Gene Hoglan

Eugene Victor Hoglan II (born August 31, 1967) is an American drummer, known for his work with thrash metal bands Dark Angel and Testament. He is acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including use of abstract devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms. Though his playing style is very technically demanding, he retains high accuracy at extreme tempos, earning him the nicknames "The Atomic Clock" and "Human Drum Machine".

Hoglan has played for numerous metal bands across his career. He first established himself as the drummer of Dark Angel in the 1980s, and began to expand his repertoire in the early 1990s after that band split up. Since then, he has played for Death, Strapping Young Lad and the solo projects of its frontman Devin Townsend, Fear Factory, Dethklok and Testament, amid two Dark Angel reunions and participation in several other side projects. He released his own album, the Gene Hoglan: The Atomic Clock DVD, and served as Testament's longest-serving drummer.

Hoglan was featured on the cover of Modern Drummer magazine in November 2010. He also won Terrorizer magazine's Reader's Poll for Best Drummer 2010, and Modern Drummer magazine nominated Hoglan for Best Metal Drummer, and Best Recorded Performance (for Dethklok's Dethalbum II) on their 2011 ballot. He was nominated for Best Drummer in Revolver magazine's 2010 Reader's Poll.

Early life and influences Hoglan got his first drum kit when he was 13 and is completely self-taught. He started jamming along to his Kiss and Rush records, with Peter Criss and Neil Peart being his early influences. Hoglan's later influences include Cozy Powell, Tommy Aldridge, Robb Reiner of Anvil, Rob "Wacko" Hunter of Raven, and Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor. He also provided backing vocals on the song "Evil Has No Boundaries", from the first Slayer album Show No Mercy. He contributed in the recording of Haunting the Chapel by holding Dave Lombardo's drum kit together during the recording of "Chemical Warfare" because there was no carpet in the studio. He became an influence in Lombardo's drumming style and speed. Lombardo had just had the double bass added to his kit and it was the first double bass Hoglan ever played. Lombardo was impressed with Hoglan's playing, and Hoglan gave Lombardo tips regarding the use of the double kick drum.

Subsequently, he recorded one album with the thrash metal band Testament, and made the acquaintance of Canadian multi-instrumentalist Devin Townsend, forging a lasting friendship. Around this time, coming off of the final tour he performed with Death, Hoglan was approached by Slayer to replace a departing Paul Bostaph. Jon Dette, however, took the position, much to Hoglan's approval. He would go on to record several albums with Townsend, both as part of the speed/industrial/death metal band Strapping Young Lad and under Devin Townsend's name.

Hoglan was also part of thrash metal band Tenet, a side project of Strapping Young Lad guitarist Jed Simon, from 2003 to 2007. Hoglan left the band on amicable terms in January 2007. He was replaced by Adrian Erlandsson only to return to the group in June of the same year. Hoglan recorded his drum parts for the entirety of the following album in a mere two days.

On the Vancouver stop of Opeth's 2004 Lamentations tour, Hoglan stood in for drummer Martin Lopez, who was said to be having panic attacks. Opeth's drum tech had filled in for the two previous dates on the tour and Lopez rejoined the band for the Seattle, Washington, show.

In 2005, Hoglan stood in for Lopez for the majority of the Sounds of the Underground tour when Lopez began having more panic attacks. He toured with Brendon Small and the live band during the summer of 2008. Besides working with Dethklok, Hoglan is also a guest star by voicing a health inspector in one episode of the series. He later performed on Dethalbum II, the sequel album released on September 29, 2009, and again toured with Dethklok. The two later collaborated to make Brendon Small's Galaktikon using extra studio time from the Dethklok studio sessions.

Hoglan filled in as the drummer for Unearth when their then drummer, Mike Justian, quit while on tour. He has also joined the metal band Pitch Black Forecast, with former Mushroomhead singer Jason Popson, as the band's permanent drummer. Even more recently, Hoglan was announced as the drummer for the reunited Bay Area Thrash metal band Forbidden's reunion tour, replacing original drummer Paul Bostaph.

Hoglan played drums on Zimmers Hole's third studio album When You Were Shouting at the Devil...We Were in League With Satan in 2008.

In June 2011, he reunited with Testament, to record their eleventh studio album Dark Roots of Earth. On that album, he filled in for Paul Bostaph, who was unable to participate in the recording sessions because of a "serious injury". In 2012, he began touring with Testament, and on January 27 filled in for Charlie Benante of Anthrax. Although Hoglan was initially brought back to the band as a temporary drummer (in a fashion similar to his initial tenure when he recorded the Demonic album), he had since rejoined as a permanent member of Testament, recording two more albums with the band – Brotherhood of the Snake (2016) and Titans of Creation (2020) – and surpassing original drummer Louie Clemente as their longest-serving drummer. In 2018, Hoglan played with both Anthrax and Testament on the same nights during the Slayer farewell tour while Charlie Benante was recovering from carpal tunnel syndrome. Hoglan announced his second departure from Testament on January 21, 2022.

Gene was the drummer for Fear Factory from 2009 to 2012 and played on their release Mechanize; his association with the band ended when he was "no longer needed", and he expressed both a reluctance to join and a disappointment in the ultimate resolution of his tenure. He also participated in the recording sessions of Viking's reunion album, No Child Left Behind (2015).

Hoglan participated in the 2013 reunion of Dark Angel, who still play live occasionally to this day. The band announced in late March 2023 that it would continue on after the death of band member Jim Durkin and was planning to release a new album sometime in 2023 or 2024; the resulting album was 2025's Extinction Level Event. Hoglan has stated that Dark Angel has a "shit tons of songs" for a possible sixth album.

Other ventures In 2017, Hoglan released an art collection consisting of long-exposure photography of him playing with colorful glowing drumsticks, resulting in psychedelic imagery.

Hoglan made a guest appearance in the season 2 finale of The Eric Andre Show on Adult Swim.

Personal life Hoglan is married to Dark Angel guitarist Laura Christine. He was diagnosed with diabetes, and in 2025, lost around .

Equipment Gene endorses and uses Pearl Drums, Sabian cymbals, Pro-Mark sticks and Evans heads.

Drum setup Drums – Pearl Reference Carbon Mist Finish, Black Hardware 12x10 Tom 14x12 Tom 18x16 Floor Tom 14x8 Brass Free Floating Snare Drum Cymbals – Sabian G2 Clear SD Dry Pedals: Tama Camco (until 2015–2016) (×2) Pearl Eliminator Redline (nowadays) (×2) Hardware – Pearl 2012: Memorain – Evolution 2013: Dethklok – The Doomstar Requiem 2014: Pitch Black Forecast – As the World Burns 2015: Viking – No Child Left Behind 2016: Testament – Brotherhood of the Snake 2017: Brendon Small – Brendon Small's Galaktikon II 2019: Bear McCreary – Godzilla: King of the Monsters (soundtrack) 2019: Bryan Beller – Scenes from the Flood 2020: Testament – Titans of Creation 2023: Dethklok – Dethalbum IV 2024: Bear McCreary – The Singularity 2025: Dark Angel – Extinction Level Event

Videography

Dark Angel - Ultimate Revenge 2 (VHS, 1989) Strapping Young Lad - For Those Aboot to Rock: Live at the Commodore (DVD, 2004, Century Media Records) Gene Hoglan - The Atomic Clock (DVD, 2010, Hoglan Industries) Behind the Player: Dimmu Borgir (DVD, 2010, Alfred Music Publishing) Bryan Beller - "Mastering Tone and Versatility (DVD, 2012, Alfred Music Publishing) Gene Hoglan - The Clock Strikes Two (DVD, 2016, Hoglan Industries)