BUCKCHERRY's JOSH TODD Says His Collaboration With LAMB OF GOD's MARK MORTON 'Happened Really Quickly'

BUCKCHERRY frontman Josh Todd recently spoke to Australia's Loud magazine about his involvement with "Anesthetic", the debut solo album from LAMB OF GOD guitarist Mark Morton. Todd is featured in the track "Back From The Dead", which was described in one review as "a sleazy, fun-lovin' rocker" and one of the disc's highlights.

"I've been listening to the whole thing and everyone keeps telling me the same thing: 'You've got one of the best songs on the record,'" Josh said. "And I'm, like, 'Great.' I'm happy about that."

According to Josh, his collaboration with Mark "happened really quickly" after he got a call from an old manager. "I had always stayed in touch with him, and he manages Mark, and he said he's doing this record and he likes you and he asked if you'd like to be a part of it," Todd explained. "So I asked him if I could hear some of the music. He sent me that track and I listened to it a little bit and tried to see where it was taking me in my head. So I went back to when I was transitioning… I was going through a lot — I was deep in my drug and alcohol addiction and I knew I had to get away from every aspect of it. The people, the actual substances — everything. That whole song describes that transition. I came back from the dead. It was like I was reborn… When you listen to that track, the music is really aggressive, so I wanted to be aggressive with my approach. That's what came to me. It came to me quickly, and a lot of great songs do that. I sent to back to him and he was happy, and I was happy, and that's all that mattered."

Morton told Revolver that Todd was the first guest vocalist he reached out to about appearing on "Anesthetic". "On that particular song, we didn't even have a top line for it — we didn't have any vocal or lyrics," the guitarist said. "We just had the music. It had this real straight-up rock and roll kind of vibe to it. We started talking about real rock star singers, and Josh's name came up. I got his phone number through a mutual friend, texted him, and he said, 'Yes, send the song.' I e-mailed him the song — and within ten minutes of me sending that e-mail, he wrote back, 'I'm in!' A few days later, he sent the demo of what he wrote for it, and that sort of set the standard for the process."

"Anesthetic" was released on March 1. The first single from the album, "Cross Off", features late LINKIN PARK singer Chester Bennington.

Other singers on the album include Alissa White-Gluz (ARCH ENEMY),Jacoby Shaddix (PAPA ROACH),Myles Kennedy (SLASH, ALTER BRIDGE),Randy Blythe (LAMB OF GOD),Mark Lanegan, Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT),Jake Oni, Josh Todd (BUCKCHERRY),Mark Morales (SONS OF TEXAS),and Naeemah Maddox. Musically, Morton performs all guitars, with Roy Mayorga (STONE SOUR),David Ellefson (MEGADETH),Ray Luzier (KORN),Gregoletto and Bent, Mike Inez (ALICE IN CHAINS),Jean-Paul Gaster (CLUTCH),Steve Gorman and Marc Paul rounding out the band.

Morton tour in support of "Anesthetic", kicked off on March 13 in Richmond, Virginia and concluded on March 23 in Phoenix, Arizona.