Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick was recently interviewed by Heavy New York during the NAMM festivites in Anaheim, California. During the chat, which can be seen below, the topic of the band's next studio album - tentatively due later this year - and how it will compare to 2016's Brotherhood Of The Snake came up. Alex offered the following in regard to new material: 

"I think anytime we make a record, we don't think about the last record. That's done. Actually, the last thing we wanna be influenced by is the previous record. And I think it's pretty safe to say there's never been two records in a row where they're really that much alike. We don't have a 'period.' Sometimes bands release a pair or a series of records where there's a big similarity. We've never done that. So I think it's gonna be starting fresh. And we'll see where it goes… you don't know, it's not pre-planned."

In live news, Testament has the following shows booked:

June
16 - Nova Rock - Kleylehof, Austria
18 - Universiada Hall - Sofia, Bulgaria
19 - Arsenal Fest - Kragujevac, Serbia
21 - Graspop Metal Meeting - Dessel, Belgium
22 - Le 106 - Rouen, France
23 - Graspop Metal Meeting - Mol, Belgium
25 - Mystic Festival - Kraków, Poland
27 - Sonic Park - Bologna, Italy
29 - Tons Of Rock - Oslo, Norway
30 - Aveny - Sundsvall, Sweden

July
2 - Kulturbolaget - Malmö, Sweden
4 - Roskilde Festival - Roskilde, Denmark
6 - Resurrection Festival - Celeiro, Spain
7 - Rock Fest Barcelona - Santa Coloma De Gramenet, Spain

August
1 - Wacken Open Air - Wacken, Germany
4 - Sylak Open Air - Saint-Maurice-de-Gourdans, France
8 - Brutal Assault Festival - Jaroměř, Czech Republic
9 - Party San - Obermehler, Germany
10 - Into The Grave - Leeuwarden, Netherlands
12 - Garage - Saarbrücken, Germany
14 - Airport Eventhall - Obertraubling, Germany
15 - Summer Breeze Open Air - Wittelshofen, Germany