Just a few days before the official release of TESTAMENT's new album Dark Roots Of Earth, Metalpaths spoke with frontman Chuck Billy who talks about the band's latest musical direction, the come-back of Gene Hoglan, the cooperation with Chris Adler (LAMB OF GOD) and the future plans.

An excerpt of the interview can be found below:

Metalpaths: After many line up changes in the past, it seems like Testament found their shape having a static line up the last seven years and releasing great albums like The Formation of Damnation. Do you feel like being at your best of your career?

Billy: "Alright, now I think we are, because the reunion in 2005 the original lineup with John and Clemente we got back together,we had some good times again and I believe it is the best that the most of the ritual line up got back together."

Metalpaths: It’s been four years since your latest release. Is there another reason for that delay?

Billy: "There is no delay,we toured on “The Formation Of Damnation” record for over two years and we don’t just write songs all year long when we touring for another record. So after the tour was finished we went to the studio writing and recording new songs."

Metalpaths: Could we say that Dark Roots Of Earth is the progression of The Formation of Damnation or there are no commons between these albums? How does the new album compare to the previous releases in terms of the overall sound?

Billy: "The sound itself with a the production on the new record, is a different production. We tried some new things in the mix than any other record. We tried to mix the record on the vocals, we tried to get some better drum and guitar sound on this record and this year we got Andy Sneap that came up to California, do all the recordings himself instead of us recording it and then sending it to him to make the mix. That helped in the production sound for sure."

Metalpaths: Will Gene Hoglan follow you on your upcoming tour as well?

Billy: "Gene will be in the whole record touring and the first tours in Europe for sure

Metalpaths: So is that an end for Paul?

Billy: "Paul Bostaph will never be back in Testament."

You can read the rest of the interview at Metalpaths.com.

'Native Blood', the new single from Testament, is available now as digital download as well as on limited 7“ vinyl in various colours. The single exclusively contains the Spanish sung version of the song as a B-Side.

Get 'Native Blood' vinyl here and the digital version via Amazon below:

Complete audio samples from Testament's new album, Dark Roots Of Earth, can be heard at this location. The follow-up to 2008's The Formation Of Damnation will be released by Nuclear Blast on July 27th in Europe and on July 31st in North America.