Testament in split risk warns Peterson

Testament guitarist Eric Peterson doesn’t believe the band’s current lineup will survive if they should face hard times in the near future.

The only original member of the acclaimed thrash outfit admits there’s some negative vibes between the five men who recorded well-received new album Dark Roots of Earth.

Long-time frontman Chuck Billy has been there since 1986, while guitarist Alex Skolnick and bassist Greg Christian have both left twice in the past. It’s drummer Gene Hoglan’s second stint.

But Peterson is hopeful the positive response to their tenth record means the current lineup, which has been together for seven years, will hold.

The guitarist tells Radio Fireball (as reported by Blabbermouth): “There’s definitely some politics in the band now.

“If the record does good, which I think it will, it’ll see Testament doing another record. There’s some people in the band, I think, aren’t a hundred percent there unless it keeps going good. That’s pretty extreme.

“For me, I’m down for whatever. I started the band, I’m totally into it. This is what I do.”

But he warns: “If Testament sees darker days, I don’t know if this lineup would stick.”

Frontman Chuck Billy recently told Full Metal Jackie that Testament struggled to make sure Dark Roots of Earth was better than 2008′s The Formations of Damnation, saying: “It was going to be a hard one to top but it really did make us work harder. We’re pretty confident and comfortable as band members and friends at this point with Testament having Alex and Greg back in the fold. It was real natural.”

Hoglan was due to miss the band’s current European tour due to commitments with Dethklok, but became available at the last moment after Lamb of God were forced to cancel their UK trek as a result of Randy Blythe’s arrest in Prague.

-Classic Rock Magazine

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