New Testament Drummer Chris Dovas: “I Felt Like I Had Something to Prove”

Thrash metal legends Testament have had a few really good drummers in the band recently—most recently ‘The Atomic Clock’ Gene Hoglan and ex-Slayer skinsman Dave Lombardo. Lombardo and the band parted ways not too long ago and new drummer Chris Dovas stepped into the fold. Naturally, he said he’s feeling the pressure when speaking to Pod Scum in a new interview:

“It was, especially at first because I knew that a lot of eyes were on me, and also I looked up to the band since I was a kid. Especially Lombardo and Gene — those are two of my favorite drummers right there. So to be put in that situation of taking over for them, I felt like I had a lot of responsibility and a lot of… I felt like I had something to prove a little bit, and I’m still practicing a lot and I just wanna do the best that I can do. Right now I’m not really nervous anymore because I’ve done two full tours with them now and we’re working on the album and the friendship has been developing now and we all get along super well. They’ve welcomed me with open arms and it’s been great and the fans have been great. I’ve been putting hours and hours of practice into it to make sure that I can do the best that I could do. And I look up to Dave and I look up to Gene as well, so, yeah, I just wanna play the songs well live and keep making the band sound good.”

Speaking on the band’s creative process, Dovas said:

“It’s very organic, though, and it’s very involved, I guess. It’s a different way of writing and I’m super excited to be a part of that method of writing. And I could see why they’re so successful for all these years, now finally being a part of this current writing cycle, I guess.”

It seems like Dovas is warming right up to being a member of Testament, so we’re excited to hear what they’re cooking up.