Drummer Paul Wandtke is Out of Trivium, Alex Bent is In

Just over a year ago, Trivium hired drummer Paul Wandtke — a protege of Dream Theater’s Mike Mangini — to replace Mat Madiro, a former drum tech for the band who had been filling in since they parted ways with Nick Augusto in May of 2014. Augusto sat atop the drum throne for four years, having replaced original skinsman Travis Smith.

And now the revolving door of Trivium drummers continues: Wandtke is out, and Alex Bent is in. Bent has previously played with Battlecross, Testament, Brain Drill and Decrepit Birth, and has been a member of Arkaik since 2011 (performing on two of their albums), despite being just 23 years old.

Exactly what lead to the split between Trivium and Wandtke isn’t clear. In an interview with Metal Insider, Matt Heafy said of the band’s past three drummers that “everyone has been a session drummer within our band,” and in a chat with Rock Feed Wandtke confirmed that he came into the band “in a work for hire situation.” In other words, Wandtke was never an official member of Trivium, just a salaried player. Still, neither Heafy nor Wandtke have revealed anything about why they parted ways; the only thing that’s clear is that Wandtke was surprised to learn of his ouster.

Meanwhile, Trivium bassist Paolo Gregoletto revealed last night that Bent is the new drummer for the group by posting the latter’s audition video to Twitter:

https://twitter.com/TriviumPaolo/status/823369597948690432

At least the humor in Trivium’s drummer troubles isn’t lost on the band. Gregoletto Tweeted the following shortly after:

https://twitter.com/TriviumPaolo/status/823370760710475779

Bent will accompany Trivium on their tour of Europe and the UK next month. Hopefully he’s got plenty of gas, ’cause he’s gonna need to keep that seat extra warm for whoever the next guy is. Watch his audition below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpRJ95A2JwQ