In a latest interview with Nikki Blakk of San Francisco’s 107.7 The Bone, Loss of life Angel and Kerry King vocalist Mark Osegueda opened up about why Loss of life 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 undertaking finally compelled Loss of life 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 entire Kerry band occurred, and nonetheless being a serious a part of Loss of life Angel, there was some backlash from a variety of Loss of life Angel followers, considering that [my involvement with Kerry] is perhaps the top of Loss of life Angel or it is taking away from Loss of life Angel,” he defined. “After which there was a tour that Loss of life 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 Loss of life Angel, I had put it on the market to the powers that be that, ‘Okay, however I can not assure I will be accessible for the entire tour. Simply know this upfront. So when you take it, I should do reveals with Kerry in the event that they get booked, and it seems like they very effectively might.’ And nonetheless my phrases had been taken and with enthusiasm, they only heard, to a sure diploma, individuals thought, ‘Nicely, let’s do it.’ I stated, ‘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 finally, so to talk. And I stated, ‘Hey, what we did not need to occur is going on. However all of us knew this going upfront. So that is what we will do.’ And I really, being somebody — I do attempt to troubleshoot for Loss of life Angel on a regular basis as a result of there’s been a few years that Loss of life 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 at all times work with administration very effectively. And so I attempted to troubleshoot, and I stated, ‘Look, I may suppose of some singers that would fill in,’ and I gave some names and whatnot, simply as an possibility. ‘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 finally, what got here again when that was provided to the W.A.S.P. camp and reserving brokers, whatnot, they only mainly stated, ‘Nicely, we do not desire a fill-in for 2 specific occasions,’ ‘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 an excellent invoice. I imply, who’s to say that W.A.S.P. and Loss of life Angel would not have been an excellent invoice? Lots of people had been wanting ahead to it.”
Issues took a flip as soon as followers realized Loss of life Angel‘s absence from the tour was related to Osegueda‘s dedication to Kerry King‘s undertaking. 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 damaging 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 Loss of life Angel bandmates about his involvement with Kerry‘s band till the information grew to become 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 blokes ‘reason for NDAs [non-disclosure agreements I signed] and whatnot,” he stated. “And I do know individuals will say, ‘Nicely, that is your blood. These are your bros.’ However it’s an NDA. It is a authorized, binding contract that I signed and I respect that. And wording in NDAs are sort of daunting.”
Osegueda admitted as soon as once more, that maintaining the key was significantly difficult within the tight-knit metallic neighborhood, the place phrase spreads quick: “The metallic 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 identical 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 method to hold this mainly the most important secret there was. As a result of everybody sort of had an concept 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 sort of fairly an enormous secret to maintain down. In order that was onerous. And I perceive that. And I defined that to the blokes once I did inform them. And there you go.”
Regardless of the miscommunications and the backlash, Osegueda insisted that he had been upfront with Loss of life Angel‘s decision-makers about potential scheduling conflicts with Kerry King‘s band: “However once more, as I stated, after 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 inside the band, or individuals that do not have the ability within the band to make the choices, they may not have recognized that I had prefaced this with administration and the blokes who make the enterprise selections.
“And never everybody on this band is a decision-maker in terms of 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 at all times 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 manner for a band to work. We have tried with the unique Loss of life Angel lineup to do it as a democracy, and it does not work. It simply does not work. It simply breeds extra chaos and extra pressure, strife. [Too many cooks in the kitchen] — with every thing, from writing, to setlists, to every thing. So, there must be some type of set construction, at the very least with this band. It really works higher that manner. And most bands I’ve seen which have longevity, it tends to be the case as effectively.”
Requested which singers had been thought-about as potential fill-ins for the tour, Osegueda averted naming names however confirmed that he had instructed a number of choices to Loss of life Angel‘s administration: “Nicely, I do not even know… I should not go down that highway, however I instructed a number of names, after which I feel administration and other people had been wanting into individuals as effectively,” he stated. “And it simply wasn’t, I suppose, jelling, particularly with Rob.
“Rob and I had a number 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 variety of bands to get a fill-in singer. “It’s. It’s, ‘trigger persons are used to her or him being the entrance individual and the way they have interaction with the gang, and the way they work, and the voice — every thing. 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 might be simpler for us to discover a fill-in for me for a number of dates than it’s for you.’ And he stated that selflessly, however mainly when it boils all the way down to it, everybody in Loss of life Angel is a vital a part of Loss of life Angel, however I do know as a fan of various bands, when you went to go see Loss of life Angel with out me or Rob for that one present, there’s gonna be a substantial amount of individuals on the market that say, like, ‘Nicely, I bought sort of robbed.’ That sucks. And that is simply sort 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.’ They usually’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. However it’s not a typical incidence that it really works out so swimmingly and efficiently.”
