In 2004, Death Angel released their first new album in 14 years, The Art of Dying, but it's really their latest offering, Killing Season that stands as the band's comeback record. While the former was well-written and pretty heavy, it lacked a focus, sounding somewhat like a band trying to keep up with the times.
Killing Season is just the opposite. It doesn't even take over where Death Angel left off after 1990's Act III. Instead, it makes a return to the type of straightforward melodic thrash the band started out playing in the late '80s before Death Angel got sidetracked and started stressing technical proficiency over strong songwriting.
Days before heading off for a tour of Europe, singer Mark Osegueda took a few minutes to reply to a batch of our quirky questions, and, in the process, revealed what a jerk he was as a kid, what famous musician he used to mistaken for and how his band accidentally helped break Alice in Chains.
We keep accidentally calling your record Killing Time, which also would have worked as a title. When you're not with the band, what do you do to kill time?
Mark Osegueda: I have to play music!! Too much down time means bad health for the kid here -- meaning I love the bottle, and when I have too much down time, the bottle has been known to be my North Star. And it can guide you to some peculiar places. I also have another band called All time Highs. It's more a dirty rock 'n' roll thing. Other than that, I hang with my girl and the pups, exercise, try to eat well, and I recently started flossing.
What's the closest you've come to killing somebody, either by accident or on purpose?
Back in my heyday of debauchery, I used to try to make friends to keep up with the amounts of stimulants I ingested, and some of them suffered some pretty gnarly results such as smashed faces, poisoning, the end of relationships But I've grown since then.
"Sonic Beatdown" is clearly about the power of music and concerts. But what's the worst actual beatdown you've ever received?
Not including ass-whippings from my father that I fully deserved when I was young, and which helped teach me how to be a good person with a sense of values and morals, I'd have to say I'm pretty fortunate in the beatdown department. It helps that when I was younger, I was psychotic, violent, and mean and my father made me box with him every day throughout my entire childhood. So it was usually me handing out the beatings when I was younger. But, when everyone starting growing, and I kind of stopped. I relied heavily on a sense of humor to get me potential beatdowns. However, when I was 15, I was once sucker-punched by some guy. He was some punk-ass steroided jock who came up to me from behind, spun me around hit me in the face, and my mouth exploded. Teeth caved in, some came through my lip. But I stayed on my feet so it can't technically be called a beatdown because I never went down. The ironic thing was he hit me then ran away. I was dumbfounded and bleeding.
"When Worlds Collide" is a cool song. It was also the name of a 1951 science fiction movie about a planet on a collision course with the earth? Did you see this film, and if not, what are some of your favorite cheesy sci-fi movies?
I never saw the film. I don't really like movies about outer space, but if I had to say one, it would be "Spaceballs." On a side note, me and my friends use to pick on all the kids into "Star Wars." We were little bullies, but now I love everyone. So there you go, Sci-Fi Boy.
Has anyone ever mistaken you for a member of another band?
Back in the day, when I my hair was long and curly I used to get mistaken for Kirk Hammett a lot. People would ask me for my autograph, and be like, "Hey, Kirk, Kirk!" I would just sign their tits and move on. Oh, and to this day the Johnny Winter comparisons have frankly become a nuisance.
What was more damaging to your career, the van accident that almost killed your drummer or the rise of grunge and alternative music?
On a serious note, THE VAN ACCIDENT! Nothing can compare. Hell, the rise of grunge and alternative might have helped me out for the sole reason that the singers actually sang. And when we reformed, I just came back doing what I always did -- sing and scream. So, maybe some people were more open-minded to it. I mean, I can't do those Rroooaaarr kind of vocals. Nothing against the guys and girls who do nowadays. I think it's bad-ass, I just can't do it, nor do I really want to. An ironic side note: The original line up for the Clash of the Titans tour was supposed to be Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Death Angel. Then We got into our accident, and couldn't do it. So this new band called Alice In Chains got our slot. Perhaps you've heard of them. Ha! Ha!
How did you manage to support yourself financially during the lean years of thrash metal?
Ah, the lean years. Hell, I didn't know there were fat years! I never made much money off of music. I helped generate a lot back in the day. But in the absence of Death Angel, I managed a vintage clothing store on Haight Street in San Francisco. Had to keep the threads fresh. And now that my big bad boozin' days are behind me, I bartend (believe it or not) when we have down time, which I won't have for awhile because Death Angel is now a well-oiled machine ready to tour!!
These days, are Death Angel groupies still hot young chicks or are they usually the moms of hot young chicks?
Let's get one thing straight: I had more groupies working at the clothing store on Haight Street than I ever did with Death Angel! Nah! Just kidding (sort of). There were always hot chicks at Death Angel shows back in the day! For a thrash metal band, we brought em out.
Now, there is a whole new generation. But hell, they are so young you'd have to be their legal guardian or ask their moms for permission. The only catch is, it takes a highly trained eye to tell the difference between the moms and the dads at a Death Angel show these days. Just kidding! All Death Angel fans - young and old - are beautiful. Even the hot young chicks!!
Did you get to hang out with any rock heavyweights like Foo Fighters when you were working with Nick Raskulincz? Any good stories?
Dave Grohl came by the studio a couple of times. He's a great guy and he's a metal fan -- hence Probot. Scott Ian, and Brian Posehn came by the studio and did background vocals on a couple of our songs, But the best night was the night before we started recording. Me, Kirk Hammett, Brian, Scott, and his girl, Pearl (check out her music), went to go see Van Halen rehearse and they ruled! We were all like little kids watching them. (Well, drunk little kids). Then, we hung out with David Lee Roth and he ruled!! He was hilarious! Then, we went to High Voltage Tattoo Parlor and hung out with Kat Von D. I can't, and won't speak for the others, but I got a new tattoo from her at about 3:30 a.m. I woke up on Kirk's hotel room couch at about 6:00 a.m. and took a cab to where all of the Death Angle boys were staying. and walked in looking fresh as a daisy, ready to record Killing Season.
Come back Friday for the Headbangers Ball Blog premiere of Death Angel's new video "Dethroned."
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