Eugene (Gene) Victor Hoglan II (born August 31, 1967 in Dallas, Texas) is a well-known American extreme metal drummer. He also plays guitar, although not on any records (save for some riffs on Dark Angel's Leave Scars and Time Does Not Heal and one lead on Silent Scream's record From the Darkest Depths of Imagination). He is acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including usage of odd devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms (using what he calls "kick triplets")[citation needed]. His highly technical playing is extremely accurate at almost any tempo, earning him the nickname "The Atomic Clock".

Hoglan got his first drum kit when he was 13 and is completely self-taught. In 1984, Hoglan began his music career as a roadie (lights engineer) for the seminal thrash metal band Slayer, where he also played the drums during the soundcheck. He was also part of the band War God with Michelle Meldrum. At the end of the same year he was asked to join the thrash metal band Dark Angel as the drummer[4]. He penned most of the lyrics for Dark Angel's next three albums. He achieved greater notoriety during the mid-1990s playing with Death, at the same time that bandleader Chuck Schuldiner was taking that group into a more progressive style. 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. He has since recorded 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 a death metal band called Tenet, the brainchild of Strapping Young Lad guitarist Jed Simon, from 2003 to 2007. Hoglan left the band on good terms in January 2007, and he was replaced by Adrian Erlandsson only to return to the band in June 2007. Erlandsson was just not happy with his performance. The distance, the logistics, and his time schedules just kept clashing. Gene then returned and recorded the entire album in merely 2 days.

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

In 2005, Hoglan stood in once again for Martin Lopez for the majority of the Sounds of the Underground tour when Lopez began having more panic attacks. Hoglan played double duty by playing a set with Strapping Young Lad then later that night performing with Opeth. It was later announced Lopez had a rare blood disorder and was seeking treatment. Hoglan also appears in Opeth's music video "The Grand Conjuration" as they filmed it on the tour while in Los Angeles, California.

Other bands have also recruited Hoglan as a session drummer. He has recorded albums with the Norwegian black metal band Old Man's Child and the Danish death metal band Daemon. Additionally he has done production and engineering work for other albums and demos. He was also asked to do drums for death metallers Nile on their album In Their Darkened Shrines, but he turned this down, citing Tony Laureano for a better choice. He was then asked again to drum with them, but(along with Derrek Roddy) recommended Greek drummer George Kollias to drum with them, citing that Nile was "not of his musical tastes". Since then, Gene and George have been close friends, and both are well respected drummers within the extreme metal community.

Gene will be working with Dethklok, the band from the animated TV show Metalocalypse, on their debut album set to be released September 25, 2007.

Currently, Gene is working with the band Unearth as their temporary touring drummer. Gene has also joined the metal band Pitch Black Forecast, with former Mushroomhead singer Jason Popson, as the band's permanent drummer.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Hoglan