Born in Dallas, Texas, on August 31, 1967, Gene Holgan is known for his creative drum arrangements. He bought his first drum set at the age of 14 and in fact taught himself without any outside help. Kiss and Rush were his favorite bands to play while he was learning to play drums, in fact that helped him become the drummer he is today. He had his first experience on the road with the Slayer band, he was a lighting engineer, basically a roadie. He played drums during sound checks before each concert. At this very moment, he was part of a small-time gang known as War God.
After his experience with Slayer, he was invited to join Dark Angel as their drummer. However, this is not the origin of his fame. In the 1990s he ended up playing with Death at the same time that Chuck Schuldiner was redirecting the band to a more progressive style of music. He played with them for a few years, which gave him enough experience and fame to move on to a number of other great projects. He played drums for Testament on the recording of one of their albums, which was when he met Devin Townsend, forging a lasting friendship. He recorded many albums with Townsend, including those with Strapping Young Lad and Devin Townsend himself.
In 2004 Holgan replaced Opeth drummer Martin Lopez during the band’s Lamentations tour. He only played one show with them in Vancouver, British Columbia, but it was said to be a fantastic show. A year later, he replaced López once more. Lopez had a history of panic attacks, so he needed backups both times. At this point, Holgan played two shows in one night, one with Opeth and then that night with Strapping Young Lad, a really busy day. Opeth also asked Holgan to shoot a music video with them, which he did. Appears in the music video “The Grand Conjuration”.
Among other bands he has worked with as a session drummer, Old Man’s Child and Daemon were some of his best work in the black metal genre. He has also done additional production work for bands. While he has accepted many jobs, he has also turned down anyone who does not fit his own style of music.
Holgan is currently working with Dethklok, or more specifically, Brenden Small. Brenden literally composes all the music for the animated television show Metalocalypse. Holgan plays drums on all of Dethklok’s recordings, which is why he is obviously featured on the debut album entitled “The Dethalbum”. This was released in 2007, then shortly after, he toured in support of the album with other musicians taking on the roles of made-up band members. He also recorded the second album for Dethklok which was later titled “Dethalbum II”.
Gene Holgan is typically a metal drummer, one of the best in the business. Even on Strapping Young Lad he shows his love for metal drums. He is definitely one of the best metal drummers of all time.
