MARK OSEGUEDA Says He Suggested A Few Names Of Potential Fill-In Singers For DEATH ANGEL's Tour With W.A.S.P.

In a new interview with Nikki Blakk of San Francisco's 107.7 The Bone radio station, DEATH ANGEL and KERRY KING vocalist Mark Osegueda spoke about 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 (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Since this whole Kerry band happened, and still being a major part of DEATH ANGEL, there was some backlash from a lot of DEATH ANGEL fans, thinking that [my involvement with Kerry] might be the end of DEATH ANGEL or it's taking away from DEATH ANGEL. And then there was a tour that DEATH ANGEL had a drop off of, and it was because there was conflicting dates with Kerry. But when that [W.A.S.P.] tour was offered to [DEATH ANGEL], I had put it out there to the powers that be that, 'Okay, but I can't guarantee I'll be available for the whole tour. Just know this in advance. So if you take it, I will have to do shows with Kerry if they get booked, and it looks like they very well may.' And still my words were taken and with enthusiasm, they just heard, to a certain degree people thought, 'Well, let's do it.' I said, 'Okay, let's, but once again…' I mean, every bit of communication we had, I would reiterate that. And we still went for it, throwing caution to the wind, and the wind blew back eventually, so to speak. And I said, 'Hey, what we didn't want to happen is happening. But we all knew this going in advance. So this is what we can do.' And I actually, being someone — I do try to troubleshoot for DEATH ANGEL all the time because there's been many years that DEATH ANGEL has been self-managed by me, Rob [Cavestany, DEATH ANGEL guitarist] and Ted [Aguilar, DEATH ANGEL guitarist], and we've also had management, but we always work with management very well. And so I tried to troubleshoot, and I said, 'Look, I could think of a few [singers] that could fill in,' and I gave some names and whatnot, just as an option. 'Cause I didn't want them to lose the tour. But the reality is what the reality was. So eventually, what came back when that was offered to the W.A.S.P. camp and booking agents, whatnot, they just basically said, 'Well, we don't want a fill-in for two particular times,' 'cause I would have missed two batches of dates, and they didn't want that to be the case… That's pretty much the stance they took. So, then, from there on, push came to shove, and they got ARMORED SAINT, which I think it's a great bill. I mean, who's to say that W.A.S.P. and DEATH ANGEL wouldn't have been a great bill? A lot of people were looking forward to it."

Mark continued: "Prior to [DEATH ANGEL pulling out of the W.A.S.P. tour], there was not much negativity about me being in Kerry's band, but when that hit, then the floodgates opened. And that's when a lot of people started saying negative things about me and my character and how it was affecting the band they love. Unbeknownst to them, believe it or not, I love that band more than they do."

Osegueda also defended the fact that he didn't inform his DEATH ANGEL bandmates that he had joined Kerry's solo group until his involvement was officially announced last February. "I couldn't really tell the guys 'cause of NDAs [non-disclosure agreements I signed] and whatnot. And I know people will say, 'Well, that's your blood. Those are your bros.' But it's an NDA. It's a legal, binding contract that I signed and I respect that. And wording in NDAs are kind of daunting.

"The metal community is a hen house," he added. "It really is. And just, bap, bap, bap, bap, and word just gets out, and it's just like rapid fire. And Blabbermouth or not, it just takes someone from one crew, one band, and they find out and it just goes around. And we had to go out of our way to keep this basically the biggest secret there was. Because everyone kind of had an idea of who was in [Kerry's] band, but for the most part, no one knew who the singer was. They all assumed it was Phil [Anselmo]. And it was just kind of quite a big secret to keep down. So that was hard. And I understand that. And I explained that to the guys when I did tell them. And there you go."

Mark added: "But again, as I said, when we took the W.A.S.P. tour, I did tell the powers that be that make the decisions for this band, me being one of 'em, what could occur. Now say the powers that be within the band, or people that don't have the power in the band to make the decisions, they might not have known that I had prefaced this with management and the guys who make the business decisions. And not everyone in this band is a decision maker when it comes to this band. And that's just the pecking order of how this band works. Some of us have longevity and priority and some of us don't. And that will always be the case, even if it goes down two decades from now. Rob and I still have two more decades more history in the band. So that's just the case. And it's a better way for a band to work. We've tried with the original DEATH ANGEL lineup to do it as a democracy, and it doesn't work. It just doesn't work. It just breeds more chaos and more tension, strife. [Too many cooks in the kitchen] — with everything, from writing, to setlists, to everything. So, there needs to be some sort of set structure, at least with this band. It works better that way. And most bands I've seen that have longevity, it tends to be the case as well."

Asked which singers were on the shortlist to fill in for him, Mark said: "Well, I don't even know… I shouldn't go down that road, but I suggested a few names, and then I think management and people were looking into people as well. And it just wasn't, I guess, jelling, especially with Rob. Rob and I had a few conversations, and he's, like, 'It's just not the same.' And I'm not saying it is or isn't for any band, or it's different for any band, but it is hard, and I'm not saying the importance of a position, but it is hard in a lot of bands to get a fill-in singer. It is. It is, 'cause people are used to him or her being the front person and how they engage with the crowd, and how they work, and the voice — everything. And so that's another thing Rob was really concerned about, which makes absolute sense. And in our personal conversations, he was saying, 'It'd be easier for us to find a fill-in for me for a few dates than it is for you.' And he said that selflessly, but basically when it boils down to it, everyone in DEATH ANGEL is a crucial part of DEATH ANGEL, but I know as a fan of different bands, if you went to go see DEATH ANGEL without me or Rob for that one show, there's gonna be a great deal of people out there that say, like, 'Well, I got kind of robbed.' That sucks. And that's just kind of the nature of the beast and the nature of the history of this band. With all bands, that's just how it is. It's like if you went to see [BLACK] SABBATH and they had a fill-in for Tony Iommi. You'd be, like, 'Oh.' And they're an exception. There have been bands that have replaced lead singers. Obviously, AC/DC and SABBATH are the two primest examples. And [IRON] MAIDEN. There's a handful. But it's not a common occurrence that it works out so swimmingly and successfully."

In a December 2024 interview with El Planeta Del Rock, Aguilar was asked why DEATH ANGEL pulled out of the W.A.S.P. tour. He said at the time: "Schedule conflicts with Kerry King. Kerry King had some dates booked in Mexico during that time. 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... '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 2024 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 issues 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.

In May 2024, 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. 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