Back in April 2015, we posted about how Testament's followup to 2012's Dark Roots of Earth just might be delayed… and now that it's January 2016, I think we can safely assume the album got delayed for sure. Though now it's been revealed, through an interview with Metalholic, that there's going to be a single coming up pretty soon and it proved be challenging for drummer Gene Hoglan.
If you're not familiar, Hoglan's nickname is "The Atomic Clock." The man has shredded through stints with Strapping Young Lad, Dethklok, Fear Factory, Death DTA, and a whole slew of others. So how fast can this new material be? According to guitarist Eric Peterson, pretty fucking fast.
"The [song] we just recorded, Gene was, like, 'Are you on crack? I can't play a blast beat that [fast].' I think it was… It's like 270-something [bpm], and he was just, like, 'You can't do that.' And I'm, like, 'Well, this is how it goes.' And he had to find some cheat ways to do it, but it's super punishing. He was a little worried at first, but he pulled it off, and it's just crazy. He says it's the fastest blast he's ever done, and that's Gene Hoglan, so, to me, that's crazy. But it's super melodic too. I think it's got elements of 'Rapid Fire' by Judas Priest; I've heard that from people. It's got elements of 'The Burning Times' from our 'Demonic' record [1997]. Guitar-wise, it's definitely got some of those elements in it."
Peterson also explained the new record's delay, which should be recorded after the band's tour with Slayer and Carcass.
"Before the Slayer [winter U.S.] tour [was offered to us], we were planning on recording at the end of January. Then theSlayer thing came up, and we were just kind of, like, 'Ahhh…' I mean, for me, I was, like, 'No. Let's get the record done.' But Chuck [Billy, Testament singer] was, like, 'Dude, we've gotta do this. We've gotta do this.' Now that we're doing [the tour], I'm excited to do it, but it is another… The reason why we haven't done the record yet is just that there's all these hurdles and choices to make, and we seem to be picking to play shows still. That's the only thing stopping us; we keep doing stuff. So the plan now is… I was, like, 'Look, we've gotta get something out.' So I recorded a single this weekend with Gene [Hoglan, Testament drummer]. We picked one of the tracks and we just said, 'Let's get this out.' It's kind of a good idea for fans to hear something new. We're really excited about the record. And then when we get back from the SLAYER tour, we will be getting into the studio to record the new record."
So we'll see how that goes… though I'm stoked on this new single! You can also check out Metalholic's video with the full conversation right here.
