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
Slayer
Slayer is one of the bands that defines metal, their fan base are full of die hard fanatics. It’s not often you get the chance to go to a show and know it will be the last time you will see the band perform. Sure, other bands have had farewell tours but more often than not bands break up or fade away and you don’t have that opportunity to say goodbye in a live setting. Slayer gave that to me and over 8 thousand other fans on a Sunday night in Nashville, Tennessee. As we rolled up to the venue there was already protesters lurking about warning us of our sins and our eternal damnation for attending such an event. I hate to tell them but with all the flames and fire Slayer had on stage it was probably hotter than hell, and we’d go to straight to Lucifer lair if it meant we got to hear “Disciple” one more time. For this leg of the tour Slayer brought an amazing cast of characters with them. The lineup included 3 of the Big Four of Thrash; Slayer, Testament, and Anthrax. In addition to those veteran acts we also were “blessed” with Lamb Of God, and Napalm Death opening the show while the sun was still high in the sky. Continue reading
Last year, Bay Area thrash vets TRAUMA announced their long-awaited comeback and new member additions. In advance of finishing their upcoming third album, TRAUMA are set to hit the road on a brief headline tour beginning April 13 in Cool, CA. Additional east coast and mid-western dates have also been added.
TRAUMA was born in California’s Bay Area in 1980, a crucial year for metal music. It was within that fertile musical climate that TRAUMA developed a sound evoking the electric energy in the air around them. Donny Hillier consumed a steady diet of LED ZEPPELIN and BLACK SABBATH and shared a love of JUDAS PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN with original guitarist Mike Overton. And of course there was TRAUMA’s legendary early bassist, Cliff Burton.
“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
TESTAMENT
What a sick tour this looks like! All three thrash metal giants having started way back in the 1980s and still going undeterred to this day now come together for a killer European tour later this year. This tour is going to feature TESTAMENT as the headliner as they keep on going ahead on their tour cycle supporting their latest album,’Brotherhood Of The Snake‘, which saw a successful release last year in October. Receiving top notch reviews and faring well in the charts of many countries, TESTAMENT look forward to spreading the brotherhood wide across Europe with fellow thrashers ANNIHILATOR and DEATH ANGEL. Canadian thrashers ANNIHILATOR last released their record back in 2015, ‘Suicide Society‘ but they have been in the studio lately and are planning to release their new album this year later in October as per frontman Jeff Waters. DEATH ANGEL will also be supporting their new album, ‘The Evil Divide‘ which was out last year itself too. So get those battle jackets ready and get ready to thrash out to this epic tour. You lucky, Europeans! Continue reading
Byzantine
West Virginia’s best hidden secret Byzantine have long been the underdog in the metal world. Their last album ‘To Release Is To Resolve’ along with the powerful single “The Agonies” really propelled the band out of the Appalachian Mountains and into the ears of metal heads worldwide. The band self released the album and it was well received and got tremendous airplay on Sirius XM radio. The hard hitting progressive band also snagged a record deal with powerhouse label Metal Blade. The band has wrapped up recording and are set to release their Metal Blade debut ‘The Cicada Tree’ in June. Byzantine also has a Pledge Music Campaign For album pre-order which includes some exclusive bundles and even guitar lessons or person phone calls from the band. You can pre-order and check out the bundles here. Byzantine also recorded their first music video for a track from the upcoming album ‘The Cicada Tree’ at The V Club in Huntington, West Virginia on March 19th. We can’t wait to see what the guys came up with, and eager to hear the new material. The bands founder/singer/guitarist Chris “OJ” Ojeda is one of the nicest guys and a true ambassador for metal heads everywhere. In addition to being in Byzantine OJ is also a true music lover. We couldn’t think of anyone better to kick off our new segment THE BUCKETLIST with. As music obsessed fans we always keep a list of bands we want to see live that we haven’t had the chance to see. Touring musicians have the opportunity to see a lot more bands than the common band through friends in the industry and while touring. OJ recently sat down with Metal Nexus to let us know some of the bands and artists that he has on his own personal bucketlist. Without further ado we give you the inagural segment of THE BUCKETLIST with Byzantine’s Chris “OJ” Ojeda. 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
