Last week, Gene Hoglan (Testament) joined Joshua Toomey for an in-depth interview on an episode of Talk Toomey: The Metal Nexus Podcast. The conversation covered a wide range of topics including playing as a session drummer for some of the biggest names in metal, the inspiration for creating his own artwork, weight loss, and much more. Continue reading
“The Atomic Clock” Gene Hoglan is one of modern metals most iconic drummers. He has been both a working member of amazing bands and the go to hired gun when it comes to drumming. Currently Gene is behind the kit for the thrash legends Testament. His trademark double kick rhythms have become the beats that have pounded through our headphones and speakers for years. Hoglan has won numerous best drummer of the year awards from Revolver, Modern Drummer, Terrorizer and various others. His capabilities behind the drum kit are a beat above anyone else. Bands Hoglan has been a part of either as a full member, live drummer or session drummer include Dark Angel, Testament, Fear Factory, Slayer, Devin Townsend, Opeth, Pitch Black Forecast, Strapping Young Lad, Forbidden, Death, Zimmers Hole, Meldrum, Viking, and even was the drummer for the animated band Dethklok, in addition to that he was also recently the drummer on Brendon Small’s Galaktikon (Dethklok) new album. Because Gene is such a revered drummer he has also released several dvds featuring his jaw dropping drum style, the most recent being 2016’s ‘The Clock Strikes Two’. Continue reading
Slayer playing shows by themselves is more than enough to get metal heads out to a show. When you add Testament and Carcass to the bill that makes the tour a must see. Any of these 3 bands could headline a show or festival and draw a massive crowd. I knew we were in store for a massive turnout at Express Live in Columbus, Ohio. The first band of the night to take the stage was the Liverpool band Carcass. They quickly came out and got the crowd’s attention opening the show with their song “Unfit for Human Consumption”. When you are in the crowd it’s always great to catch a guitar pick, drum stick or really anything the band throws out at you. Bassist and singer Jeff Walker threw out more picks that night than I have ever seen anyone throw. The crowd kept growing and growing with each song Carcass played. By the time they were playing “Cadaver Pouch Conveyor System” there wasn’t even enough room to scratch your own ass. Carcass sounded flawless on stage. Note after note everything was perfection. It’s always amazing when the opening band is on stage and they blow you away. Carcass then played one of my favorite songs which is “Heartwork” the title track of their 1993 release. The song just has this fast paced shredding guitar riffs that flow into some slowed down groove section of the song makes you want to move around the mosh pit and tackle people. I am not the only person that feels this way, because during this song the pit was going absolutely insane. Continue reading
