In the band’s first public comments since the sudden departure of drummer Alex Bent, Trivium bassist Paolo Gregoletto has confirmed the split was completely amicable, stating there is “no juicier Cradle of Filth-style drama” involved. He also detailed the “crazy whirlwind” recruitment of Sepultura‘s Greyson Nekrutman as their temporary live drummer and outlined the band’s plan for finding a permanent replacement.
Speaking with 107.7 The Bone, Gregoletto explained that the band wanted to handle the departure with the utmost respect for Bent‘s nine-year tenure, which is why they allowed him to be the one to announce the news.
“We’ve had a great nine years together,” Gregoletto said. “We told Alex, like, ‘Well, you’ve been around for so long, our fans would wanna hear from you.’… I feel like we ended on great terms. And that’s really kind of it. I mean, there’s no juicier Cradle of Filth-style drama.”
With Bent‘s departure announced just hours before their performance at the Aftershock festival, the band had to move quickly to find a replacement. Gregoletto described the recruitment of Sepultura‘s Greyson Nekrutman as a last-minute scramble.
“It’s been a crazy whirlwind,” he said. “He was on a tour in Canada, a drum-clinic tour. And he said, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it.’ He got home, spent two 12-hour days just in there working on it, and then we flew him down. We jammed for two days, flew out here, and we’re gonna go jam.”
Gregoletto was clear that Nekrutman is a temporary solution, as the band is not rushing to find a permanent member.
“Greyson is incredible, but he is with Sepultura. And they have commitments, and we’re very lucky that there’s no clashes at the moment. He can get us through the end of the year,” he explained. “This is still kind of new, so we’re not totally sure what we’re gonna do about a new drummer, but we’ve never really taken a moment to kind of just step back.”
The plan, he says, is to focus on writing a new album in early 2026 before beginning the search for a new drummer in earnest. “The first couple months [of 2026] is gonna be kind of, like, of course, working on the next full-length record and stuff. And then we’re gonna probably take a little bit of time and maybe jam with some people, just kind of see what we’re feeling for the next step.”
He concluded by saying that the band’s upcoming EP, Struck Dead, will serve as a fitting final chapter for the Alex Bent era of the band. “If that’s kind of the end cap on this era of Trivium [with Alex], I’m very happy with everything we did,” he said.
Ogorthul: Immersed in the bone-shattering world of death metal and beyond. I’m here to excavate the latest news, reviews, and interviews from the extreme metal scene for you.
