Former TESTAMENT Bassist GREG CHRISTIAN: 'It Sucks To Be Poor And Famous'

Former TESTAMENT bassist Greg Christian says that never got anything beyond a "day rate" during his lengthy tenure with the band and his salary "never went up once in 8 1/2 years" while he "watched everything else get bigger and grander every step of the way."

While thanking his Facebook friends for their birthday wishes, Christian, who turned 48 years old on Tuesday (April 29),revealed that he was "still kind of in shock by how everything went down with TESTAMENT" and added that "there are no 'bros' in TESTAMENT." He continued: "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."

After his initial post was picked up by BLABBERMOUTH.NET, Christian wrote a follow-up message in which he said: "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."

TESTAMENT in January announced the departure of Greg Christian and return of Steve DiGiorgio (SADUS, DEATH, ICED EARTH).

Steve was previously a member of TESTAMENT on "The Gathering" (1999) and "First Strike Still Deadly" (2001) albums.

In a recent interview with 100PercentRock.com, TESTAMENT frontman Chuck Billy stated about Christian's latest departure from the band: "Well, I think Greg, he informed us that he wasn't going to be participating on the new record release and that was his last tour with us. We knew we had Australia coming up, so, of course, Steve DiGiorgio was probably one of the first ones to come to mind. He did 'The Gathering' record with us and we enjoyed that whole cycle of touring, so he was definitely, probably, our first choice. We didn't want to go through auditions and do all that. We just knew that he was here, and he could do it, and it was killer."

Asked if there was a particular reason that Greg just had enough of it, Billy replied: "Well, I think that the last tour he just wasn't getting along, and he just decided that that was going to be the last tour with us, so we just kind of said, 'Well, okay. I guess we'll have to maybe look for what's coming up in the future.' You know — there's nothing we can do."

Christian was forced to leave the band's North American tour with LAMB OF GOD and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE in November 2013 for "personal reasons." Filling in for him was EXODUS bassist Jack Gibson.

Christian played on the following TESTAMENT albums:

* "The Legacy" (1987)
* "The New Order" (1988)
* "Practice What You Preach" (1989)
* "Souls Of Black" (1990)
* "The Ritual" (1992)
* "Low" (1994)
* "The Formation Of Damnation" (2008)
* "Dark Roots Of Earth" (2012)