Former Testament drummer Gene Hoglan recently joined an interview with Talk Toomy and talked about Dave Lombardo‘s replacement of him in Testament by mentioning it was a ‘win-win’ situation for everybody.
Gene Hoglan first appeared with Testament in the band’s seventh album, ‘Demonic,‘ released in 1997. Hoglan was not part of other albums for 15 years. Because he wanted to stay loyal to Strapping Young Lad, the drummer did not become a permanent member.
Later on, Hoglan replaced Paul Bostaph in 2011 after Bostaph left the band because of his injury. The drummer contributed to the band’s eleventh album entitled ‘Dark Roots of Earth,’ which sold thousands of records during the first week of its release and reached number 12 on the Billboard 200.
Hoglan was on the drums for the band’s 2016 album ‘Brotherhood of the Snake.’ Then the twelfth album, ‘Titans of Creation,’ would be the last album Hoglan appeared. In January 2022, Hoglan and the Testament members informed their fans that they parted ways. Both sides thanked each other for the great 20 years they shared.
Dave Lombardo, who contributed to the group’s eighth studio album ‘The Gathering,’ was announced as the new drummer in March 2022. They also discussed the possibilities of releasing a new album with Lombardo.
During a recent interview, Hoglan talked about Lombardo’s replacement of him in the Testament. The drummer initially stated that they parted ways because their schedules did not fit, and there was no other reason except this. When he opened up about leaving to focus on his solo works to the band members, they were all kind, as Hoglan revealed.
About his departure, Gene Hoglan said:
“It was scheduling; that was it. It was a very amicable split, and nobody wanted it to happen. But I know Testament, they’ve gotta keep going. And during the pandemic, I took time to start curating a lot of my projects and a lot of the things going on. So when I was laying things down on the calendar, they were starting to conflict with some of the Testament’s plans, and that’s understandable.
When it came down to, we all have to do something here, it all came together pretty easy, pretty quickly for Testament. When I was like, ‘Guys, I don’t know if I can make all that you need. I know you need somebody there slamming for you the whole round.’ And bringing in a guy for a few days here and there while I take off and do some one-off things, or while I’ve had album projects planned for coming up in summer, for ’22.”
Then, Hoglan said the band had to continue with their plans even if he left the band, so they started to look for someone to be the new drummer. Hoglan expressed his excitement for his old bandmates as they ended up with Dave Lombardo. According to the former Testament drummer, Lombardo’s joining the group was a ‘win-win’ situation for everybody.
In the same interview, Gene Hoglan added:
“It just became a situation where they need to keep moving forward, and I need to keep moving forward myself. You never know about the future, but at least for right now, we’ll get you guys somebody else. And look who they ended up with? The mighty Mr. Dave Lombardo! Win, win, all over the place. Testament fans are super happy.”
As Gene Hoglan revealed in the interview, he and Testament members parted ways without having any drama. Hoglan expressed his contentment with Dave Lombardo’s rejoining as the group’s new drummer. He added in his words that everybody was happy with the result.
