TESTAMENT's ERIC PETERSON On New Drummer CHRIS DOVAS: 'He Brought Some Life Back'

In a new interview with Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", TESTAMENT guitarist Eric Peterson spoke about the addition of drummer Chris Dovas (SEVEN SPIRES) after Dave Lombardo's short-lived return. Regarding how Dovas landed the gig, Peterson said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, when Gene [Hoglan] left, the word got out and we had a lot of video tapes come in and I was talking to a couple of different players. [Chris] was my pick. And then Lombardo reached out to Chuck [Billy, TESTAMENT singer] and then he reached out to me and everybody really wanted to go with that. So I kind of told Chris, like, 'Let's keep you on the back and see what happens.' And, of course, a couple of months later, I'm, like, 'Hey, Lombardo can't do this next [run]. And he can only do these selected shows,' and I was, like, 'Oh god, here we go again.' The other guys were, like, 'Well, let's call up [former TESTAMENT drummer John] Tempesta or [Paul] Bostaph,' which we knew wouldn't be permanent, but maybe they'd come and… I'm, like, 'Hey, let's give this kid a try.' And when he came in, we were just, like, 'Whoa.' The energy level, and just making us play faster, but not to where we go, 'Slow down. We can't play that fast anymore.' He almost made it easier, his groove, and he brought some life back. And the new record that we put together, me and him… there's a good vibe there."

Peterson went on to say that TESTAMENT's follow-up to 2020's "Titans Of Creation" will be mixed by Swedish producer Jens Bogren, who has previously worked with OPETH, KREATOR, PARADISE LOST, SOILWORK and AMON AMARTH, among others. "Titans Of Creation" was co-produced by Juan Urteaga, who previously worked with TESTAMENT on "Dark Roots Of Earth" (2012) and "Brotherhood Of The Snake" (2016).

"Our new record's pretty much done, 90 percent done… The bass, drums, most of the vocals [and] my guitars [are all done]," Eric said. "Me and Alex [Skolnick, TESTAMENT guitarist] got a little bit of solos to do. I think Chuck's got a couple more to do."

Regarding a possible release date for the new TESTAMENT album, Eric said: "January is going to be mixing. End of December, January, I think [Jens is] gonna be mixing it. So, yeah, it's gonna be fair to say April, May, a single [will be released]."

Last month, Billy spoke Metal Express Radio's Bryce Van Patten about how the songwriting process has changed since TESTAMENT's early days in the late 1980s and 1990s. He said: "Oh, it's night and day. Before, back then, we all lived the same place, we all had to go to the same studio, where now it's by e-mail, sharing the songs. Everybody has home studios to work out demos. Definitely a different writing process, but still Eric is one of the main writers. And ever since we brought in our new drummer, Chris Dovas, he's been here two years — he was 24 when he came into the band; he's 26 [now]. But he's a smart kid. [He] graduated [from] the Berklee [College] Of Music. [He] knows theory [and is] great in the studio with Pro Tools. He's really into modern bands and new and upcoming stuff, and he's got an old soul so he knows the history of the music. But I think him working hand in hand with Eric as long as they did, he really pushed Eric and drove Eric to get challenged. And I wouldn't say 'copy', but I think Chris and what he listens to and the style Eric likes, it brought an influence to the new songs."

Regarding the musical direction of the new TESTAMENT material, Chuck said: "To me, the new songs sound current, they sound fresh. They're touching what a lot of new upcoming bands are making good names for themselves are doing. So, again, it's raising the bar one more time. And I think when fans hear this record, especially new, younger fans are gonna go, 'Whoa. That's TESTAMENT. I know the TESTAMENT I know from 30-something years ago and grew up with, but what is this?' I'm excited for that because I wanna hear what people think. I'd love to see the expression of them hearing it for the first time. That would be great, because it does sound new and modern and fresh, even though we're still being challenged."

Asked if he and his TESTAMENT bandmates have more freedom to do whatever they want now than they did when you were on a major label like Atlantic, Chuck said: "Totally. When we were on Atlantic, that was a big machine. They had an A&R department, they had the radio department, they had tons of departments, tons of money, and they were always influenced by how well their big-selling artists were, which were radio bands and they were pushing radio. So that A&R guy would be whispering in our ears, 'What's the next radio song?' And we're thinking, "Well, we're not a radio band. That's not us.' And even to this day, when I hear some stuff like [on the SiriusXM channel] Ozzy's Boneyard or something, they play ballads by us, and it's, like, that doesn't represent us, but that represents that era in thinking maybe of what TESTAMENT did or what they chose to expose us to the public, which it's misrepresenting us. So, yeah, the freedom's huge now, especially being with Nuclear Blast as long as we have. There's no deadline. It's just, 'When you're ready, you have a record, give it to us.' And that's been really nice. And the beauty about this record is that usually we have Andy Sneap mix our record, so we usually write a record and give it to him and then it's done, written in stone, can't go back. But this record, we had to pick a somebody to mix it, which wasn't available till early next year, January. So we decided, 'Okay.' We tried to get all the tracking done before we went to Europe this June or July, and we got most of it done. And right now, Steve's [DiGiorgio, TESTAMENT bassist] finishing the bass this week, Eric's finishing up his rhythm guitars. I've still got three songs to sing. Alex [Skolnick, TESTAMENT guitarist] hasn't started on his lead yet. So between this tour and then after the U.S. tour, we get another break where Alex will finish up, we'll do the background vocals and get a chance to really live with the songs, talk about it and maybe go back and change some things or maybe add something, which we never had that opportunity to do before. So I think that's one difference on this record that we get to live with it and make sure it's right."

In August, Billy told Oran O'Beirne of Overdrive.ie about the musical direction of the new TESTAMENT material: "We always try to outdo ourselves or make a better record or write better songs. It's always a challenge for ourselves, and I think this time we really took a long time to create the record. We kind of got everybody in the same room to really go through the songs and kind of put their two cents in to the arrangements. I think by having Chris — he's a younger drummer, a really great drummer — but I think he brought you know a new fire to Eric in the writing process. And I believe because we're going on 37 years of making records, it's kind of full circle right now. We're kind of inspired by new generation, I guess, of music and metal. And Chris is a big part of that. He's a big fan of that. So I think he inspired Eric just to write some really aggressive, fast, creative riffs. And it really inspired me to really push myself to try to do a little more screaming, death vocals, melodic stuff. We even went as far as writing — I don't wanna say 'ballad', but it's something really catchy that's really slow that's something we haven't done in over 30 years. So I think just the overall songs and the confidence in the writing this time really is gonna stand out on this record."

This past June, Chuck told Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco, California radio station 107.7 The Bone about the lyrical themes covered in the new TESTAMENT songs: "[It's] not as focused [on], like, the aliens, creating mankind and that kind of stuff, but there is some of that. There's a lot. Each song definitely has its own identity lyrically. And again, we're writing stuff that is real, that happens with the environment; we're singing about that again. A.I., we're singing stuff about that. That's a big thing. So, there's always an inspiration for songs. I think it's a little easier. There's so much going on in our world to write about now. It's a crazy world today, so there's a lot of stuff to talk about. And I like singing about what's real and what's going on instead of some fantasy lyrics, because, for me, I think when I sing 'em, I have more conviction, I believe in 'em a little more. And maybe it's easier for me to remember the lyrics live. [Laughs]"

Naming specific tracks, Chuck said: "There's a song, 'Havana Syndrome', which is about the Havana Syndrome. People, look that up. There's 'Infanticide A.I.', which is another song going A.I. direction. And there's actually a slower song. We haven't done a slower song. I'm not gonna say 'ballad', but I'm gonna say a slower song that has a lot of groove and soul, called 'Meant To Be'. And it's like a classic TESTAMENT-type ballad, I guess, if you wanna use that word. But we've got a little bit of everything, but, again, I think it's really sticking to TESTAMENT, having to have some melodic stuff, even though there's some really brutal lyrics and real brutal, more of a death voice. I still put the hook in with more of a melodic hook or something. It's still classic TESTAMENT. If you listen to it, you'll go, 'That's TESTAMENT, but a little more octane to it.'"

Also in June, Chuck told Canada's The Metal Voice that he writes most of TESTAMENT's lyrics with Del James. "Del, he works with GUNS N' ROSES," Chuck said. "He's been working with them and wrote with them a long time ago. I think he had big hits like 'November Rain' with them. And we've been working [together] for over 20 years. So I always go down and work with him because I come up with a lot of the ideas and concepts, but he really interprets and gets the right words, how to say what I'm thinking. And we work fast. When we get together, we'll knock out like two songs in a day. So we don't mess around. We get there, say hello to each other, we sit down and we go right to work. It's about what we do."

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