you from the fact that they’ve been working on their follow up to 2020’s Titans of Creation for a while now. In a recent interview with SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation, guitarist Alex Skolnick revealed that fans are going to have to wait a little while longer to get some new tunes.
During his chat, Skolnick revealed the timeline for the so far officially unannounced album, stating that the record label likely won’t even get the finished product until at least the end of this year.
“[The new album is] actually gonna come out next year. The drum tracks are done, just a rhythm, guitars, bass leads, and some vocals need to be done. But it is in progress. It’ll be turned in before the end of the year and it’ll be listenable next year.”
Like many of their contemporaries, Skolnick said Testament has had to deal with some setbacks here and there when it came to getting work done on the album. We’ve known since at least last December that the band had been working on it, but touring responsibilities and other commitments slowed things down a bit.
One thing that Skolnick said hampered the record, at least initially, was the question of who would be behind the drum kit. Remember, ex-Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo was playing with Testament for a bit there but ultimately had to bow out due to his litany of other projects requiring time away from the band. After hiring Seven Spires drummer Chris Dovas for the spot, Skolnick said the band’s been all systems go with the new record.
“There were scheduling conflicts with Gene Hoglan. Then we got Dave Lombardo, who’s just, it was amazing. But when it came to going all in on a next record, Dave was overbooked and we needed somebody. And we’ve got a new drummer. His name’s Chris Dovas. He wasn’t even born when the first Testament record came out. But I got to say he’s lighting fires, speaking of explosions.
“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. And excited about the next record, it’s actually gonna come out next year. The drum tracks are done, just a rhythm, guitars, bass leads, and some vocals need to be done. But it is in progress. It’ll be turned in before the end of the year and it’ll be listenable next year.”
So yeah. We’re all in a holding pattern waiting for the next thing from one of the legit titans of thrash metal. In the meantime, they’ve got a buncha live dates lined up across North America with Kreator and Possessed this fall. You can find the full list of dates below.
9/12 Reno, NV Grand Sierra Resort [Tickets]
9/13 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues [Tickets]
9/14 Salt Lake City, UT The Union Event Centre [Tickets]
9/16 Seattle, WA Showbox SoDo [Tickets]
9/17 Portland, OR Roseland Theatre [Tickets]
9/18 Vancouver, BC Canada Vogue [Tickets]
9/20 Calgary, AB Canada MacEwan Hall [Tickets]
9/21 Enoch, AB Canada River Cree Casino [Tickets]
9/22 Saskatoon, SK Canada Coors Event Centre [Tickets]
9/24 Winnipeg, MB Canada Burton Cummings Theatre [Tickets]
9/26 Maplewood, MN Myth Live [Tickets]
9/28 Huber Heights, Oh Rose Music Center [Tickets]
9/29 Detroit, MI Royal Oak Music Theatre [Tickets]
10/1 Cleveland, OH The Agora [Tickets]
10/3 Toronto, ON Canada History [Tickets]
10/4 Montreal, QC Canada MTelus [Tickets]
10/5 New Haven, CT College Street [Tickets]
10/6 Boston, MA House of Blues [Tickets]
10/8 Silver Spring, MD The Fillmore [Tickets]
10/10 Montclair, NJ The Wellmont Theatre [Tickets]
10/11 Bethlehem, PA Wind Creek Casino [Tickets]
10/12 Raleigh, NC The Ritz [Tickets]
10/13 Atlanta, GA Tabernacle [Tickets]
10/15 Orlando, FL. Hard Rock Live [Tickets]
10/16 St. Petersburg, FL Jannus Live [Tickets]
10/18 Houston, TX White Oak Music Hall (Lawn) [Tickets]
10/19 San Antonio, TX The Aztec [Tickets]
10/20 Dallas, TX The Factory [Tickets]
10/22 Denver, CO Fillmore Auditorium [Tickets]
10/23 Albuquerque, NM Albuquerque Convention Center [Tickets]
10/24 Phoenix, AZ The Van Buren [Tickets]
10/26 Los Angeles, CA Palladium [Tickets]
10/27 San Francisco, CA The Warfield [Tickets]
