In a new interview with The Metal Meltdown, TESTAMENT guitarist Eric Peterson was asked if he can ever see him and his bandmates retiring from playing music. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We’re gonna take it to the end. I mean, that’s what Chuck [Billy, TESTAMENT singer] says. I could keep going forever. That’s what I think. But who knows? I still feel young, and I don’t feel like I’m 60. [Laughs]”
He continued: “Well, it’s weird too, ’cause I remember — if I could go back and see myself now and just think how I’m thinking and hear what I’m doing, I would be, like, ‘Whoa.’ ‘Cause I remember when my grandfather was 60, he was bald and he had this little pencil holder and he was wearing polyester pants up to [his stomach]. And I just don’t see that. And I think people now that are older, I think maybe ’cause of our lifestyle… And I think metal keeps you young too… METALLICA — look at METALLICA; they’re still kicking ass and their last record was pretty cool. There’s other bands. And EXODUS is on fire. They got one of their old singers [Rob Dukes] back. I haven’t heard any of [EXODUS‘s new music] yet, but I know Gary‘s [Holt, EXODUS guitarist] like me; he is on fire. OVERKILL is still around. I’m excited to hear the new CORONER.”
Peterson added: “We’re all at that age now where it’s, like, am I still into this? Do I still feel like it? I mean, ANTHRAX is still out there kicking. It’s funny — there’s a lot of bands that all of us listened to, like JUDAS PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN, when we were 18, 17, 19, whatever, and they were in their late 20s or whatever age they were, but they’re all probably, like, 10, 15 years older than us, and they’re still out there. So there’s hope. I remember being in my late 20s and even 30s and seeing, ‘Okay, IRON MAIDEN‘s still going.’ And they’re still going now. So, yeah, we’ve still got some time, I think.
“It gets harder when you get [older],” Eric admitted. “And you’ve just gotta take care of yourself and just eat right and work out. I think if you do that and just maintain yourself and just don’t do go too crazy… I know we all still drink still, but it’s a little bit harder to recuperate.
“Sadly, there is gonna be a time where thrash metal bands from my genre, it’s gonna be gone and then there’s gonna be a new wave of stuff. But I’m still seeing the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal bands still out there. And those are the bands that we listened to. So, I think there’s still some time. But as far as far as the other bands [who have reformed and are still touring and making music], more power to ’em coming back and trying to give it a go.”
TESTAMENT entered a new partnership with Nuclear Blast which secured the first six albums of the band’s catalog in the United States. Starting in late 2023 the band saw the re-release of the first two albums. In January 2025, the reissue of TESTAMENT‘s third album, the band’s seminal 1989 effort “Practice What You Preach”, was made available. The original master of the album was released as a CD, an orange bone swirl LP, a limited-edition orange cassette (700 worldwide),and a limited-edition long box (CD, sticker, and button, limited to 500).
TESTAMENT‘s latest album, “Para Bellum”, came out on October 10 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was recorded with Juan Urteaga and mixed for the first time by Jens Bogren. The cover art was once again painted by Eliran Kantor.
When “Para Bellum” was first announced in August, it was accompanied by the official music video for the LP’s first single, “Infanticide A.I.”, directed by Joey Durango.
Press photo credit: Fred Kowalo
