Caleb 'Sick' Smith of Heavy Metal Thrash, The Sickroom Podcast recently conducted a two-part interview with Testament bass player Steve DiGiorgio, talking about the band's forthcoming studio album and his near miss on rejoining Testament. You can now listen to the chat below; a couple of excerpts have been transcribed.

DiGiorgio on Greg Christian's departure:

"I'm aware of some of what happened between them and Greg, but somewhere along the way they just decided they didn't want to work together anymore. And having that history from when I was in the band in 1998 to 2004,  I had a long run, good times. I didn't leave or get kicked out, they just morphed into the reunion of the original lineup. We kept in touch over the years, Chuck (Billy, vocalist) has been a good friend, we live in the same town. I'm not an original in Testament but I recorded actual real albums and I got a pretty good chunk into their history, and I guess calling me back seemed like a pretty logical point of view and I knew what I was walking into. Chuck called me on the phone one day, I was kinda busy at the time and came pretty close to missing a good chance, and then he called me a second time. Then we met in person, and when you look at the guy in the eye you don't want to say no, and I mean why I would I? What a powerful band to be a part of; I'm pretty fucking lucky actually!"

DiGiorgio on direction of  new Testament studio album:

"All the songs will be fast, all the songs will be brutal and aggressive. This isn't about a bunch of old guys cashing in on something, it's about true thrash legends maintaining pace with what they helped create. When you look at the talent in the band, like (drummer) Gene Hoglan, you better not be playing a ballad, that guy can cook. he's the energizer bunny. And Alex (Skolnick, guitarist) you know there's a reason he's called a legend because he's so freaking good. You can call a lot of guitarists stars, legends, gods all these things, but really the essence the basis of what the description comes of is 'really fucking good'. Eric (Peterson, guitarist) is always in the trenches writing the songs and shaping the sound of Testament, and Chuck , I mean what can I say, the dude is larger than life. It's pretty exciting."

Testament is currently on tour, with dates booked until mid-June; check out their complete live itinerary at this location.