I think we all deserve a real update on the new album

[Pascal79]

I hate to sound annoying or repetitive but can we loyal Testament fans get a real update on the supposedly upcoming album. All we've had from previous threads and updated news on this site is that the band is working on the album. But what we really want to hear is what are some of the song titles, how many songs have been recorded and what are they about, who will be playing on the leads (Metal Mike?), is Eric Peterson's first priority Testament or DragonLord?, when is the album projected to be released?

It's really dissapointing to us fans that the band can't take a few minutes of their time and give us a real update. I recall when albums like Low and The Gathering were being recorded that we had a feel of the album months prior to its release. Chuck and Eric would give us song titles and what the songs were about and we at least knew who the hell would be playing on the leads. If the album is really a few months away, then how could the band not know who will be playing the lead guitar? I find it hard to believe that Chuck and Eric don't know yet if Metal Mike is the man. We all know the album will be killer but it's 2005 already. It's been 6 years now. The least we can get is a decent update.

At least I admit i'm frustrated and tired of waiting. I guess it will make me appreciate the new album more when it comes out.

 

[SlayerNPG]

Yeah I agree completely. They have not been saying anything about it at all. I was looking back and reading old interviews on the site and they were already talking about riffs and shit they were coming up with for the follow up to the Gathering and that was in 2001. It seems like this is so fucking long in the making and all we hear is "they're working on it". I've never anticipated an album so much like I am this new Testament album, they're in their prime right now. I still listen to the Gathering daily and it just never gets old, fucking incredible. We need a follow-up!

 

[one man]

The only reason for the lack of updates that I can imagine is that there's not much they want to share with the fans (and they don't want to repeat that they're working on it, 'cause everybody's bored with such informations...because I know TL has been asking them for updates)- which means they're far from releasing it or even from going into the studio (I'm guessing).

I don't know if any songs have been recorded, Pascal, because Eric announced he'd be entering the studio with Dragonlord (not TestAmenT) in February- and we all know recording an album takes some time...hopefully Eric will finish writing the Testament songs right after Dragonlord exits the studio (not after a promo tour or whatever)...still it might not be "months prior to release" yet and that's why we get no updates.

I honestly had thought the album would be out in winter 2001/2002 and have been waiting since then, I then was 100% sure I'd get it in early 2003...and here we are...2004 has passed and we know nothing about the album, but some unfortunate accidents, line-up changes and probably the will to make this album perfect have led to years of waiting. The only thing I can't understand is why the hell Dragonlord will come out first- I think it's logical for all of us (Testament and Dragonlord fans) that the new Testament record should come first...for like a million reasons. However I'm convinced Eric knows what he's doing as well as that he's aware of the fans' expectations and he'll probably share his reasons with us once the albums are released.

We don't know what's going on inside the band and they surely have their reasons for the years of silence (other than laziness)- they have their jobs, other musical projects and family life and they're not obliged to confess to us. But on the other hand, I think I've read an interview with Eric where he said he's lucky to be able to live off his music. He's recovered from the broken leg only recently, though... Still, I agree it would be nice if they gave the titles, song topics or revealed the cover...or give a tentative date of release... as long as those exist in their minds- because giving an update like "it's still being written" or "Eric wrote a cool, fast riff yesterday" or "it will be melodic thrash metal" are pointless.

As for Mike, I think he stated he'd play on this record, but nothing official was announced (Chuck and Eric might have thought that if he'd already revealed it, there's no need to repeat....or still don't know who will play on the follow-up to The Gathering)

 

[levi]

I hope we get a update soon also but until then Ill leave TL alone and be Pataient

 

[one man]

until then Ill leave TL alone and be Pataient

I agree with that. I think TL has already heard our requests a million times and has asked the bosses for an update more than once... and will get one once they feel like revealing some secrets...

 

[estigma2001]

only time will tell

 

[DiscipleOfThePit]

I've got to admit it's beginning to take the piss.

SIX YEARS!

 

[max]

"It's really dissapointing to us fans that the band can't take a few minutes of their time and give us a real update."

i agree 100%.

to be honest i am annoyed that dragonlord coming out first. i don;t care much for that music.
how hard can it be to write an update on your own website to keep us loyal fans updated?

6 years waiting for 60 minutes of music!! so that's 365 to write 10 minutes of music.
come on guys we are all here waiting in anticipation for a killer CD.......

but 6 years Is a piss take.

 

[Razorhead95]

I'm just going to keep my mind on other things than, "Why can't TestAmenT come out with an album sooner!". I agree that 6 years is a bit too long to keep the fans waiting, but a new album is like a fart that's held in forever: It's gonna have to come out sooner or later.

 

[Doctor Pain]

I'm extremely disappointed, still fucking waiting, and every year that
has passed means it better be heavier and heavier and fast as fuck.

 

[oldschoolthrashmetal]

The only thing i´ve read was that "we should expect different" stuff this time - well, time for a bigtime update from Chuck/Eric themselves

 

[iamemmitt]

I found this yesterday on Metal-Rules

Testament manager Phil Arnold of Thrill Entertainment has issued the following update on the band's current and upcoming activities:

"In prepping for the next studio album, Testament reopened its Driftwood Studios at a new location. They had shut down the Oakland industrial-area site when Chuck Billy [vocals] was going through his eventually-successful cancer treatments. With state-of-the-art HD ProTools upgrades installed, Driftwood continues an aggressive cutting edge approach that Testament embarked upon in Oakland with 'Demonic' , its 1997 #1 Metal Album. The prior Oakland location was also the recording home of their 1999 #1 Metal Album, 'The Gathering' .

The new site, in downtown Pittsburgh , CA , is an older cement-brick & mortar building with previous recording-studio history, a fact unknown until recently to Peterson [ Eric , guitar] and Billy . The new installation has an eerie-inhabitant vibe, because the deep-in-the-catacombs control-room motion detectors frequently go off at late-night/pre-dawn hours — while no access to the building interior is possible without triggering the perimeter security systems, which remain silent. Oddly, the interior motion detectors never go off in daytime hours; and each time the late-night activity is investigated, no evidence of entry is detected and nothing is disturbed. No mice droppings — no nothing.

A retired local resident, who identified himself only as ' Frank ' — a cousin of Kris Kristofferson and a former bass-player of WILLIE NELSON — stopped by recently to nose around the boarded-up studio spot while it was under reconstruction by some new faces. The Pittsburgh downtown area, on the Sacramento River delta, was once a thriving boomtown whose heyday was during WWII and the years following. Now mostly a bedroom community for commuters who work in or near San Francisco Bay , it is a last stop for them on one leg of the Bay Area BART train system.

Frank, both friendly and curious, had a disarming demeanor and elicited some cordial dialogue about Driftwood being a private recording studio. The location looks like a no-name warehouse and except for the now-obvious security gates, you'd think it was vacant. Perfect for a private studio and the lair for the next spawning from Testament .

His eyes lit up when Billy mentioned 'recording studio'. He said that previously this location had been occupied by the prestigious, yet underground, Norman Abercrombie Studios, a noted Bay Area jazz and blues recording spot for many years. It closed in the early '80s when Abercrombie retired. Billy laughed, and said it looked and felt like it had been vacant since the '80s, too.

Norman Sr. had passed away not long after he closed up shop. Frank also said that his son was somewhat of a local gangster type who had been shot and killed under mysterious circumstances. With a history of music and a backdrop of murder, the late night haunting of the inner sanctum suddenly took on a different glow.

Frank said he had done many a bass session there himself. He beamed with local pride that Duke Ellington , Ella Fitzgerald , and countless blues and jazz greats had recorded there when touring through the Bay Area over the years, often under assumed names as he put it 'to avoid record label conflicts.' No doubt.

Abercrombie's was the real deal, and everybody who was anybody came through. I played many a bass session there myself.'

Since opening in 1996, Driftwood Studios has had a 'legacy' of its own with so many metal greats appearing on TESTAMENT records. So, it is only fitting the new spot is a former haunt of all-American music greats of the last century — with a ghostly, unexplained night-shift visitor who haunts the sealed inner sanctum with no visible evidence of entry or exit.

Who knows what gnashing spirits lurk in the shadows of the next set of tales from Testament."

Testament are expected to enter the studio in the spring to begin recording the follow-up to 1999's The Gathering, tentatively due later in the year.

Source: www.spitfirerecords.com

 

[oldschoolthrashmetal]

that has been already posted

 

[one man]

I was just thinking that maybe this atmosphere of uncertanity, the growing anxiety and desire and the residual information that come from the TestAmenT camp will help to make this album legandary the day it comes out (no, I don't think they do it on purpose...but, on the other hand, who knows)

 

[Timmeth]

some people have it ten times worse than you guys do... but I do agree it is unfair that we do not get an official announcement.

 

[Lykorian]

It is frustrating. I rarely, if ever, post here, because there's never any real news of interest it seems. Unless you count reunions, side-projects, one-offs, re-recordings, mini-tours, and stupid ghost stories that have no real relevance to anything. At least Slayer respects their audience enough to tighten the screws when the time comes to produce new material -- no tours, side projects, or other bullshit. And they do a good job keeping the fans updated on the progress of things. Maybe I'm being too harsh on Testament, or maybe I'm just growing discontented with what used to be my absolute favorite band.

I'm totally looking forward to this album, but will it be worth a six year wait? The expectations are beyond anything Testament has ever put on themselves. I guess we'll see.