ERIC PETERSON Believes All The Drummer Changes Over The Years Have Kept TESTAMENT's Music Fresh

In a new interview with Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation, TESTAMENT guitarist and main songwriter Eric Peterson spoke about the band's return to a heavier, more aggressive musical direction in the late 1990s, particularly with albums like "Demonic" (1997) and "The Gathering" (1999). He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think when [guitarist] Alex [Skolnick] left — that was after [1992's] 'The Ritual' — and then Lou [drummer Louie Clemente] left, I think it was time to get heavy again… I wanted to do both. I feel like we weren't heavy anymore. We weren't playing a lot of the stuff off [TESTAMENT's debut album, 1987's 'The Legacy']. We were playing more 'Practice What You Preach' and 'The Ritual' and stuff like that. And the band, really, I think with Louie, he didn't really wanna play that [heavier, more aggressive] kind of stuff. And what we did worked. But once we got John Tempesta and then Paul Bostaph, and we jammed with Dave Lombardo, Nick Barker, all these really, really good drummers [who are] known for being aggressive and fast, TESTAMENT went more back to where we started, but with the whole new vibe. So when Alex came back [in 2005], it was, like, 'Dude, we're heavy again. Sorry.' [Laughs] But no, he was ready for it."

Asked if he thinks all the change of personnel in TESTAMENT over the years has kept the music fresh, Eric said: "Exactly. Yeah, definitely. Especially with the drummers. For me, this new [drummer, Chris Dovas], and even with Gene Hoglan — he's a really, really, really good drummer; I mean, he's probably one of the best drummers — but with the new blood, with Chris… These younger kids, I don't know what they're doing. They're influenced by all these crazy black metal drummers and blast beats, but then they also listen to Ian Paice and Neil Peart and Buddy Rich, and they know everything. Even guitar players. I'm watching five-year-old outshred me. I'm, like, 'What the hell's going on?' [Laughs] So taking our songwriting skills and then having a drummer like Chris is really cool. So the new [yet-to-be-released TESTAMENT album] it's a really good record. I'm excited for it."

Peterson recently confirmed that TESTAMENT has tapped Swedish producer Jens Bogren, who has previously worked with OPETH, KREATOR, PARADISE LOST, SOILWORK and AMON AMARTH, among others, to mix the San Francisco thrashers' upcoming studio album. The LP will mark TESTAMENT's follow-up to 2020's "Titans Of Creation", which was co-produced by Juan Urteaga, who previously worked with TESTAMENT on "Dark Roots Of Earth" (2012) and "Brotherhood Of The Snake" (2016).

In August 2023, Dovas was asked by Pod Scum if it was "unnerving" to step into a group whose list of previous drummers includes such heavyweights as Lombardo and Hoglan. He responded: "It was, especially at first because I knew that a lot of eyes were on me, and also I looked up to the band since I was a kid. Especially Lombardo and Gene — those are two of my favorite drummers right there. So to be put in that situation of taking over for them, I felt like I had a lot of responsibility and a lot of… I felt like I had something to prove a little bit, and I'm still practicing a lot and I just wanna do the best that I can do. Right now I'm not really nervous anymore because I've done two full tours with them now and we're working on the [new TESTAMENT] album and the friendship has been developing now and we all get along super well. They've welcomed me with open arms and it's been great and the fans have been great. I've been putting hours and hours of practice into it to make sure that I can do the best that I could do. And I look up to Dave and I look up to Gene as well, so, yeah, I just wanna play the songs well live and keep making the band sound good."

Prior to joining TESTAMENT as a full-time member, Dovas filled in for Lombardo on the first six dates of TESTAMENT's summer/fall 2022 leg of "The Bay Strikes Back Tour".

Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral (courtesy of Nuclear Blast Records)