DEATH ANGEL's TED AGUILAR Opens Up About 'Scheduling Conflicts' With KERRY KING Which Forced His Band To Pull Out Of W.A.S.P. Tour

In a new interview with El Planeta Del Rock, DEATH ANGEL guitarist Ted Aguilar spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2019's "Humanicide" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Rehearsals have been good. Writing has been good. I mean, we have pretty much the album pretty done. We're just waiting on the lyrics right now. I know Rob [Cavestany, DEATH ANGEL guitarist and main songwriter] and Mark [Osegueda, DEATH ANGEL singer] are working on some stuff, but right now Mark's busy [touring] with [SLAYER guitarist] Kerry King['s solo band]. So when [Mark] gets back and we're gonna get together and talk after the holidays and figure out a plan on when to release some music. So as of right now, music is done, lyrics have gotta get put on, and we'll figure all that out in the new year."

Ted continued: "Yeah, it's going good. We've just gotta get together and figure out when's a good time to release some music. And [we're] just trying to get through these Christmas shows and holidays and we'll get a plan. But definitely there'll be some new music coming out next year for sure. We've just gotta figure it out."

Aguilar was also asked why DEATH ANGEL pulled out of its fall 2024 tour as the support act for W.A.S.P.. Replacing them on the bill was ARMORED SAINT. He said: "Schedule conflicts with Kerry King. Kerry King had some dates booked in Mexico during that time. And right now they're in Australia. So it's just schedule conflicts. And it's okay. It does suck, but things happen for a reason. It would have been a nice tour — of course we're bummed we're not doing it — but you have to look at the positive side of things and go, well, we were able to write more songs for the [upcoming DEATH ANGEL] record, instead of prepping for the tour for and getting everything ready. It didn't happen. ARMORED SAINT got the tour. They're a good band and they deserve it. But we look at it as, 'Well, since we're not doing the tour, what are we gonna do? Well, let's continue writing more songs.' So I think at the end of the day, it's a lot better to write more songs and start preparing for these [DEATH ANGEL] Christmas shows [in San Francisco at the end of December]. 'Cause if we would have done that tour, we would have done five weeks of supports, and where are we gonna prepare for the Christmas shows, all these songs, these different setlists. I look at things as things happen for a reason, and for whatever reason it is, it brought us here, and we're okay, man. We're all right. There'll be more tours to come about… You just have to find the positive out of it all. If you dwell on the negative, then it's not gonna do you any good. Just find the positive, just like anything in life. So, something happens, just, okay, don't focus on the problem, focus on the solution. The solution is, hey, okay, this is what we're gonna do. You have to bounce back right away."

Ted added: "It does suck [that we couldn't do the tour]. We would have loved to go on tour with W.A.S.P., and, of course, we love to play live. But the new record is important, these Christmas shows were important. So there'll be more to come in 2025."

Asked if he has listened to Kerry's debut solo album, "From Hell I Rise", which features King and Osegueda alongside drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER),bassist Kyle Sanders (HELLYEAH) and guitarist Phil Demmel (formerly of MACHINE HEAD),Ted said: "I listened to it once. It's what I expected. I think Mark sounds great on the record. They're doing their thing. I have to give hats off to Kerry. SLAYER discontinued, and he moved on with this stuff. He definitely picked the right guys to play with him. And I've seen some footage live. They're fucking doing amazing. So, hats off to them. It's great. It's a positive thing. It's good for Mark. Mark loves it. He's sounding really good. And it's just gonna benefit both bands. That's how I look at it. The only tough part is trying to figure out schedules. But that's something we could deal with. But it's gonna benefit both parties. So there you go."

Regarding the possibility of DEATH ANGEL and Kerry King's solo band performing together at some point in the future, Ted said: "That's up to Mark, because of his voice. But never say never. Things may happen. It could be at a festival. We'll cross that bridge when we get there, if it comes about. But I bet to the fans, they would like it. But I guess it all depends on Mark, if his voice could handle it. He only knows. I mean, on paper looks good, but behind the paper, you go, 'Mark, can you do it?' If he says, 'Yeah.' If it works, it works. If it doesn't, then it doesn't."

When it was first announced in August that DEATH ANGEL was pulling out of the W.A.S.P. tour, the only reason given for the cancelation was "unforeseen circumstances", with no further information offered. However, DEATH ANGEL drummer Will Carroll later shed some light on the circumstances that led to DEATH ANGEL pulling out of the tour, writing on his personal Facebook page "it's pretty fucking obvious" why his band was no longer taking part in the trek. "The word BETRAYAL comes to mind," he wrote, adding: "We knew there would be problems at some point but not so immediately."

Not long after DEATH ANGEL's tour dates with W.A.S.P. were announced, King's social media revealed that Kerry's band would play two shows in Mexico in early November — one concert in Mexico City as the support act for AMON AMARTH on November 6, and another gig as the support act for SLIPKNOT in Guadalajara on November 8 — in direct conflict with the W.A.S.P. tour, which was scheduled to launch in late October and conclude in mid-December. KERRY KING also confirmed appearances at three Good Things festival shows in Australia in early December.

This past May, Osegueda was asked during an appearance on the "Let There Be Talk" podcast with rock and roll comedian Dean Delray how he broke the news to his DEATH ANGEL bandmates that he was joining King's solo group. The singer said: "Oh, man. With this one, it's tough. I really had to respect the NDA [non-disclosure agreement I signed with Kerry's team]. I really did. And it was eating at me. 'Cause DEATH ANGEL has been touring consistently — we toured consistently when the world shut down [due to the coronavirus pandemic]. When the world reopened, we went right back out on the road. And this was all happening. I was starting to do these demos during the pandemic, and then, after that, I was regularly seeing Kerry to do more demos [for his debut solo album] when the world opened. And [Kerry's] record was done for a year before it came out. And I'd be on tour with DEATH ANGEL. And there were some nights where me and Rob were in the lounge, just me and him, drinking, listening to music and just laughing and talking like we do. And it just took everything in me [not to tell him what was going on]. It's so hard to not just say, 'Look, bro. Look, bro.'

"This is one of those things that just, like it or not, some people will think I'm an ass about it, but I just kind of really promised — I promised Kerry and I signed the NDA," Mark explained. "I promised everyone I wasn't gonna let anyone know. The only people who knew were my girlfriend, my girl, my mom and my sister. We didn't even tell my dad 'cause my dad has loose lips. So we didn't even tell him then. So those are the three people who knew. And, of course, people who were at the studio when we were recording, and shit like that, who were all NDA people as well. So it's fucked up, but I waited and let him know through e-mail same day that the [official] announcement [of Kerry's new band] happened [in early February 2024]. And then shortly thereafter I talked to Rob and Ted."

Elaborating on how he approached informing his longtime bandmates of his involvement with Kerry's new band, Mark said: "I said in the e-mail, 'Look, this is the toughest thing for me to tell you.' And how I worded it in one aspect to them was just pretty much, 'This is gonna be either the most surprising thing in the world to you or, slash, the most obvious thing in the world to you.' And I even said at the end, 'cause it was an e-mail to all the guys, and I just said, 'Take some time to really process all this before you respond, before we talk. Let all this kind of sink in, and then when come together, if you wanna talk to me, then we'll all talk.' And shortly thereafter, I talked to Ted and Rob. And they were still a little sideswiped, for sure — for sure. I could see it in their [faces]… We did a FaceTime kind of Zoom call, the three of us, and they were both definitely still in kind of a state of processing it. But by the end of the call, after we talked for about an hour, they were supportive, for sure, happy for me. And they both did say, 'Now that you mention it, man, it is kind of the most obvious fucking thing in the world.' [Laughs] But it was tough, man. I'm not gonna lie. It's tough, 'cause we've been through so much together — so much together — especially me and Rob. I mean, not to take away from… Shit, Ted's been in the band since 2001, and now Damien and Will have been in the band for well over a decade now. So it's crazy. But, of course, me and Rob, we've known each other since we were in the crib. So that it was a tough one. But now, [Rob is] very, very supportive. Before the first [Kerry King] show, I got a text from him saying, 'Have a fucking killer show, bro.' And all this stuff. The [Kerry King album] release day, he sent me congratulations on release day. Ted as well. So, they've [come] to accept it. And I think it's already brought a lot of attention to DEATH ANGEL. And it's gonna keep doing that. But it was tough."

Mark added: "I'm excited about everything. I'm excited about everything ahead. But, yeah, for sure, it was definitely a delicate situation. Even before it was happening, when I knew it was coming up, it was, like, 'I've gotta choose my words carefully.' It's tough. But now that it's out, I feel so relieved — so relieved — it's out. And since then, we've [DEATH ANGEL] toured South and Central America together recently, and that was the first tour we did since the [Kerry King] announcement and some [of Kerry's] songs have been released. So everyone got along great. And it's out. And it just feels so much better to be around the guys with them knowing. I just felt so odd them not knowing."

Asked by Delray if he made his clear in his initial e-mail that he was not quitting DEATH ANGEL, Mark said: "Yeah, absolutely. Well, first, I'm kind of yammering about the process of it, but I definitely said, 'I'm very much still the singer of DEATH ANGEL.' And, of course, when I was talking to Rob and Ted, Rob was, like, 'I was very happy to hear you say that.' Like, 'Of course, bro.'"

"From Hell I Rise" came out in May via Reigning Phoenix Music.

Following his recent tour with LAMB OF GOD and MASTODON and his first European headline tour earlier this year, King and his solo band will hit the road for the 28-date North American headline tour in early 2025. With MUNICIPAL WASTE as special guest and ALIEN WEAPONRY supporting, the tour is set to launch in San Francisco on January 15, 2025, and wrap at House of Blues in Las Vegas on February 22