TESTAMENT vocalist Chuck Billy talked with Zisis Petkanas of Rock Overdose about the Dark Roots Of Earth album, their upcoming live DVD/CD Dark Roots Of Thrash and the future plans for an album next year. An excerpt follows:

Q: You are about to release a live DVD and a double album, called Dark Roots Of Thrash. Can you tell us a few things about this upcoming release?

A: "Yeah, it’s a double record with 19 songs in it, so it has a lot of the classic Testament songs and lot of the more current records. When we reformed the band with Alex and Louie in 2005, we were playing mostly the old classics and not stuff off of The Gathering or Demonic or more of the newer records, because the members didn’t write on those records and they wanted to play more of the classic stuff and now that they’ve been in the band for several years, I think over the last couple of years of touring, we started adding more stuff off of The Gathering and then we wrote Formation Of Damnatio” and then Dark Roots Of Earth… we kind of evolved, so now we’re playing more of the new stuff in the tour, so I thought for the live record, we should play everything. Capture the whole Testament career from the beginning, so I told the guys. The production of the CD sounds great. I always thought that Testament is a stronger live band than on the records. The power and the energy is more of a live feeling, so I think we really captured it and the video came out really great for the DVD. It’s a great representation of the band that we are today."

Listen to the audio interview at this location.

Chuck Billy and guitarist Eric Peterson will be available for a meet and greet at the Velvet Margarita (1612 North Cahuenga Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90028) tomorrow - Tuesday, September 24th - in Los Angeles. The event will start at 10 PM, PST and a Monster Energy Drink guitar signed by the band will also be given away throughout the evening. For more information on the occasion and to RSVP visit this location.

Dark Roots Of Thrash, a DVD/2CD release documenting Bay Area veterans Testament’s sold-out headlining performance at the Paramount in Huntington, NY this past February, will be made available on October 11th (Europe) and October 15th (North America) via Nuclear Blast.

Dark Roots Of Thrash was produced by Get Hammered Productions, directed by Tommy Jones (DEATH ANGEL, KATAKLYSM, SOILWORK) and mixed by Juan Urteaga (VILE, EXODUS, SADUS, MACHINE HEAD). It captures a total of 19 live tracks with countless cams onstage and high above the audience, plus a special moshpit cam that makes you feel like you’re a part of the show!

Dark Roots Of Earth tracklisting:

DVD:

Intro

'Rise Up'

'More Than Meets The Eye'

'Burnt Offerings'

'Native Blood'

'True American Hate'

'Dark Roots Of Earth'

'Into The Pit'

'Practice What You Preach'

'Riding The Snake'

'Eyes Of Wrath'

'Trial By Fire'

'The Haunting'

'The New Order'

'Do Not Resuscitate'

'Three Days In Darkness'

'The Formation Of Damnation'

'Over The Wall'

'Disciples Of The Watch'

BONUS CONTENT:

Backstage Footage

'Native Blood' (Video Clip)

CD1:

Intro

'Rise Up'

'More Than Meets The Eye'

'Burnt Offerings'

'Native Blood'

'True American Hate'

'Dark Roots Of Earth'

'Into The Pit'

'Practice What You Preach'

CD2:

'Riding The Snake'

'Eyes Of Wrath'

'Trial By Fire'

'The Haunting'

'The New Order'

'Do Not Resuscitate'

'Three Days In Darkness'

'The Formation Of Damnation'

'Over The Wall'

'Disciples Of The Watch'

Testament will be on tour alongside LAMB OF GOD, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and HUNTRESS starting on October 22nd. Confirmed shows are as follows:

October

22 - Toronto, ON - Kool Haus
23 - Toronto, ON - Sound Academy
24 - Montreal, QC - Metropolis
25 - New York, NY - Roseland Ballroom
26 - Wallingford, CT - Toyota Presents Oakdale Theatre
28 - Columbus, OH - LC Pavilion
29 - Detroit, MI - The Fillmore Detroit
30 - Chicago, IL - Congress Theater

November

1 - Kansas City, MO - The Midland by AMC
2 - Grand Prairie, TX - Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie
3 - Socorro, TX - Socorro Entertainment Center – Free Show
5 - Denver, CO - The Fillmore Auditorium
7 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theater
9 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
11 - Kent, WA - ShoWare Center
12 - Vancouver, BC - Queen Elizabeth Theatre
14 - Edmonton, AB - Shaw Conference Centre
15 - Calgary, AB - Big Four
16 - Saskatoon, SK - Saskatoon Prairieland Park
18 - St. Paul, MN - Myth
19 - Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Ballroom
20 - Grand Rapids, MI - Orbit Room
22 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
23 - Boston, MA - House of Blues
24 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
25 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
26 - Silver Spring, MD - The Fillmore Silver Spring