Seemingly out of nowhere comes one of the year’s most impressive and largest collaborations in the rock/metal scene. LOST SYMPHONY, a band founded by brothers Benny (multi-instrumentalist, producer) and Brian Goodman (compositions, arrangement), along with co-conspirators Cory Paza (bass, guitar), Kelly Kereliuk (guitar), Paul Lourenco (drums) and Starset’s Siobhán Cronin (violin, viola), have found a mind-blowing intersection of the crossroads of classical and heavy metal and created a massive new instrumental record that features collaborations with talented and legendary names in heavy rock and metal including past and present members/contributors from Guns N’ Roses, All That Remains, Starset, Cradle of Filth, Nevermore, Steel Panther, Trans-Siberian Orchestra among many others.
The first album, Chapter I, in a series of upcoming releases will debut on March 27th via XOff Records and is available for pre-order now!
Today, LOST SYMPHONY has released Chapter I’s first new track, “This Life Moves Too Fast” (Feat: David Ellefson, Jeff Loomis and Jimi Bell), which can be streamed now at this location.
The journey to LOST SYMPHONY began in 2015. After crafting an initial classical demo, Benny chose to find guitar players to bring it to life. Discovering Kelly and Conrad Simon online, he began sending music back and forth collecting incredible solos. The project began taking shape when All That Remains drummer Jason Costa provided drum tracks, which led to bringing the late ATR guitarist Oli Herbert into the fold.
“We basically spent weeks in my basement putting songs together,” recalls Benny. “Oli thoughtfully constructed lead guitar parts for several of our songs and was a key collaborator. We sat and worked on everything note for note from start-to-finish. Oli brought legitimacy to this. He was like our ambassador. When he’d call other guitarists, they’d pick up the phone.”
After years of piecing together the project under the radar, Benny introduces it to the world in 2020, sharing one-song per week for two months accompanied by exclusive recording footage. The first single “This Life Moves Too Fast” [feat. David Ellefson, Jeff Loomis, & Jimi Bell] gallops forward on a hummable riff punctuated by sweeping violin, propulsive bass, and lyrical fretwork. Uniting Loomis, Ellefson, and Bell, it ebbs and flows between moments of scorching soloing and orchestral reprieve.
Chapter I Tracklisting:
Singularity (feat. Oli Herbert, Bumblefoot & Ethan Brosh)
Premeditated Destruction (feat. Brock Richards, Richard Shaw, Jimi Bell & Matt LaPierre)
This Life Moves Too Fast (feat. David Ellefson, Jeff Loomis & Jimi Bell)
I Felt A Funeral In My Brain (feat. David Ellefson & Joey Concepcion)
Cotard Delusion (feat. Oli Herbert & Satchel)
Catnip High (feat. Conrad Simon & Matt LaPierre)
In A World (feat. Oli Herbert, Matt LaPierre & Conrad Simon)
Requiem (feat. Marty Friedman, Oli Herbert, Matt LaPierre & Conrad Simon)
We had the honor to talk with Megadeth’s legendary bassist David Ellefson before the next leg of his “Basstory Tour”. We discussed his latest book “More Life with Deth” and the structure of the tour that will take him to Europe and Latin America, including a special date in Wolverhampton, where he will be joined by K.K. Downing, Ripper Owens and Les Binks to play a set of Judas Priest classics.
David also told us about the story behind his eclectic compilation album “Sleeping Giants” featuring previously unreleased tracks, including collaborations with John Bush, Chris Poland and David Glen Eisley. Of course, we also talked about the present and future of Megadeth, including the upcoming Megacruise, the recording of the new album and the recovery process of Dave Mustaine.
We leave you the full transcript (slightly modified to improve readability) of the interview below as well as the original audio version on YouTube:
David (MSF): You’re currently promoting your latest book “More Life with Deth” through a series of bass clinics, signing sessions and shows. The next dates are in the UK, mainland Europe and Latin America. Can you describe a little bit the concept behind these different variations of the “Basstory Tour”?
David Ellefson:
Yeah, everyone is gonna be a little different, you know. The first show, that I’m kicking off with, started originally just as a kind of book signing at KK’s Steel Mill (K.K. Downing’s club) up in Wolverhampton. And K.K. (Downing) being a dear friend, obviously we like to play music, and we’ve never played music together. So, we’re gonna get on stage and fire up a big thing with Tim “Ripper” Owens, Lis Binks, my partner Thom (Hazaert) and A.J. Mill. We’re gonna fire off one show, so that’s kind of a standalone show on November 3rd. And then, November 4th we’ll be down to London in the Underworld. That’s going to be a bit more similar to what I’ve been doing here in America with the Sleeping Giants band, being a full band set, playing some of the classic songs people know me for, as well as material off my own Sleeping Giants album, and book signing afterwards. And I’ll do that same type of thing across Europe, across Italy and one date in Switzerland. And then, when I wrap up in Rome, a couple days later I will be starting the Latin America Basstory. That’s going to be slightly different, I’m going to actually use some local musicians in every city, and part of that is just because I want to involve local musicians as well as fans. There’s a lot of cover bands, tribute bands of various musicians who … I just thought it would be fun for them to get up and to basically play some songs together. So, that’ll be a little bit more like my Basstories were in 2018 and even earlier this year in 2019, when I was doing Basstory across Europe. So, everyone is going to be a little bit different, which I think sets the stage for a unique experience for the fans and everybody who comes to these shows.
David (MSF): Yeah, definitely. This is your second book after 2013’s “My Life with Deth”. Have you found something therapeutic about writing that you couldn’t express through music or what was your motivation to write this second part?
David Ellefson:
You know, I like to write. I found over the years, you know, that probably if there was a word for me, it would be “communicator”. And sometimes, I do that with a bass, sometimes I do it with a guitar, sometimes I do it just like you and me are doing right now talking over the phone, other times it’s writing a book, maybe it’s doing a Basstory masterclass clinic performance, etc. So, it’s all about just communicating, you know. Communicating thoughts, ideas, creative things. Creating it out to your audience. The books are just one of those ways to do that. You can do things in a book you can’t do in a song, and vice versa. I think with “More Life with Deth”, the thing is … I kind of hit a sweet spot on it, because a lot of this stuff with social media, it’s like everything is so immediate. And people kind of know I’ve got a record label, I’ve got a coffee company. So, I talked about those things in the book, some of the backstory to them, got a little deeper into some of the underpinnings and workings of those processes. But I think the one thing that was kind of an unexpected sweet spot in the story for me was, as I started talking about acquiring the rights to Combat Records, and relaunching that record label, it took me way back to the origin of Megadeth, to 1983. When, and how the band started. And I had some of my childhood friends from Minnesota who moved out to California, when we met Dave and got the band started. And I had them weigh in and give some personal testimonies about that. I think those, to me … I had as much fun reading their personal testimonies in my book as I did reading what I wrote about it. So, the Combat events really took me back to the earliest days of Megadeth, and that’s largely been an untold part of the Megadeth history. Kind of “Rust in Peace” onwards it has largely been told and pretty well known. A lot of those artifacts live online, on YouTube and whatnot. But the early days in the 80s, it was really fun to go back and open that chapter up, and really dig deep in and again, get these personal testimonies from other band members and friends who were with me on the journey back then.
David (MSF): Yeah, that’s very interesting. You mentioned the compilation album “Sleeping Giants” and there’s a lot of metal stuff in it, with different musicians. But I was very surprised by your collaboration with David Glen Eisley. What’s the story behind his partnership?
David Ellefson:
With the Sleeping Giants songs you mean?
David (MSF): The one’s with David Glen Eisley, this kind of soft rock tracks …
David Ellefson:
You know, in the “Countdown to Extinction Tour” in 1993 we had a tour break, and I met up with a friend of Nick Menza’s. His name was Pat Schunk, and we used to mountain bike, riding in the hills there in Los Angeles and hang out. Pat and I became fast friends, and we started doing some writing, because he’s also a songwriter, so we began doing some writing together. I put some of those songs on “Sleeping Giants” because there were some demos that we’d written, and I really just loved the songs. One of them “If You Were God”, which features John Bush on vocals, was something I actually did bring in as a consideration to the “Youthanasia” record, and it didn’t really fit the scope of where we were in that record, so it didn’t make the cut. But it’s a great song, and I have always loved it. I wrote the music, Pat wrote the lyrics and John Bush sang it. So, you know, to include that it’s been really fun because John Bush and I, we do stuff with Metal Allegiance and we’ve been friends for many years. So, it’s been fun to really collaborate with him again, even on stage, singing that song when I do Basstory shows. And then some other stuff, some stuff that I did with F5 during the 2000s, you know. That David Glen Eisley stuff, you know he was a friend of Pat Schunk’s, they were in a group together called Dirty White Boy, which featured David Glen Isley, some members of the group called Autograph, who were a pretty popular radio rock band here in America during the 80s. And, you know (we wanted) to write, and have different singers come in. These were really just demos and I thought, these things have been sitting in the vault, literally sleeping in the vault, yet I felt they were pretty cool songs. I mean, I think the title “Sleeping Giants” is not only a good title for the lead off track on the record, but it’s also a good description of the songs that are embodied on the album.
David (MSF): Yeah, exactly. Since we’re slowly running out of time, I don’t know if you’re okay with a couple of Megadeth related questions (David agrees). How’s the process of the new album going on, do we have any potential release date for it?
David Ellefson:
You know, we don’t. I mean, with Dave’s throat cancer treatments, that he has now completed, he’s just going through the recovery now and we’re hopeful and optimistic about a full recovery for him with that. But yeah, once he’s through with that process, and we’re gonna just let that take as much time as it needs, then we will resume with the album. I’d like to hope maybe in 2020 we’ll be able to get a new album out.
David (MSF): Hopefully it works out. Considering Dave’s health situation, the upcoming Megacruise and the dates you have confirmed for the beginning of next year in Europe. How do you see Dave’s recovery in order to perform live?
David Ellefson:
I think with the cruise, we’re really just taking that a day at a time. Me, Dirk and Kiko are gonna be on the boat, holding down the fort and doing some musical stuff ourselves on there, to just kind of keep a celebration of all things Megadeth. But, you know, we’re definitely giving Dave the time and space to heal and recover, that’s first and foremost for this week. And then, moving into the new year with the Five Finger Death Punch + Bad Wolves tour, you know, hopefully Dave will be ready to go. Sometimes, life throws you a card you didn’t expect and you just try to, you know … Megadeth we’ve always been a resilient band, we’ve always just worked around obstacles. Dave is a fighter, as we know, I was just talking to him and he sounds very optimistic about the future for Megadeth.
David (MSF): Yeah, that sounds great, hopefully he recovers soon. Well, thank you David for your time, it was a pleasure to talk with you. Take care, have a great Megacruise and send my best wishes to Dave!
Grammy Award Winning Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has announced a European solo tour, featuring a full band playing songs from his recent solo release SLEEPING GIANTS, and other Metal classics. Featuring vocals by his‘More Live With Deth’ co-author Thom Hazaert, plus guitarist Andy Martongelli, who toured with Ellefson and Frank Bello’s Altitudes and Attitude, and appears on the SLEEPING GIANTS track ‘Hammer (Comes Down)’ (featuring vocals by Hazaert and Eric AK (Flotsam and Jetsam) with Chris Poland, Mark Tremonti, Dave McClain (Sacred Reich, Ex-Machine Head), Joey Radziwill (Sacred Reich), and more).
Ellefson published his new memoir ‘More Live With Deth’in July via Jawbone Press, which was an Amazon #1 bestseller, along with a companion solo release SLEEPING GIANTS, which features collaborations with Hazaert, DMC, John Bush, Mark Tremonti, Chris Poland, Bumblefoot, Dave McClain (Sacred Reich, Ex-Machine Head), Joey Radziwill (Sacred Reich), Eric Ak and Steve Conley (Flotsam and Jetsam), David Glen Eisley, and more, and which debuted on 13 US Billboard Charts on release.
The tour kicks off November 3rd in Wolverhampton with a live one-off show at K.K.’s Steel Mill featuring a full band set from Ellefson’s Sleeping Giants band, followed by a full-length set of Priest Classics with legendary former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing, former Judas Priest drummer Les Binks, and former Judas Priest vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens. Former Iron Maiden vocalist, Blaze Bayleywill be the evening’s opening support act.
Additionally, the Steel Mill will also host a special pre-show VIP event whereby attendees will be treated to a ‘More Live With Deth’book signing event and one on one Q&A session with Ellefson, Downing & Hazaert, moderated by Mark Eglinton who co-authored K.K. Downing’s recent memoir “Heavy Duty Days and Nights in Judas Priest”
Says Downing, “I am very pleased to have been asked to perform a unique and special concert with Megadeth’s David Ellefson to celebrate the release of his new book “More Life With Deth”. The concert will also bring about the opportunity to play again with some very dear and talented metal legends from the past, the combination of these Icons will for sure enable us to deliver up one of the most exciting concerts this year, so much so that it would not be out of place to call this the ultimate ass kicking “MegaPriest” fest, and is one that is not to be missed.”
Adds Ellefson, “I speak very candidly in my new book “More Life with Deth” about the significance Judas Priest played in my early musical trajectory, specifically the ‘Unleashed in the East’ live album with its picture-perfect image of what heavy metal should look and sound like. To me that album, along with its powerful cover image, captured the excitement I felt for a new era of music, one that would transition me from my roots in American Hard Rock over to that of British Heavy Metal. Over the years K.K and I became fast friends while we toured together with Priest & Megadeth, and I’m beyond thrilled to perform together onstage with him and his former Priest band mates, as we light up the Steel Mill together for a night of molten metal classics!”
He continues, “Thom (Hazaert) and I have been touring all summer across the USA supporting the new book and our SLEEPING GIANTS release. Plus “Ripper” and I have shared stages all around the world in the last decade or so, and now to add Les Binks in the mix, who to my generation was the ultimate metal double bass drummer, this has become the ultimate ‘metal’ family reunion!”
11/03 – Wolverhampton, ENG – KK’s Steel Mill – (featuring K.K. Downing, Les Binks and Tim “Ripper” Owens) 11/04 – London, ENG – Camden Underworld
11/08 – Bellinzona, CH – Pit
11/09 – Collegno, ITA – Padiglione 14
11/10 – Milano, ITA – Legend Club
11/12 – Bologna, ITA – Alchemica
11/13 – Tuoro Sul Trasimeno, ITA – Supernova
11/14 – Roma, ITA – Let It Beer
Copies of David’s new book ‘More Life with Deth’ will be available on the merch stand at all shows!
Ellefson will follow the European tour with his first ever solo BASSTORY clinic tour of South America later in November & December.
11/19 – Ciudad Obregon, Mexico – Desert Bar
11/20 – Mexico City, Mexico – Teatro Ofelia
11/22 – Bogota, Colombia – Ace of Spades
11/23 – Quito, Ecuador – La Ideal
11/25 – Lima, Peru – Teatro Federico Garcia Lorca
11/26 – Santiago, Chile – Rock & Guitarras
11/28 – Asuncion, Paraguay – Centro Paraguayo Japonés
11/30 – Sao Paulo, Brazil – Manifesto
12/1 – Manaus, Brazil – Teatro Manauara
Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has released a video for “SLEEPING GIANTS”, the title track from his debut solo release SLEEPING GIANTS, in stores now via COMBAT RECORDS. Sleeping Giants is a companion release to his new memoir MORE LIFE WITH DETH, in stores now via Jawbone Press.
The track, features lead vocals by Ellefson’s partner, and More Life With Deth co-author, Thom Hazaert, and legendary hip-hop MC Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, plus guest appearances by Steve Conley (Flotsam and Jetsam), Ethan Brosh, Bumblefoot, and Ilias Papadakis (Memorain).
Says Hazaert, “David had all these great instrumental songs laying around, and SLEEPING GIANTS was one of them. He suggested I write and record some vocal parts for them, so I called up DMC and asked if he’d want to collaborate with us on a track, and we got to work. I’ve always loved off the wall Metal/Hip-Hop collaborations, JUDGEMENT NIGHT etc. And I think “Giants” definitely draws from that. The song and video both ended up with a really cool aggressive, old-school New York Hardcore/hip-hop feel. In my book, it doesn’t get any more legendary than RUN DMC. And this was definitely one for the history books.”
Ellefson adds, “It was truly an honor to collaborate with DMC, and I think the track came out great. When Thom said DMC wanted to do a collaboration with us, I instantly thought of “Sleeping Giants”. And when he came out to REVOLUTION in Amityville to perform with us, and shoot the video, it was an awesome energy. I think everyone there got a show they won’t ever forget.”
Released in North America on July 19th, and debuting on 12 BILLBOARD sales charts, SLEEPING GIANTS will be released in Europe in November, as Ellefson and Hazaert cross the pond for a string of European shows and signings on their SLEEPING GIANTS/MORE LIFE WITH DETH tour.
Shot on location in Amityville, NY, Phoenix, AZ, and The Salton Sea in California, the video, directed by Melody Myers and Thom Hazaert, and filmed and edited by Melody Myers/Designed by Melody (Altitudes and Attitude, Escape The Fate), can be viewed here:
Ellefson and Hazaert also recently collaborated with legendary producer Max Norman (Megadeth/Ozzy), who put his stamp on Sleeping Giants track “Vultures”, with the “Max Norman Mix”, released last week on all digital platforms.
Ellefson and Hazaert, with backing band Dave Sharpe and Opus Lawrence of Dead By Wednesday, and special guest Steve Conley of Flotsam and Jetsam, will wrap up the Summer leg of their BASSTORY MORE LIFE WITH DETH 2019 TOUR next week with shows in Phoenix, Orange County, and San Diego.
BASSTORY MORE LIFE WITH DETH 2019 DATES
Thursday 9/5 – Fullerton, CA – The Slidebar (w/ SYMBOLIC)
Friday 9/6 – Ramona, CA – Ramona Mainstage (w/ SYMBOLIC)
Saturday 9/7 – Phoenix, AZ – Joe’s Grotto (w/Fatal Malady)
Tuesday 9/10 – Phoenix, AZ – Changing Hands (Book signing/Q&A)
MORE LIFE WITH DETH is the follow up to Ellefson’s celebrated MY LIFE WITH DETH, and delves deeper into the later stages of Ellefson’s career, as well as a thorough exploration of the earliest days of Megadeth and beyond.
SLEEPING GIANTS is a retrospective featuring several new tracks, plus a collection of demos, and unreleased material spanning David’s career outside of Megadeth, including the unreleased demo “If You Were God”, featuring John Bush (Anthrax, Armored Saint), and several unreleased demos featuring former House of Lords/Giuffria vocalist David Glen Eisley. The CD version will also include a second bonus disc, featuring a compilation of EMP and COMBAT RECORDS Artists, including Wrath, Last Crack, Doyle, Arise in Chaos, Sunflower Dead. Marc Rizzo, and more.
Produced by Ellefson and Hazaert, with additional production from ICON guitarist John Aquilino at the Platinum Underground in Phoenix, Sleeping Giants also features a multitude of guests including former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland, Ken Mary (Alice Cooper, Flotsam and Jetsam), Steve Conley (Flotsam and Jetsam, F5), Eric AK (Flotsam and Jetsam), Ethan Brosh, Bumblefoot, Dave Sharpe and Opus Lawrence of Dead By Wednesday, Mark Tremonti, Illias Papadakis (Memorain), Dave McClain (Machine Head, Sacred Reich), Joey Radziwill (Sacred Reich), and a remix by Game of Thrones star Kristian Nairn (Hodor).
Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke to MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson and his Business partner Thom Hazaert about the new Dave Ellefson Autobiography that they both co-wrote “More Life With Deth” (out July 16 via Jawbone Press) and companion Album “Sleeping Giants” ( July 19 on Combat Records). Ellefson also spoke about his early days in Megadeth during the Combat Records era and his drug addiction and recovery.
Watch the interview here:
When asked about the difference between this new Autobiography compared to the first one
“The first book was a little more focused on David’s spirituality and sobriety and it talked about Megadeth from a little bit of a generic backstory, it didn’t really get too deep into a lot of Megadeth’s topics. This time we set out to make just a Rock and Roll book. I would say this book is like a superhero movie origin story. I acquired the Combat Records name and that gave us the opportunity to go back to the beginning again and really tell that origin story of Megadeth during the Combat era. But this time we have some other guest voices in the book too giving their perspective. We really did a good job of chronicling the early Megadeth history but with some other people that were there too, to give a different perspective and validate everything what was said and what went on.” Thom Hazaert
When asked about Acquiring the rights to the legendary Combat Records name
“Combat Records had a whole generation of punk and thrash fans. When Thom approached me with the idea I started thinking about Combat and all a sudden it took me all the way back to 1983 and 84 especially 84 with Megadeth. That was when we started having conversations with record labels to sign Megadeth and Combat Records was the one that won out and that’s what Killing is my Business came out on. So in the book, it largely took me back to telling the earliest years of the Megadeth story and you know it that is a period of time when there’s not a lot of information. “ David Ellefson
When asked why Megadeth broke up in 2002 and why the band reformed in 2004 without Ellefson
“Dave Mustiane quit the band, he folded the band and I mean he basically quit. So again if quit and we didn’t have a quarterback, so there is no one to throw the ball so essentially the band was done. However in 2004 Mustaine reformed the group but suddenly all the business dealings were changed and everything was different and I was not on board with it, so I didn’t I agree to it and they basically moved forward without me being part of the band .Part of me was kind of relieved because it was a lot, I mean Dave and I have been going almost 20 years at that point. It’s just a lot you know you’re creative people, I mean Megadeth is a real rock and roll band man it’s dangerous, its dynamic, its charismatic, it’s all the great things that make great rock and roll but the Train was always ready to fall off the tracks. So I just kind of moved on, I just got busy with my life and moved on. I wasn’t gonna sit around and cry about it I was a young man with a young family I was in my 30’s and we’ve made money, we’ve done some things but I was young I wasn’t ready to retire. I wasn’t done with my life’s purpose. Young families are expensive and there’s a lot of life ahead, so I had to get up and get to work and I think that largely is the story of the next the next phase of my life in this new book. “ David Ellefson
When asked about being broke and stranded on tour during the Killing is my Business tour
“1985 June- July where we’re opening for labelmates Exciter and the tour dates were just canceling left and right because the agents was just horrible. We called the label and said we are broke and they said you guys just need to go home and get jobs and we were like we are on tour supporting your album? David Ellefson
When asked about the Motley Crue Biopic Dirt and how David Ellefson was there when Nikki Sixx temporary died
“I was there, Steven Adler and I were friends and I didn’t really know the other guys too much. I was at the Franklin Plaza Hotel and I was up there and Fred Coury from Cinderella. I’d never met Nikki before and we’re just partying and Nikki come busting into the room and I wanted to see if I could get some drugs off of him but they didn’t have any so I guess they were looking for some too. At the wee hours of the night they left and went in the room next door and I mean literally I don’t know 15 minutes later a girl comes running oh my god, I think he’s dead. You could hear the sirens. Fred looked at me and goes, you got a car, get me the hell out of here. It was pretty hardcore stuff man thank God I really wasn’t around it, I mean I had no part of it.” David Ellefson
When asked about the songs on new Album Sleeping Giants
“It was during the Basstory tour last year I was getting up on stage every night and doing a couple of songs with David. We have a studio in Tampa called Mastersound and we’re like let’s go into the studio and just write a song for fun. So we went in the studio and jammed for 20 minutes and Dave had the riff for the new song Vultures and we wrote the song literally in a half an hour. Dave went in and tracked his rhythm guitar and his bass and I tracked the vocals that same day and it was done. And at the time we said let’s just take use that song and use it as a free download with the new book. That’s how it all evolved. So then we wrote another two new songs and I kind of said Dave don’t you have some F5 demos or some other stuff . So he dug up all these extras he had, all these killer F5 demos that were never released and then Dave say’s I do have this song with John Bush on vocals, I’m like are you fucking kidding me? So this new Sleeping Giants album has new songs and has cool rarities from David Ellefson’s career that all tie into the book.” Thom Hazaert
When asked about considering Annihilator’s Jeff Waters as Megadeth’s guitarist in the early days
“Jeff was and is a kick-ass rock star lead guitar player and a you know he’s the founder of his band. He’s the writer, he’s the whole musical muscle of that group and you know for him to leave that would mean to leave all of his work behind to come and be the guitar player and Megadeth.
Annihilator were doing very well back in the day so, right guy, wrong time. Jeff is friends with me and Dave Mustaine, we’re good buddies today but sometimes things just aren’t meant to happen at that particular time. ” David Ellefson
When asked about overcoming his drug addictions
“I was on the drug and alcohol train for ten years. At the beginning it was a lot of fun. I mean it was kind of the social lubricant you know everyone around doing it. When I moved to LA in 1983 cocaine was on the cover of Time magazine that year. It was just the era you know that was the 80’s. it was sex, drugs and Rock and Roll. I hit a wall when I was 23 during So Far, So good So What album cycle and I talk about in the book. I had to get clean, it wasn’t going go away. I came out the other side of it. Today being in Megadeth and doing Basstory tour we travel the world and I’m able to talk either publicly or privately with people about adiction and it’s a cool platform to be able to help people if people reach out and need help.” David Ellefson
“Sleeping Giants” will be a retrospective featuring several new tracks, plus a collection of demos and unreleased material from F5 and David’s other projects “Sleeping Giants” will also include a second bonus disc, featuring a compilation of EMP and Combat Records artists, including LAST CRACK, DEAD BY WEDNESDAY, DOYLE, Mark Slaughter, RON KEEL BAND, HATCHET, WRATH, Marc Rizzo, and more.
Album was Produced by Ellefson and Thom Hazaert (who also provides vocals for the new tracks), with a multitude of guests, including legendary MC Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, who shares vocals with Hazaert on the title track, Mark Tremonti, Eric “A.K” Knutson (FLOTSAM AND JETSAM), Ken Mary (ALICE COOPER, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM), Steve Conley (FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, F5), Ethan Brosh, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (GUNS N’ ROSES), Dave Sharpe and Opus Lawrence of DEAD BY WEDNESDAY, Illias Papadakis (MEMORAIN), Dave McClain (MACHINE HEAD, SACRED REICH), Andy Martongelli (ALTITUDES AND ATTITUDE) and more, plus a remix by “Game Of Thones” star Kristian Nairn (HODOR), and unreleased songwriting demos featuring vocals by John Bush (ARMORED SAINT, ex-ANTHRAX), and David Glen Eisley (HOUSE OF LORDS, GIUFFRIA).
Disk 1
01. Vultures
02. Sleeping Giants (ft. DMC)
03. Hammer (Comes Down) (ft. Mark Tremonti, Chris Poland, and Eric AK)
04. Vultures (Kristian Nairn Remix)
05. If You Were God (ft. John Bush) *
F5 Demos
06. Deadman Rise
07. I Fall
08. Bleeding
09. Why Can’t We Die
10. Dying On The Vine
11. Faded
12. Undeniable
13. Feel Your Pain
14. Out In The Rain (ft. David Glen Eisley) *
15. Voices (ft. David Glen Eisley) *
* Previously unreleased demo
Disc 2: EMP/Combat Artist Sampler
01. LAST CRACK – “Golden Age”
02. CO-OP (ft. Joe Perry) – “Howl”
03. GREEN DEATH (ft. David Ellefson) – “Pure Torture”
04. SEMBLANT – “Scarlet Heritage – Legacy of Blood Pt. III”
05. HATCHET – “Back Into Dust”
06. MARC RIZZO – “Downside Up”
07. MARK SLAUGHTER – “Conspiracy”
08. DOYLE (ft. Alissa White-Gluz) – “Kiss Me As We Die”
09. DEAD BY WEDNESDAY – “You & Die”
10. EVIL UNITED (ft. Jason McMaster) – “Operation Overlord”
11. SUNFLOWER DEAD – “Turn Away” (Radio Edit)
12. ARISE IN CHAOS – “The Divine”
13. DOLL SKIN – “Daughter”
14. PSYKOTRIBE (ft. David Ellefson) – “End It”
15. ARCHER NATION – “Severed”
16. RON KEEL BAND – “Fight Like A Band”
17. WRATH – “Draw Blood
MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson has announced the release of “Sleeping Giants”, a companion LP to be released July 5th (CD/Digital, Aug 30th on LP) on Combat Records, in conjunction with his upcoming memoir “More Life With Deth”, in stores July 16th via Jawbone Press. Co-written with Ellefson’s business partner Thom Hazaert, “More Life With Deth” is the follow up to Ellefson’s celebrated “My Life With Deth”, and delves deeper into the later stages of Ellefson’s career, as well as a thorough exploration of the earliest days of Megadeth and beyond.
Featuring cover art by Melody Myers (Altitudes and Attitude, Marc Rizzo, Escape The Fate), “Sleeping Giants” will be a retrospective featuring several new tracks recorded by Ellefson and Hazaert, plus a collection of demos, and unreleased material, from F5 and David’s other projects, including the unreleased demo “If You Were God”, featuring John Bush (Anthrax, Armored Saint), plus several unreleased demos featuring House of Lords/Giuffria vocalist David Glen Eisley. The CD version will also include a second bonus disc, featuring a compilation of EMP and Combat Records Artists.
Produced by Ellefson and Hazaert, with additional production from ICON guitarist John Aquilino at the Platinum Underground in Phoenix, “Sleeping Giants” is tentatively set to include a multitude of guests including legendary MC Daryl “DMC” McDaniels, who shares vocals with Hazaert on the title track, Ken Mary (Alice Cooper, Flotsam and Jetsam), Steve Conley (Flotsam and Jetsam, F5), Ethan Brosh, Bumblefoot, Dave Sharpe and Opus Lawrence of Dead By Wednesday, Mark Tremonti, Juan Garcia (Abbatoir, Body Count), Illias Papadakis (Memorain), Dave McClain (Machine Head, Sacred Reich), a remix by Game of Thrones star Kristian Nairn, and more.
Check out a teaser video of the title track at the link below:
Says Hazaert, “David and I were in Tampa for PBX – Playback Independent Music Expo, and had just finished an amazing run of BASSTORY, where I ended up performing with him, and several of our friends, including Bumblefoot, and Dave Sharpe and Opus from Dead By Wednesday. We capped it off with an amazing all-star BASSTORY jam at the Brass Mug in Tampa with Dirk Verbeuren, Troy Sanders from Mastodon, Jason Bieler of Saigon Kick, Head from Korn, Kyle Sanders from Hellyeah. It was insane. So, we went into a local studio, MASTERSOUND in Tampa, with the Dead By Wednesday guys, and ended up writing and tracking “VULTURES”.
He adds, “David had all these other amazing instrumental songs and parts, laying around, that I had always loved, and we just ended up getting a bunch of guests to play on them, polished some of them up, I wrote lyrics, laid down vocals, and the rest is history.”
Says Ellefson, “I love to collaborate and It’s timely and fitting to work up these song ideas with my friends, and get to break out and release some of these great demos and oddities from over the years, the stories behind many of which are told in the book. And to be able to include many of the EMP and COMBAT artists, I think it really brings another dimension to the stories we’re telling in More Life With Deth.”
Adds Hazaert, “It truly was just writing and making music from the purest place of writing and making music… like, buddies in the garage jamming on songs. And while everyone knows him as a bassist, David is such an incredible guitar player, and songwriter, and I love that we can finally showcase that. And to have a bunch of our friends who are IN the book play on it, and for me and David to collaborate the way we did. I think it’s really special. And, at first, we really didn’t know what to do with it, or if we would even do anything with it, for that matter. We’d discussed the idea of releasing the new tracks as singles, then an EP, and then we came up with the idea to create a sort of “island of misfit toys” b-sides release, with all this killer stuff David had been involved with over the years, and it really all just kinda fell into place.”
(Ellefson/Hazaert 2019)
1. Vultures
2. Sleeping Giants (ft. DMC).
3. Hammer Comes Down
4. Vultures (Kristian Nairn Remix) (Unreleased Demo)
4. If You Were God” (ft. John Bush) (F5 Demos)
5. Deadman Rise
6. I Fall
7. Bleeding
8. Why Can’t We Die
9. Dying on The Vine
10. Faded
11. Undeniable
12. Feel Your Pain (Unreleased Demos)
13. Out In The Rain (ft. David Glen Eisley)
14. Voices (ft. David Glen Eisley)
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