TESTAMENT COVER ARTIST ELIRAN KANTOR TALKS PARA BELLUM – “WHAT IF FEAR OF DEATH IS REMOVED FROM ONE PART OF THE EQUATION?”

Earlier today, August 21st, it was announced that Bay Area thrash metal icons, Testament, would return this fall with their 14th studio album, Para Bellum.

The album, which will be released on October 10th via Nuclear Blast Records, stands as both a battle cry and an observation of humanity’s uneasy alliance with its own creations. As technology accelerates and disconnection grows, Para Bellum sees Testament reflecting on modern chaos through music that’s urgent, sharp, and unflinchingly human.

Highly respected artist Eliran Kantor (Soulfly, Bloodbath, Helloween, My Dying Bride, Sodom), who created the cover for Para Bellum, has since revealed the following details about his artwork:

“Happy to finally share with you all: Para Bellum, 2025 for my longtime friends in Testament.”

“‘Para Bellum’ is a song Chuck (Billy, vocalist) and Alex (Skolnick, guitarist) wrote, but I initially only heard about it from Eric (Peterson, guitarist) and didn’t have the lyrics yet, so I let that title alone stir up the imagery on it’s own.”

“It refers to the saying, ‘If you want peace, prepare for war,’ so I was thinking about the idea of groups arming themselves resulting in peace through mutual deterrence, which made me think what if fear of death is removed from one part of the equation?”

“So I pictured a suicidal cult, books welded onto their eyes, shovels in hand, ushering in the final day with a divine expulsion that will also push them towards the graves they dug for themselves.”

“Nuclear Blast (I just realized) Records.”

Para Bellum tracklisting:
For The Love Of Pain
Infanticide A.I.
Shadow People
Meant to Be
High Noon
Witch Hunt
Nature Of The Beast
Room 117
Havana Syndrome
Para Bellum

Para Bellum is now available for pre-order in the following formats:

– CD Jewel, 20 pg Booklet
– Gold Cassette (Band/King’s Road Exclusive – Limited)
– 2 LP Gatefold, 16 pg Booklet
* Yellow, Black & Brown Splatter (Band/King’s Road Exclusive – Limited)
* Copper (Mass Market Retail (US/EU))
* Bone & Brown Marbled (NB Europe Exclusive)
* Black and Orange Swirl + Splatter (NB Europe Exclusive)
* Orange & Black Swirl (NB U.S. Exclusive)
– Para Bellum T-shirt

Pre-order or pre-save Para Bellum on the format of your choice here.