Forbidden cancels European tour

Bay Area thrash veterans Forbidden have cancelled all but one of their European tour dates following the departure of drummer Matt Hernandez. The band will still play the Alcatraz Festival in Belgium on Aug. 27 with the legendary Gene Hoglan (Dark Angel, Death, Testament, Fear Factory) filling in.

Forbidden's label, Nuclear Blast, issued a press release with the following statement from founding guitarist Craig Locicero:

This is the most painful update I have ever had to write... 

Due to family obligations on the part of our longtime drummer, Mark Hernandez, FORBIDDEN is forced to cancel it's tour of Europe and will start to search for an adequate permanent replacement right away. Compounding things is the fact that Mark and I also play in Demonica, who were to open the tour. Unfortunately, at this late date, there is no time nor budget to find a replacement who can handle both bands and our only option right now is to cancel the entire tour. 

FORBIDDEN would like to apologize to all of the different promoters, Continental Concerts, the bands Communic and Demonica, our label Nuclear Blast, and most importantly our fans who have been waiting for us to finally make it overseas for our first proper European tour in support of Omega Wave. You all deserve better. This is a collective kick to everyone’s stomach and it is very difficult for us to swallow. 

If there were any way to find one drummer to do both jobs and learn over 22 songs of material in only a couple of days, we would do it. But there is no way to teach somebody all of that material from the ground up and give the fans our very best. Our first choice was longtime Brother, Gene Hoglan, and since Gene is very familiar with our current set list, this makes the most sense. However, he only has a very small window to work with and no time to commit to an entire tour. But he did agree to fly out to Belgium with us so that FORBIDDEN can play the Alcatraz Festival on August 27th! That works out to be the only days that work within Gene's busy schedule and it also allows us to get in front of as many fans as possible for one show. 

In no way does this make up for all of the other gigs we will miss. They MUST be rescheduled for the future! 

Unfortunately, that future will have to be without Mark Hernandez. He has played for the last time with FORBIDDEN and we will be looking for the right replacement as soon as the dust settles. Obviously it takes a great player to play drums in FORBIDDEN. We will only accept the best! 

We all love Mark and hope he finds peace and serenity in his future with his family. 

In the meantime we will continue and take the momentum we have gained from Omega Wave and use it as fuel for the next record and beyond! 

Looking forward, not back....