Bay Area thrash legends Death Angel were supposed to open LA hair metal veterans W.A.S.P.‘s 40th anniversary tour for their 1984 self-titled album, but they dropped off and were replaced by LA power metal vets Armored Saint, citing “various unforeseen circumstances and numerous scheduling conflicts that arose.” They weren’t specific about what those conflicts were, but it’s worth noting that Death Angel vocalist Mark Osegueda is now also the vocalist of Slayer guitarist Kerry King‘s new solo band, so that might have something to do with it.
Death Angel’s full statement reads:
In light of recent events we’d like to set the record straight on a few things. We unfortunately had to drop off of the WASP tour due to various unforeseen circumstances and numerous scheduling conflicts that arose. We are more than appreciative of Blackie Lawless and the entire WASP camp for so graciously giving us the opportunity and wish them a very successful tour.
Death Angel is committed to giving you the fans, only the very best of what we have to offer and we look forward to getting back to you all very soon.
Respectfully,
Death Angel
It looks like there’s a little more to the story though. The PRP archived a since-deleted Facebook post from Death Angel drummer Will Carroll that suggests there’s some tension within the Death Angel camp:
Well, this has been a week of shitty news and (and it’s only Wednesday). Now that the tour’s been cancelled I have a bunch of time freed up for the remainder of the year. Instead of falling deeper into depression (which really doesn’t suit me) I plan on staying busy with the drumming. Rob Cavestany and I are continuing work on the new music. NOBODY can put the kibosh on that. But in addition to that I’d like to put the word out that I’m interested in working on other projects. I love recording and I’m pretty efficient at it. Gigs and touring are possibilities as well. So if you’re interested in working together hit me up on DM or if you have my number then contact me directly.
Please don’t ask me why we’re not on the WASP tour in the comments below. I think it’s pretty fucking obvious…
In the comments, Exodus guitarist Rick Hunolt said that it “sucks” that Death Angel dropped off the tour, and Carroll replied, “It really does. The word BETRAYAL comes to mind. We knew there would be problems at some point but not so immediately.”
In another comment, he added, “I notice people are slagging WASP here. As much as I’d like to I made a promise I would not go into details about why we are no longer doing the WASP tour….on social media. But to be clear it has absolutely nothing to do with WASP.”
This story may still be developing.