Nick Barker, formerly of Dimmu Borgir and Cradle Of Filth, is Testament\'s new drummer. Together with guitarists Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick, Barker has been locked away in a Sacremento rehearsal space, jamming day and night for the new record over the course of the past three weeks. States the drummer:\"I have an overwhelming deep sense of pride, honor and achievement knowing that the four horsemen from apocalyptic city could choose any one of a million awesome drummers out there in the metal field today to do this, but instead they selected me, some high-school dropout kid from a bullshit mining town in the north of England. (...) To say I\'m stoked would be an understatement!\"
Comments Testament guitarist Eric Peterson on laying the foundation for the group\'s new album with their new drummer:
\"It\'s feeling pretty good so far... Nick\'s playing has sparked some fire in me like [Dave] Lombardo did back in \'99 when he played with us on \'The Gathering\'!\"
In related news: Spitfire will release a Testament compilation, \"The Spitfire Collection\", on February 13.
Consisting of tracks from such Spitfire/Testament titles as \"The Gathering\", \"Demonic\", \"Live at the Fillmore\", \"First Strike Still Deadly\" and \"Live in London\", the 14-track set chronicles an era that ultimately saw the original Testament reunite for a successful 2005 tour. As a result, \"The Spitfire Collection\" features both live versions as well as several oft-overlooked studio tracks.
