DEATH ANGEL's MARK OSEGUEDA Reflects On His 1992 ANTHRAX Audition: 'I Was Too Metal For Them'

The official DEATH ANGEL channel on YouTube has just uploaded exclusive content from the band's 2024 "Another Death Angel Xmas Show" livestream during which DEATH ANGEL frontman Mark Osegueda was asked by host Daniel Dekay to recount being invited to audition for ANTHRAX in 1992 after the first departure of Joey Belladonna. Mark said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, when they had their parting of ways the first time with Joey back when, I was living in New York and they called me. And I was no longer in DEATH ANGEL, and they called me and asked if I was interested in auditioning. I remember at one time they had a large cattle call for everyone, but there were certain people they flew in. I was one of 'em. I went down to Burbank, I believe, and auditioned. It was a great hang. It was a great jam. I know at one point, from what I heard from other people, they narrowed it down to me, John Bush [from ARMORED SAINT] and this guy, at the time, Spike [Xavier] from the band MIND OVER FOUR. That's what I heard. And then I also heard from people in the band that they narrowed it down to me and John Bush. Yeah, and to tell you the truth, I think they made the right decision. For the era and the time, they made the absolute right decision going with John Bush."

Mark added: "I'm friends with all the ANTHRAX guys, I'm friends with all the ARMORED SAINT guys and I love John. And that era was perfect. What they were looking for, that was the guy they were looking for."

Referencing the fact that ANTHRAX's Scott Ian wrote about Mark's ANTHRAX audition in his memoir where the guitarist explained that Mark "had a great voice but was strangely too metal for us", Osegueda added: "I've signed that page in Scott's book, and he even says, 'We got down to Mark, and he was too metal for us. He sounded too metal for us.' And I was, like, 'Well, there you go.' That's a compliment. I've signed that page at signing sessions, that I was too metal for 'em."

Mark previously discussed his ANTHRAX audition in an April 2024 interview with Argentina's Rocktambulos. He stated at the time:  "That was a long time ago. Gosh, that was maybe '92 or '93. I left San Francisco after I quit DEATH ANGEL. I moved to New York, and I was living in New York. And I think that was the first time that Joey and ANTHRAX had parted ways. And they did a big open call with people they were auditioning, I know that. But I was one of the few people they called to actually jam with them. And I flew out to L.A., like Burbank area, and met them at a studio out there. And we jammed for a couple of hours. They gave me some songs, some ANTHRAX songs to jam. What could I remember was there? Maybe 'Death From Above'. God, I'm trying to think. I know 'Indians' was one, 'Time' was one. Maybe 'Metal Thrashing Mad', maybe. Yeah. But we did that, and then we did a bunch of cover songs, just jamming — not ones that we rehearsed or anything. Like, 'Hey, try this one.' 'Cause we were all metal fans, so we grew up on the same stuff. So it ended up being a great afternoon and we jammed, had a blast."

Mark continued: "I'm friends with those guys, and much more so now. We were kind of friends then, acquaintances more, and since then we've become really, really, really good friends. And it's funny, but apparently I made it down to the top two. And eventually it got down to me and John Bush, and they picked John Bush, which I think was a great choice. I love John Bush. He's another friend of mine. Fantastic voice. And I think they made the right decision to go with Bush, for sure. But just knowing that they chose me to come fly there and sing with them and knowing that I made it to the top two, I think that's awesome. And it's funny 'cause now, in one of Scott Ian's books, it mentions my audition, and at the time they said, 'We auditioned Mark and we didn't go with Mark 'cause he was a bit too metal for us,' which I love. I had a fan at a signing session have me sign that page of Scott Ian's book. And I never knew that. I love that. I think that's pretty hilarious, because I'll take being too metal. [Laughs] Apparently I'm not too metal for Kerry King. [Laughs]"

Elaborating on why he might not have been the right choice for ANTHRAX in 1992, Osegueda added: "Time's interesting. Everything happens in due time. And when that was happening with ANTHRAX, it was an odd time for thrash metal in general, like early '90s. That was an odd time for all thrash bands. And I think they made the absolute right decision, for sure. And I love ANTHRAX and I love SLAYER, and I love the fact that I'm friends with all the guys. And I really look forward to my opportunities and all the adventures I'm gonna have with Kerry King. And I look forward to all the adventures and upcoming stuff I have with DEATH ANGEL, for sure."

ARMORED SAINT disbanded in 1992 after Bush left to join ANTHRAX. The team-up took place a decade after Bush turned down the offer to join METALLICA, with both ANTHRAX and METALLICA getting their big breaks from Megaforce Records founder Jon "Jonny Z" Zazula.

"I was the one to call John for ANTHRAX," Jonny later told Metal Hammer magazine. "Really, that was the great call. I called him and said, 'Lightning doesn't strike twice.' And that became a reality."

Bush himself left ANTHRAX in 2005, having rejoined the reunited ARMORED SAINT six years earlier.

ANTHRAX has had a number of vocalists — including Bush, Belladonna, Neil Turbin and Dan Nelson — over the last 44 years, with Ian and drummer Charlie Benante remaining the sole bandmembers who have appeared on every one of the group's studio albums.

Turbin sang on ANTHRAX's debut LP, 1984's "Fistful Of Metal", before getting booted and being replaced by Belladonna. Belladonna performed on four ANTHRAX albums, including the fan favorite "Among The Living" (1987) before he himself was fired over creative and stylistic differences. Bush fronted ANTHRAX between 1992 and 2005 but was sidelined when the band reunited with Belladonna for a 20th-anniversary tour. When that collapsed, and relationships disintegrated with next frontman Nelson, Bush returned for a time before Belladonna took the job back in 2010.

In addition to fronting DEATH ANGEL, Osegueda is the singer of SLAYER guitarist Kerry King's solo band.

King's debut solo album, "From Hell I Rise", came out in May 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music. Joining King and Osegueda on the record are drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER),bassist Kyle Sanders (HELLYEAH) and guitarist Phil Demmel (formerly of MACHINE HEAD).

DEATH ANGEL's first new music in six years, a song called "Wrath (Bring Fire)", was made available in May.

As previously reported, DEATH ANGEL will celebrate the 35th anniversary of its "Act III" album by performing it in its entirety on a fall 2025 U.S. tour. The trek, which will feature support from VIO-LENCE (replacing originally announced support act TOXIC HOLOCAUST),LIONS AT THE GATE and MISFIRE, will kick off on November 26 at the Oriental Theater in Denver, Colorado and wrap with two Christmas shows on December 18-19 at The Fillmore in San Francisco, California.

DEATH ANGEL's latest album, "Humanicide", was released in May 2019 via Nuclear Blast. The LP saw DEATH ANGEL returning to producer and friend Jason Suecof (DEICIDE, TRIVIUM) of Audiohammer studios for the recording and mixing, along with the mastering of the legendary Ted Jensen (SLIPKNOT, PANTERA) of Sterling Sound, who added the final touches and brought it all to life, with artist Brent Elliott White (LAMB OF GOD, MEGADETH) providing the cover art.

DEATH ANGEL was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance" for the "Humanicide" title track. It was the group's first Grammy nomination.