FaceCulture spoke with Testament vocalist Chuck Billy about The Beach Boys, Gene Simmons spitting blood on him, focussing on his singing, the decline of mainstream metal, getting heavier, new album Brotherhood Of The Snake and a lot more. Check out the 3-part video interview below:

Testament will release their new album, Brotherhood Of The Snake, on October 28th via Nuclear Blast. The album is now available for pre-order in various physical formats (Digibook, Limited Box Set, Limited Mailorder Box Set, Vinyl) from Nuclear Blast here, as well as digitally here.

Berlin-based artist Eliran Kantor, who created the images that adorn Testament's previous two albums - Dark Roots Of Earth (2012), and The Formation Of Damnation (2008) - talks about the cover art he created for Brotherhood Of The Snake, which can be seen below.

"Eric (Peterson, guitarist) told me of the title, referring to a secret society group - and I wanted to focus on the occult aspect of it without leaning on the already available myths.I pictured a ritual involving blindfolded figures coming out of chalices of black oil, holding scythes forming the teeth of a three-headed snake.

Looking for ways to incorporate the masonic pyramid felt like a great opportunity to use the classic logo while adding something new to it, and also give it an active part in the plot. There are many tiny details adding to the atmosphere: red tongue bookmarks in the books, two more ancient-looking figures in the shadows hinting at the brotherhood's lineage, two serpent-shaped fountain tubes pouring the black oil etc etc. The latter two were suggested by the band."

Tracklisting:

“Brotherhood Of The Snake”
“The Pale King”
“Stronghold”
“Seven Seals”
“Born In A Rut”
“Centuries Of Suffering”
“Neptune's Spear”
“Black Jack”
“Canna-Business”
“The Number Game”

“Brotherhood Of The Snake” lyric video:

Trailers:

The Brotherhood Of The Snake was recorded under the watchful eyes of producer Juan Urteaga (Exodus, Machine Head), guitarist Eric Peterson and singer Chuck Billy; it was mixed and mastered by well-known metal producer Andy Sneap (Accept, Megadeth).

Testament will support The Brotherhood Of The Snake on a European tour with Amon Amarth this fall; a complete listing of dates can be found here.

(Photo - Gene Ambo)