Chuck Billy Talks About Dave Lombardo's Return To Testament: It All Depends On Eric Peterson

Dave Lombardo (Instagram @davelombardo)

JAKARTA - Testament vocalist Chuck Billy discussed the return of drummer Dave Lombardo to the ranks of this legendary thrash metal group. This was revealed by Billy in an interview with radio station WSOU 89.5 FM earlier this week.

Lombardo - original member of thrash metal legend Slayer was a guest drummer on Testament's 1999 studio album, The Gathering. This album also marks the first time Testament has worked with rising British producer/engineer Andy Sneap.

Asked about Lombardo's involvement in the writing and recording of Testament's latest studio album, Here's Billy's answer.

"It's all down to Eric (Peterson, Testament guitarist); he's the starting point for what we do. So talking to him was like, 'Man, I have so many riffs.' He's ready to write another record, which is good. And I think hopefully bringing Dave in," Billy said, quoted from Blabbermouth, Sunday, March 20.

"I think, Dave, actually, when we recorded 'The Gathering'...Eric was always the one who programmed the drums on the drum machine and actually worked on the songs and then presented them to the drummers, which I think on the record Dave just said, 'Dude, just play.' And he just walked in and they started jamming and started making stuff like that," Billy continued.

"So there's something where Eric is really focused on the guitar part instead of having to worry about the drums. And I think hopefully he and Dave can start creating some cool magic just by jamming some more and seeing what happens."

Billy continued, when they met Dave again and talked about getting back on tour and so on, they had already discussed plans to record new material.

"And the first thing, he was like, 'Dude, can you imagine another record we wrote together?' And I was, like, 'Yeah. So let's do that.'"

Earlier this month, Lombardo told SiriusXM's Liquid Metal that he communicated with the members of Testament on the same day the band announced they were parting ways with their longtime drummer, Gene Hoglan.