METAL ALLEGIANCE — the all-star metal band consisting of a rotating cast of musicians, including members of MEGADETH, TESTAMENT — celebrated the release of its self-titled debut album with a special concert last night (Thursday, September 17) at the Best Buy Theater in New York City. The show, presented by D’Addario, featured the following participants:
* Frank Bello (ANTHRAX)
* Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX)
* Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT)
* David Ellefson (METAL ALLEGIANCE, MEGADETH)
* Alissa White-Gluz (ARCH ENEMY)
* Gary Holt (SLAYER, EXODUS)
* Scott Ian (ANTHRAX)
* Mark Menghi (METAL ALLEGIANCE)
* Mark Osegueda (DEATH ANGEL)
* Mike Portnoy (METAL ALLEGIANCE, THE WINERY DOGS)
* Alex Skolnick (METAL ALLEGIANCE, TESTAMENT)
* Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein (MISFITS)
The setlist was as follows:
01. Fast As A Shark (ACCEPT cover)
02. The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown) (FLEETWOOD MAC/JUDAS PRIEST cover)
03. Invaders (IRON MAIDEN cover)
04. March Of The S.O.D. (STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH cover)
05. Sargent “D” And The S.O.D. (STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH cover)
06. Freddy Krueger (STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH cover)
07. Can’t Kill The Devil
08. Refuse/Resist (SEPULTURA cover)
09. Territory (SEPULTURA cover)
10. Dying Song
11. Into The Void (BLACK SABBATH cover)
12. Got to Choose (KISS cover)
13. Balls To The Wall (ACCEPT cover)
14. Scars
15. Run To The Hills (IRON MAIDEN cover)
16. Last Caress (MISFITS cover)
17. Runnin’ With The Devil (VAN HALEN cover)
18. Eruption (VAN HALEN cover)
19. You Really Got Me (THE KINKS cover)
20. Lights Out (UFO cover)
21. Overkill (MOTÖRHEAD cover)
22. Pledge Your Allegiance
23. Whiplash (METALLICA cover)
24. Iron Maiden (IRON MAIDEN cover)
Encore:
25. We Rock (DIO cover)
26. Cold Gin (KISS cover)
27. Seek & Destroy (METALLICA cover)
Brought together by METAL ALLEGIANCE principal partner Mark Menghi, the project’s original material came together from the creative minds of David Ellefson of MEGADETH, Mike Portnoy of THE WINERY DOGS, and Alex Skolnick from TESTAMENT, alongside Menghi. The four writers then reached out through their metal rolodexes to a diverse lineup of performers, each adding their own personal musical stamp to the collection of nine original songs.
The standard edition CD of “Metal Allegiance” features the nine original songs. A digipak edition was made available that features an all-star tribute to Ronnie James Dio with a cover of his classic song “We Rock” as well as a 45-minute behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of the album. A double vinyl version is also available that features all 10 songs.
In a recent interview with HNGN, Skolnick stated about how the METAL ALLEGIANCE album came together: “We started out not thinking about it too much. I think it worked in a lot of ways because we were just very open to anything. We got together to write music. Originally, I think we were hoping to come up with a few good tunes, and as soon as we started writing, from the first moment, it really happened naturally, it just exploded. We had so much music. I think at a certain point, we just said, ‘Screw it. We’re not putting any covers on this. This can be an original project.’ So I think maybe because it started as a small unit, just like any other band, it was really like a power trio, except Menghi was there kind of guiding us along, getting excited when a riff sounded good, giving his opinion when he didn’t like something, and I think just as the songs developed we started hearing different options for vocalists. It helped us in a way to not have the limitations of working with just one singer, like most bands do. Instead we came up with songs, and we’d usually come up with a few names for singers, because we didn’t talk to anybody yet; nobody knew what we were doing. The songs existed on their own and we all contributed lyric parts. I got involved with vocal melodies, just as guides, never thinking the singers had to follow them strictly — some of them did, actually, Matt from TRIVIUM really liked what I sent him — and then there were other instances, like Phil Anselmo, he was just ready to take a crack at it without anything and just see what he came up with.”
Source: Blabbermouth
