TESTAMENT Guitarist Talks 'Metal Masters Tour'

August 16, 2008

Scott Tady of TimesOnline.com recently conducted an interview with TESTAMENT guitarist Alex Skolnick. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow.

TimesOnline.com: What's been the highlight or craziest moment of the ["Metal Masters Tour" with HEAVEN AND HELL, MOTÖRHEAD and JUDAS PRIEST]?

Alex: The best part of it happens almost every night when my friends come to the show, and together, with my all-access pass, we get to go front row for BLACK SABBATH and JUDAS PRIEST. I love meeting up with my friends and watching some of the best bands of all time. There have been a couple nights where I've been front row and (JUDAS PRIEST's) Glenn Tipton has noticed me and made faces at me. My friends congratulated me because I got props from Glenn.

TimesOnline.com: Congratulations on a strong new album, one that might ultimately be TESTAMENT's most successful. Why do you suppose "The Formation of Damnation" was your highest-charting album, here, nearly 25 years into the band's career?

Alex: I think there are a number of reasons. One is that when the original lineup got back together, we didn't think about doing a record until it felt right. Despite cries from certain sections of the fans and media to hurry up and do a record, we just took our time. When we ended up doing it, we meant business. I don't think we wanted to do one until we were in that place. I think that there was also a need for a good classic metal record that also felt current.

TimesOnline.com: A hardball question on behalf of people weaned on pure '80s metal: Which has hurt heavy-metal more, POISON, CINDERELLA and the other "hair-metal" bands; or today's guttural, Cookie Monster-voiced death metal bands?

Alex: Ha ha, it's hard to say. I would say neither because that's a general stereotype. There are bands from both genres that are good, and there are bands that are bad. Occasionally the bad ones get all the attention, and it can hurt the overall impact and image of metal in general.

Read the entire interview from TimesOnline.com.

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