Craig Locicero, Russ Anderson, Matt Camacho, and Steve Smyth of the Bay Area thrash band FORBIDDEN have issued the following announcement:

“After a couple of grueling months of sifting through video auditions, we've finally got our man. Let it be known that on Halloween 2011, Sasha Horn from Chicago is Forbidden’s new drummer!

There were so many great players throwing themselves out there and we were always encouraged by the prospects. We had 9 different drummers out of the dozens of submissions make the trek to Oakland to give it their best shot. Those drummers included Eli Lucas (Petaluma, CA), Duane Timlin (Houston, TX), Jimmy Schultz (Los Angeles), Pat Magrath (Los Angeles), Gee Anzalone (Italy), Todd Hansen (Australia), Henry Moreno (Florida), and Burton Ortega (San Francisco). We can't say enough about these guys and how much heart and guts it took to take the chance for the gig. Much love and respect to them! At the very least, we have some new friends and we know where some great new talent is.

All of these guys kicked ass or they would have never made it through the door, but at the end of the day, it was a two-horse race between Eli Lucas and Sasha. We can say with certainty that if Sasha didn't slay the way he did, Eli would have gotten the gig. Both are incredible drummers with HUGE upsides. Eli will go far in this business!

Sasha, however, lifted us to another level. When he started playing ‘Infinite,’ everyone in the band immediately looked at each other and our eyes got bigger. It was something that Russ and I have not felt since Paul Bostaph first played with us back in 1986, when we were kids. Simply put, great chemistry! A sense of invincibility was in the room. Then we played ‘Forsaken At The Gates’ and it was over. No need to keep playing - we were stunned. In fact, some of our hands were shaking! That's saying something. It was like gasoline thrown on an inferno!

Now that we have our band back intact, we can start writing the next Forbidden record with the confidence that we have something special once again. Like Bostaph, Jacobs, Hernandez and Hoglan, Sasha Horn will earn his praise and respect from our fans. He's Forbidden’s next great drummer and we are very proud to tell the world! We are truly inspired to out-do ourselves.”

New Forbidden drummer Sasha Horn (ex-NOVEMBER’S DOOM, AVA INFERI) comments:

"This was an amazing opportunity from the get-go, to be able to throw my name in on auditions for a band that I've been an avid fan of since I was 12 years-old. How does it feel to now get the chance to slay alongside them? Otherworldly. Truly out of this world. To just be considered along with the other amazing drummers from across the globe was a humbling experience in itself. And it's because FORBIDDEN is a band that wants to constantly take leaps and bounds up to that next level that I know this is the perfect union. When we got into that room and played together for the first time, the chemistry just went right off of the charts. That's a good feeling to start off with."

View a demo video of Sasha Horn on YouTube below: