While they’re arguably one of the biggest bands in thrash, Testament aren’t the friendliest group of guys. At least that’s what recently-axed bassist Greg Christian said in a Facebook post on his birthday on Tuesday. In the middle of expressing gratitude for those wishing him happy birthday, he posted the following:
The last five months or so have been some of the most difficult of my 48 years on this Earth and seeing this support really helps. Thank you. “I’m still kind of in shock by how everything went down with Testament. And all I’ll really say about that is — there are no ‘bros’ in Testament. The catch phrase coined by the Chief himself is every one man for himself, and it’s taken to a sickening extreme with zero humanity. C’est la vie. But I’m not done playing music yet. Far from it. But every day’s a struggle. And on top of it all, I have to deal with a few haters (people I barely know) going out of their way to derail me in any way they can.
That quote made its way around the internet, and made enough of a buzz that Christian responded in another message. As Blabbermouth noted:
“Wow. I made a post saying thanks for the [birthday] wishes / I’m having a tough time / I feel dehumanized by the band, and it’s now all over everything. I honestly had no idea anyone cared. Now I’m getting ripped on left and right.
He added: “The bottom line is after all the history and touring — once the band got to a point of turning a serious profit — it was made perfectly clear to me that I was never going to share in any of it and never get anything beyond a day rate, that never went up once in 8 1/2 years, while I watched everything else get bigger and grander every step of the way. And if anyone wants to rip on me for feeling dehumanized by that, I don’t care — they’re entitled to their opinion. But so am I. And my opinion is — it sucks to be poor and famous.”
It’s really unfortunate that the band wasn’t able to adequately compensate an original member of the band, especially given that 2008’s The Formation of Damnation was a comeback in every sense of the word. At the end of the day, the music business is exactly that, a business, but the last sentence, “it sucks to be poor and famous,” is a sad sentence to read. Let’s hope that another band decides not only that they want Christian, but they want to pay him what he’s worth.
