HELL!!! What can I say? I couldn't believe in my eyes! That was a gig, that was NO SHIT!!! But let's take things from the beginning...
It was Sunday, one morning after the KILLER Immortal show... So, we were all thinking that we saw one of the best shows we have seen (and indeed, it was!!!). But how could we expect to see another one, SO FUCKING EXCELLENT AS WELL?

After the nice "fairy-tale" that the qualified -for the interviews- person told us (which is, "Testament won't accept to give any interviews except for the 2 most famous magazines of Greece"), I met Chuck Billy outside of Rodon and asked him if I could possibly have an interview for Altars Of Metal. Of course, he accepted at once!

I sent a message to Babis' mobile phone to send me some questions! So, yeah... We wrote some questions together through SMS-conversation, in the last moment! (Damn promoters who want to bury fanzines and the underground! Fuck you all! We managed to work things out without your gay help!!!).

The guys were more than cool (they were FUCKING GREAT!!!) and it really was a pleasure to talk with them... Here is what Chuck (and Billy, in a small part of the interview) answered to our questions...

Yesterday you played in Thessalonica… What are your recollections from yesterday night, from that show over there?
It was good! The crowd participation… You know, we hadn't ever been there so I imagined they were waiting to hear how the band was gonna sound like… I thought the crowd was kick-ass! Everybody outside the US, the crowds have participation they're like gathered, clap and jump and sing all the choruses and stuff… It was killer man!

You also played with Dark Nova, who will also play tonight… What did you think of these guys?
They were good! Yeah… Different style of music than us…

And what do you think about Greece in general, now that you visited us?
It was awesome!!! We traveled from there till' today to here, just the countryside, it was very beautiful! All the way here to drive, was very nice!

What are your touring plans after Greece?
Oh, we don't know, we had a tour offered to us, a deal, Testament deal and Guns and Roses. But we don't know yet if we're gonna do that…

Tell me if there is something new, any new material that you may release maybe in the nearby future…
We're gonna go home and start writing the new record but we wanna do a live concert video and release it…

DVD?
Yeah!

Possibly to be released with the next album?
Yeah!

I would like you to tell me, maybe a short description of the upcoming material? Can you possibly compare it to "The Gathering" ?
It's the same thing as "The Gathering". Because we got a good reaction from that and I think we combined all the music and the vocals you know, to get that vibe like we used to have, that feeling, so, yeah, it will be a lot the same vibe, the same feeling…

What does thrash metal mean for you? Is it just a kind of music or a way of living?
Well, it's more of love to that style, because there are so many new bands coming out and we could rather go "Yeah, let's try the sound like all these other new bands and sell a million records". But if we do that, we wouldn't get the respect or reaction like they do. We have to keep to what we are playing, thrash metal! It's really good for what we do! So, I don't know, I think… It's a way of life, yeah!

Tell me 5 of your favorite thrash metal bands from the past
Exodus, Forbidden, Slayer… Witchfinder General and… eeer…. Violence

What's your deeper opinion about Indians?
It's getting better… Because the governments let Indians have Casinos on reservations, so that the Indians are earning money and are living and they have jobs! So a lot of Indians are having a lot better than they used to have it…

Are Testament about to release an album like "New Order" or "Legacy" again in the nearby future? Something similar?
I think "The Gathering" is something close to "The New Order"… Probably because Eric likes that really fast rhythm thing and all this stuff, so, he's listening to a lot more black metal you know, so, his influences kinda influence the sound…

By the way what's the new lineup gonna be in the next Testament album?!
This line up here… (Chuck Billy - Vocals, Eric Peterson - Guitars, Steve Smyth - Guitars, Steve DiGiorgio - Bass, Jon Allen - Drums)

In the early days, why did you change your name from "Legacy" to "Testament"?
Another band had the name already…!

A rather funny question… Suppose you have been in the desert for 5 days with no water and, then, suddenly, you see 2 signs. The one shows to the left and says "Water: 100 meters". The other one shows to the right and says: "Beer, chicks and thrash metal vinyls". What would you choose?
The one on the right!!!

But all of these are after a few kilometers!!!
I'll take the right one!!! Hahaha!

I would like your comments on some bands… Starting with Sadus!
Sadus? Oh man, they're horrible!!! (Laughs)

Death?
Hahaha… They're dead!!! - No… I don't know… I'm not really tripped on it!

Obituary
I don't listen to them really…

Slayer?
Killer! Always have been!

Destruction?
Killer!

Sodom?
I don't know…

King Diamond?
Killer!

Mercyful Fate?
Killer!! Hahahaha!

Alright!
As you may know, yesterday Immortal played here and they're also gonna be at the show tonight!
Yeah?

Yep! What do you think about 'em?
I'm sure Eric is more into them! Hey Eric!!! Do you know that band, Immortal?
Eric: Yeah!
Chuck: They played last night; they're coming to the show tonight!
Eric: Oh they are?

Yeah!

Eric: Oh, I got their new record!

What do you think of it?

Eric: I like it!!! It's actually better of "At The Heart Of Winter"…

I would like you to tell me your opinion about religions…
Religion?
Religions in general! Christianism, Buddhism… Do you think they are something positive or negative or just a medium to keep people under control?
Ah, I don't know… Everybody has an opinion on it… I think the religion everybody has a faith in something… Somebody has to believe that somebody made this happen, somebody created everything… I don't know…

Ok… Do you possibly intend to return to Greece, sometime in the nearby future?
Oh, next record!!!

I see… when you release it?
Probably next summer, June of next year…

Yeah, that's all I guess! I just would like you to write a few comments for the readers of Altars Of Metal...

Interview by Babis "The Metal Warrior" Antaloudakis and Dimitris "Slatan" Petrakis