Drummer NICK BARKER Comments On TESTAMENT Departure

British drummer Nick Barker (CRADLE OF FILTH, DIMMU BORGIR) has released the following statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET regarding his departure from the veteran San Francisco Bay Area metal band TESTAMENT:

"As you all know after yesterday's post here on Blabbermouth.net, I am with great disappointment and deep-filled sadness no longer involved in the making of the much-anticipated, eagerly awaited new TESTAMENT album, to be released on Nuclear Blast Records in the spring of 2008.

"Let me fill everyone in on my situation surrounding this and quash any rumours/speculations before the fork-tongued, venomous Blabber gossip-mongers start talking their usual shit.

"In July of this year, after returning back to the U.S. from a very enjoyable and successful appearance at Waldrock open-air [festival] (Burgum, Holland) I was refused entry into the United States (in Minneapolis en route to San Francisco) due to not having the appropriate visa required by an international artist/entertainer like myself which enables me to enter the country and do my thing, which, of course, in this case was to make music and perform on American soil.

"So that was pretty much why I was unfortunately not on the East Coast shows (Sounds Of The Underground, etc.) in late July and Paul Bostaph [ex-SLAYER, EXODUS, FORBIDDEN, SYSTEMATIC] stepped in.

"Due to the expense and processing/turn-around time required for such a visa under these circumstances, it is with regret simply impossible for me to be where I need to be right now (in California) with the TESTAMENT guys putting the finishing touches to the album/songs/drums and preparing to record. So it makes perfect sense all round to utilize the incredible services of drumming powerhouse Paul Bostaph who is already in the Bay Area, done time with TESTAMENT and is a longtime friend of the band.

"Paul is a phenomenal drummer and will absolutely deliver the goods ten-fold when it comes to the new record. He's also a good friend too and I wish him nothing but the best.

"YOU RULE, BRO!!!! Can't wait for the FORBIDDEN reunion too — I am SO there....

"On a closing note i would like to sincerely thank from the bottom my heart Chuck [Billy], Eric [Peterson], Alex [Skolnick], Greg [Christian] and all of the TESTA-crew for such a fantastic, fun-filled, very memorable time spent on the road and in the studio. It was truly an honor and a pleasure to share a stage with you guys and travel the four corners of the world (Australia, Brazil, China, Korea, U.S., Europe, etc) as your drummer and fellow comrade.

"I can honestly say to the Blabber readers out there that the new album is simply gonna kick major-league ass and will show all these wanna-be pretenders to the throne TESTAMENT IS THE REAL DEAL!!!!"

Bostaph, who was a member of TESTAMENT for a brief period starting around February 2004, had previously played several live dates with the group in 1992 and appeared on the band's 1993 live EP, "Return to the Apocalyptic City". He also toured with TESTAMENT in 2006.

TESTAMENT's current lineup is rounded out by Chuck Billy on vocals, Alex Skolnick on lead guitar, Eric Peterson on rhythm guitar and Greg Christian on bass.

The band performed a brand new track, titled "The Afterlife", at the Earthshaker Fest in Germany on July 20. "That's probably one of the more melodic, commercial-sounding songs," Billy recently told Metal-Rules.com. "The other songs are a lot more heavy, a lot more intense. That was one that just fell into place really quick and we knew we wanted to play a new song for that show so we decided not to give them everything but to give them something in the vein of what we were playing. I think it's a catchy song, a melodic song. But I don't think it represents the whole record, no."

TESTAMENT parted ways with Spitfire Records earlier in the year (the Spitfire Records catalog was acquired last summer by Redux Records, the company formerly known as Sheridan Square Entertainment).

Spitfire released a TESTAMENT compilation, "The Spitfire Collection", in February. Consisting of tracks from such Spitfire titles as "The Gathering", "Demonic", "Live at the Fillmore", "First Strike Still Deadly" and "Live in London", the 14-track set chronicles an era that ultimately saw the original TESTAMENT reunite for a successful 2005 tour.

Watch fan-filmed video footage of TESTAMENT (with Nick Barker on the drums) performing at this year's edition of the Waldrock festival, which was held on July 7 in Burgum (Bergum),in the northern region of The Netherlands:

"D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)":