Source: Bravewords.com

The Great Southern Brainfart has issued a new interview, conducted with TESTAMENT guitarist Eric Peterson. An excerpt follows:
Q: Testament seems to have really found a good place to be musically and, as you said earlier, have come full circle. Is this a place where you’re happy and how do you see Testament progressing from here?

A: “Well, we know what we want now. When we were younger, we just kind of went into the studio and let the producer get the sounds and we just played the songs. Of course, we gave our opinions but I don’t think we knew then what we wanted as much as we do now. Now we know exactly what we want. Chuck (Billy; vocalist) knows exactly how he wants to sound and I know how I want to sound. I know what I want the drums to do and everything.”

Q: So I’ve been digging the new live release Dark Roots Of Thrash. It’s really a great release but tell me how this release stands out from the previous Testament releases?

A: “You really need to see this DVD. To me it goes hand in hand. Of course, the listening part is cool but watching it and listening to it at the same time is really awesome. The previous live release was more of a reunion show. We had two different drummers. John Tempesta played the first half and Louie Clemente played the second half. It was more of our classic songs. This release is where the band is at now which is what I think is our peak. I’m sure it’s going to continue but we’re definitely on a roll. We’re on a level where all the engines are running and we’re playing songs from almost every record. There are things missing from some records but we’ve put together a set that is compiled of almost everything we’ve done from The Legacy to Dark Roots Of Earth.”

Read the full interview at this location.

Dark Roots Of Thrash, a DVD/2CD release documenting Testament’s sold-out headlining performance at the Paramount in Huntington, NY this past February, is out today, October 18th, in Europe, and will be released October 21st (UK), and October 29th (North America) via Nuclear Blast. Check out ‘Native Blood’ from the DVD below:

Dark Roots Of Thrash was produced by Get Hammered Productions, directed by Tommy Jones (DEATH ANGEL, KATAKLYSM, SOILWORK) and mixed by Juan Urteaga (VILE, EXODUS, SADUS, MACHINE HEAD). It captures a total of 19 live tracks with countless cams onstage and high above the audience, plus a special moshpit cam that makes you feel like you’re a part of the show!

Dark Roots Of Thrash was produced by Get Hammered Productions, directed by Tommy Jones (DEATH ANGEL, KATAKLYSM, SOILWORK) and mixed by Juan Urteaga (VILE, EXODUS, SADUS, MACHINE HEAD). It captures a total of 19 live tracks with countless cams onstage and high above the audience, plus a special moshpit cam that makes you feel like you’re a part of the show!

Testament are gearing up for their tour with LAMB OF GOD, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and HUNTRESS, which starts on October 22nd. According to an update from the band, a limited number of Testament VIP tickets are now available for each show here.

Confirmed shows are as follows:

October
22 – Toronto, ON – Kool Haus
23 – Toronto, ON – Sound Academy
24 – Montreal, QC – Metropolis
25 – New York, NY – Roseland Ballroom
26 – Wallingford, CT – Toyota Presents Oakdale Theatre
28 – Columbus, OH – LC Pavilion
29 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit
30 – Chicago, IL – Congress Theater

November
1 – Kansas City, MO – The Midland by AMC
2 – Grand Prairie, TX – Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie
3 – Socorro, TX – Socorro Entertainment Center – Free Show
5 – Denver, CO – The Fillmore Auditorium
7 – Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theater
9 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theater
11 – Kent, WA – ShoWare Center
12 – Vancouver, BC – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
14 – Edmonton, AB – Shaw Conference Centre
15 – Calgary, AB – Big Four
16 – Saskatoon, SK – Saskatoon Prairieland Park
18 – St. Paul, MN – Myth
19 – Milwaukee, WI – Eagles Ballroom
20 – Grand Rapids, MI – Orbit Room
22 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
23 – Boston, MA – House of Blues
24 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
25 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
26 – Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore Silver Spring
 

Source: Blabbermouth.net 

Matthew Parker of MusicRadar.com recently conducted an interview with guitarist Eric Peterson of San Francisco Bay Area metallers TESTAMENT. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

MusicRadar.com: 2012 marks the 25th anniversary of TESTAMENT‘s debut album, “The Legacy”. What were your initial expectations of the band?

Eric: “[Initially], none. I just wanted to put a record out. Then when [second album, 1988’s] ‘The New Order’, came out, we had a seven record deal with Atlantic Records and we just thought, ‘If we can live out that term, that would be awesome. We were watching a lot bands around us fold on their second or third album. We realized how hard it was. The playing is the easy part, it’s just everything in between — that’s what breaks bands up. I don’t think it’s the music at all, it’s the chemistry. It’s dealing with all of the downtime in between the two hours you’re onstage.”

MusicRadar.com: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned in your years as a musician?

Eric: “Just being consistent and sticking to your blueprint. It’s easy when other bands come into the scene that are like a whole new different style to go, ‘I wanna be like that now!’ But we have a following and we’ve got to be like, ‘This is how we are!’ It’s very important that you stick to your guns. When you’re a thrash band, it’s not a good idea to add rap, or start wearing trippy clothes — the fans can see right through that crap.”

MusicRadar.com: Alex Skolnick has been back with the band since 2005. Has the way you divide guitar duties changed over the years?

Eric: “The duties have changed a little bit. Alex is still the lead guitarist, but I’m starting to do a little more soloing now. As players, we’ve all grown a lot. Alex has got a lot of influences and it really, really shows in his playing. When you hear his leads, you know it’s him. But when Alex left the band I started taking on more. The other guitar players that I jammed with, first Glenn Alvelais and then James Murphy, were all like, ‘Dude! How come you don’t play leads? You’re killer!'”

MusicRadar.com: So that gave you the impetus to start developing your leads…

Eric: “It wasn’t like that before. No one said to me, ‘Play leads!’ It was just ‘Alex is the lead guitar player, you’re the rhythm. This is how we’re doing it.’ When Alex came back I said, ‘I’m not going to step on your toes — we’re not going to fight for solos here — but it’s just going to add more to it.’ And he was like, ‘Totally, dude! You should totally do that.’ That was a real breathe of fresh air, because the old way would have been, ‘Well, I’m the lead guitar player.’ We’ve all grown up now and it’s such a better band [for it].”

Read the entire interview from MusicRadar.com.

Aniruddh “Andrew” Bansal of Metal Assault recently conducted an interview with guitarist Eric Peterson of San Francisco Bay Area metallers TESTAMENT. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal Assault: Finally, there is a release date for your new album, “Dark Roots Of Earth”. It must be a relief, considering how long this album has been in the works.

Eric: Yeah, it’s been a record in the making for quite a while, but it’s finally coming out now. There were a lot of hiccups and stuff, because there was a lot of scheduling to take care of. The last time that we pushed it back, we decided to put out some covers and some bonus stuff at the same time as the regular record, so that way the fans can choose what they want to purchase. So it got pushed back again because we wanted to do these covers, which actually turned out really, really awesome. We’re really excited about the covers. I think it’s worth the wait, and once people hear the record, they’ll be like, “OK, I don’t remember why, but this is killer!” [laughs]

Metal Assault: Obviously, the main reason for the delay was the lack of time, and also because you got on so many tours, but in terms of the songwriting, was there any big change while the album was being delayed? Or did it stay the same throughout?

Eric: No, it had nothing to do with the writing. It was just a lot of scheduling. We kept having tours pop up every four months that we were committed to, and we didn’t want to cancel those. So we just kind of kept going in and out of the studio. At one point, we were actually done and the record would have come out in May, but again the record company wanted some covers for the special edition. So we all decided against putting the record out and then put a bonus one out three months later. We didn’t the fans to be like, “Wait, I just bought the record. Now I have to buy it again?” This way you can choose. You got the regular record or the special edition. The one with the bonus material is way better, because it’s got three really good cover tracks we did in a way that we actually kind of gave birth to these songs again, I think. And it’s got an extended version of a song called “Throne Of Thorns”. It’s got a DVD on it with the making of the record, it’s got some additional live tracks from our last tour, and it’s got this really cool guitar thing where me and Alex [Skolnick, guitar] show all our guitars and the rig that we’re using. So it’s a lot of fun. That version is really good. And the album is also going to be out on LP, which is perfect for this album because you really have to buy the vinyl to capture the vibe of this artwork.

Metal Assault: At the time of this interview, I haven’t been given access to the album, so I have to ask you this. How does it compare to the previous one in terms of the overall sound?

Eric: It’s in the same vein, definitely. But if I have to compare it to any records, it would be a hybrid of “The Gathering” and “The Ritual”. What I mean by that is, musically it’s heavy like “The Gathering”. It’s really riff-heavy, it’s got a lot of melody to it, and it has the fast brutal stuff. Then it’s also got the slow heavy stuff. But vocally, and in terms of the way the songs are arranged, it’s like “The Ritual”. This record is a lot more melodic than anything we’ve done. “The Ritual” was like an easy-listening kind of TESTAMENT record, but super melodic. We had “Return To Serenity”, “Electric Crown” and some really good songwriting, but the drums were kind of … too easy, you know. There were some really good songs on there, but it lacked the heaviness of “The Gathering”. So, I think with those two ideas put together, the most melodic and the heaviest side of TESTAMENT mixed all together, you have “Dark Roots Of Earth”.

Metal Assault: You talked about the drumming. Do you think Gene Hoglan‘s return, at least for this record, helped you in that aspect?

Eric: Definitely. The songs were all written before Gene came in, and the beats were kind of were what they were already. But Gene came in and just played them better than they were anticipated. Like I said, you can have songs written and the beats all programmed or whatever, and the ideas are there, but it depends on what drummer is going to play them. Like for example, the song “Native Blood” is a catchy, melodic song, but it’s got a blast beat in the chorus. So it depends on who’s going to do that blast beat. It just happens to be Gene Hoglan doing it, so it’s going to sound pretty authentic and pretty brutal.

Metal Assault: Now this is something pretty much all fans want to know. What’s your permanent drummer situation? I know Gene‘s been touring with you on this run with ANTHRAX, but what’s going to happen after that?

Eric: We’re trying to make it such that Gene can stay with the band, and I think Gene wants to stay with TESTAMENT, but he’s got other things he’s doing. Just like Alex, who’s doing his jazz stuff and we try to work out scheduling, and I’m also starting DRAGONLORD again. A new album is being recorded right now and it’s going to come out soon. So we all have different stuff that we’re trying to do, but when it comes to TESTAMENT, when we schedule stuff we all have to stick to the plan. So that’s kind of what we’re aiming for, to make a schedule that’ll work for everybody. We do have the first tour in Europe for three weeks in August, and Gene is not going to be available for that. So that’s where we kind of learned our lesson. The communication between the management wasn’t spot on, and it kind of got messed up. Gene signed on for our Europe tour, but then he wasn’t aware that DETHKLOK was starting earlier or later, or whatever it was. So from now on we’re really trying to nip it in the bud. That’s out plan, at least. Drummers in TESTAMENT have always been a curse, but they’ve also always been a blessing [laughs], because the records are coming out better. For me, getting to write with a Dave Lombardo or with John Tempesta or Paul Bostaph, and now me jamming with Hoglan again, it really has inspired me with the music that I’ve written. Once I found out that I was going to get Gene, I really honed in on everything I wrote and went, “OK, I can actually get super fast double bass here on this part.” When I wrote with Paul, I was thinking of doing something here and there, but then I would think, “Oh, he doesn’t like to play that kind of beat. So I won’t do that.” So I was kind of compromising on stuff, but with Gene, there was no compromise. I just did everything that I wanted to do.

Read the entire interview at Metal Assault. Source: Blabbermouth.net