In a current interview with Nikki Blakk of San Francisco’s 107.7 The Bone, Dying Angel and Kerry King vocalist Mark Osegueda opened up about why Dying Angel needed to pull out of its deliberate fall 2024 tour with W.A.S.P. and the way the choice fueled fan criticism of his dual-band commitments.
Osegueda confirmed that scheduling conflicts with Kerry King‘s solo mission in the end pressured Dying Angel to withdraw from the W.A.S.P. tour. Armored Saint was introduced in as a substitute, however Osegueda insists that he had made his availability points clear from the start.
“Since this complete Kerry band occurred, and nonetheless being a serious a part of Dying Angel, there was some backlash from a whole lot of Dying Angel followers, considering that [my involvement with Kerry] may be the tip of Dying Angel or it is taking away from Dying Angel,” he defined. “After which there was a tour that Dying Angel needed to drop off of, and it was as a result of there have been conflicting dates with Kerry,” Osegueda shared.
“However when that W.A.S.P. tour was provided to Dying Angel, I had put it on the market to the powers that be that, ‘Okay, however I can not assure I will be obtainable for the entire tour. Simply know this prematurely. So when you take it, I must do exhibits with Kerry in the event that they get booked, and it seems to be like they very effectively might.’ And nonetheless my phrases have been taken and with enthusiasm, they only heard, to a sure diploma, folks thought, ‘Nicely, let’s do it.’ I mentioned, ‘Okay, let’s, however as soon as once more…’ I imply, each little bit of communication we had, I might reiterate that.”
“And we nonetheless went for it, throwing warning to the wind, and the wind blew again ultimately, so to talk. And I mentioned, ‘Hey, what we did not need to occur is occurring. However all of us knew this going prematurely. So that is what we are able to do.’ And I really, being somebody — I do attempt to troubleshoot for Dying Angel on a regular basis as a result of there’s been a few years that Dying Angel has been self-managed by me, Rob [Cavestany, Death Angel guitarist] and Ted [Aguilar, Death Angel guitarist], and we have additionally had administration, however we all the time work with administration very effectively. And so I attempted to troubleshoot, and I mentioned, ‘Look, I may suppose of some singers that might fill in,’ and I gave some names and whatnot, simply as an choice. ‘Trigger I did not need them to lose the tour.”
Regardless of his transparency, issues did not go as deliberate: “However the actuality is what the fact was. So ultimately, what got here again when that was provided to the W.A.S.P. camp and reserving brokers, whatnot, they only principally mentioned, ‘Nicely, we do not need a fill-in for 2 explicit instances,’ ‘trigger I might have missed two batches of dates, and so they did not need that to be the case… That is just about the stance they took. So, then, from there on, push got here to shove, and so they bought Armored Saint, which I feel it is a terrific invoice. I imply, who’s to say that W.A.S.P. and Dying Angel would not have been a terrific invoice? Lots of people have been trying ahead to it.”
Issues took a flip as soon as followers realized Dying Angel‘s absence from the tour was related to Osegueda‘s dedication to Kerry King‘s mission. That is when criticism towards him intensified.
“Previous to [Death Angel pulling out of the W.A.S.P. tour], there was not a lot negativity about me being in Kerry‘s band, however when that hit, then the floodgates opened,” he continued. “And that is when lots of people began saying adverse issues about me and my character and the way it was affecting the band they love. Unbeknownst to them, consider it or not, I really like that band greater than they do.”
One other supply of frustration for some was that Osegueda did not inform his Dying Angel bandmates about his involvement with Kerry‘s band till the information turned public. He defined that non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) prevented him from sharing particulars earlier than the official announcement in February 2024.
“I could not actually inform the fellows ‘explanation for NDAs [non-disclosure agreements I signed] and whatnot,” he mentioned. “And I do know folks will say, ‘Nicely, that is your blood. These are your bros.’ But it surely’s an NDA. It is a authorized, binding contract that I signed and I respect that. And wording in NDAs are form of daunting.”
Osegueda admitted as soon as once more, that preserving the key was significantly difficult within the tight-knit steel neighborhood, the place phrase spreads quick: “The steel neighborhood is a hen home,” he remarked. “It truly is. And simply, bap, bap, bap, bap, and phrase simply will get out, and it is similar to speedy hearth. And Blabbermouth or not, it simply takes somebody from one crew, one band, and so they discover out and it simply goes round And we needed to exit of our technique to maintain this principally the most important secret there was. As a result of everybody form of had an thought of who was in [Kerry‘s] band, however for probably the most half, nobody knew who the singer was. All of them assumed it was Phil [Anselmo]. And it was simply form of fairly a giant secret to maintain down. In order that was onerous. And I perceive that. And I defined that to the fellows once I did inform them. And there you go.”
Regardless of the miscommunications and the backlash, Osegueda insisted that he had been upfront with Dying Angel‘s decision-makers about potential scheduling conflicts with Kerry King‘s band: “However once more, as I mentioned, once we took the W.A.S.P. tour, I did inform the powers that be that make the choices for this band, me being one in every of ’em, what may happen,” he reiterated. “Now say the powers that be throughout the band, or folks that do not have the facility within the band to make the choices, they may not have recognized that I had prefaced this with administration and the fellows who make the enterprise choices.
“And never everybody on this band is a decision-maker with regards to this band. And that is simply the pecking order of how this band works. A few of us have longevity and precedence and a few of us do not. And that may all the time be the case, even when it goes down 20 years from now. Rob and I nonetheless have two extra a long time extra historical past within the band. In order that’s simply the case.”
“And it is a greater method for a band to work. We have tried with the unique Dying Angel lineup to do it as a democracy, and it would not work. It simply would not work. It simply breeds extra chaos and extra pressure, strife. [Too many cooks in the kitchen] — with every part, from writing, to setlists, to every part. So, there must be some form of set construction, at the very least with this band. It really works higher that method. And most bands I’ve seen which have longevity, it tends to be the case as effectively.”
Requested which singers have been thought of as potential fill-ins for the tour, Osegueda averted naming names however confirmed that he had steered a number of choices to Dying Angel‘s administration: “Nicely, I do not even know… I should not go down that highway, however I steered a couple of names, after which I feel administration and folks have been trying into folks as effectively,” he mentioned. “And it simply wasn’t, I assume, jelling, particularly with Rob.
“Rob and I had a couple of conversations, and he is, like, ‘It is simply not the identical.’ And I am not saying it’s or is not for any band, or it is completely different for any band, however it’s onerous, and I am not saying the significance of a place, however it’s onerous in a whole lot of bands to get a fill-in singer. “It’s. It’s, ‘trigger persons are used to her or him being the entrance particular person and the way they have interaction with the gang, and the way they work, and the voice — every part. And in order that’s one other factor Rob was actually involved about, which makes absolute sense.”
“And in our private conversations, he was saying, ‘It would be simpler for us to discover a fill-in for me for a couple of dates than it’s for you.’ And he mentioned that selflessly, however principally when it boils right down to it, everybody in Dying Angel is an important a part of Dying Angel, however I do know as a fan of various bands, when you went to go see Dying Angel with out me or Rob for that one present, there’s gonna be a substantial amount of folks on the market that say, like, ‘Nicely, I bought form of robbed.’ That sucks. And that is simply form of the character of the beast and the character of the historical past of this band. With all bands, that is simply how it’s. It is like when you went to see Sabbath and so they had a fill-in for Tony Iommi. You would be, like, ‘Oh.’ And so they’re an exception.”
“There have been bands which have changed lead singers. Clearly, AC/DC and Sabbath are the 2 primest examples. And Iron Maiden. There is a handful. But it surely’s not a standard incidence that it really works out so swimmingly and efficiently.”
