Page 68 - Metal Hammer Issue 334 - UK (May 2020)

TESTAMENT
Underside with Gene
Fucking Hoglan!
It’s been a great success,
no butts about it
Testament are on blistering form and
loving every minute of it. There’s an
intensity to their performance that
bodes extremely well for their
forthcoming 13th studio album, Titans
Of Creation. As Chuck confirms, these
are exciting, productive times for the
Bay Area legends and Silence festival
is just the beginning.
“We took nine months off from
touring just to focus on the record
this time,” he explains. “The process
was a lot better than the one before
[Brotherhood Of The Snake, 2016]. We
weren’t weaving in and out of tours,
so we could focus on it. It came out
68 METALHAMMER.COM
really good. When I heard it first as
an album I thought, ‘Holy shit, that’s
a good record!’ I think it’s [esteemed
producer and long-time Testament
collaborator] Andy Sneap’s best mix.
He had fresh ears after he came back
from playing with Judas Priest for a year,
so yeah, holy shit, it sounds great.”
With Titans Of Creation destined to
be one of the metal albums of 2020,
Chuck Billy has every reason to be
full of optimism for his band’s future.
“IT’S BEEN AN
AMAZING
EXPERIENCE.
COME TO NEPAL!”
CHUCK BILLY
But whether they scale new heights
of success or not, these veterans are
still in love with the notion of finding
new places to visit and new people
to share some heavy fucking metal
with. Kathmandu and its small but
passionate metal community are now
firmly on Chuck’s list.
“They told us, ‘Look, Nepal is a third
world country, the production won’t
necessarily be top-notch…’ but I just
thought, ‘OK, it’s going to be one of
those punk rock shows!’ and that’s
cool, you know? Look at what they’re
putting on for people, with a big stage
and all the lights! It’s a proper show,
man. The experience has just been
amazing. We need to tell everyone,
dude. Come to Nepal!”
TITANS OF CREATION IS OUT ON
APRIL 3 VIA NUCLEAR BLAST