Iced Earth/Deth news....

[spawn]

ICED EARTH bassist James MacDonough has officially left the band to join MEGADETH as their touring bassist. MacDonough's statement on the matter (as posted at Iced-Realm.de) is as follows:

"A while back I had heard that MEGADETH might need a bassist, so I contacted them via email and much later got a response, to my suprise. Before I knew it, I was on a conference call with Dave [Mustaine]. I sent in some video of me playing a couple MEGADETH songs and I got a call a couple of days later. Everything with ICED EARTH has been up in the air as far as touring, so I told [ICED EARTH mainman] Jon [Schaffer] about this when I got the first email back, and being my older bro, he told me to go for it. Unfortunately, I won't be able to play with ICED EARTH in the future because this will be a very lengthy tour, but we'll see what happens down the road. I am keeping in touch with Jon and maybe something in the future will happen.

"MEGADETH has always been one of my favorite bands and I have a lot of respect for Dave and what he's done for music. I feel honored to have been picked for this endeavor."

MEGADETH's lineup for the upcoming tour will be as follows:

Dave Mustaine – Guitar/Vocals
Glen Drover (EIDOLON, ex-KING DIAMOND) – Guitar
Nick Menza – Drums
James MacDonough (ex-ICED EARTH) - Bass

 

[spawn]

Iced Earth is so screwed right now A boring new album, Jon had to cancel all touring due to his back problems and they have no guitarist or bassist.

Oh well, hopefully this will mean a new Demons And Wizards album quicker...

 

[Icarus]

Who cares spawny. Iced earth lost it years ago.

 

[Sydo]

Blah.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

'Deth doing a lengthy tour is good news, perhaps they will come here. And that is a decent line-up. I'm looking forward to getting The System Has Failed in coming weeks.

I think Iced Earth's problems will mean we get the next D&W quicker, which is good. The more power-metally direction of TGB has me worried that it won't be as good as the first D&W album which is somewhat dark, but oh well, I like TGB anyway, so it should be decent. And they have Bobby Jarzombek on drums.

 

[spawn]

Decent lineup? Glen Drover is a brilliant guitar player Blitzy! Id rather see this lineup by FAR than a RIP era lineup going through the motions for a reunion!

 

[Sydo]

Bass guitarists are irrelevant and Iced Earth have never had a lead guitarist worth mentioning, so I don’t really see the problem.

 

[spawn]

It takes time to find more people, thats the problem

 

[Spiff]

Surely there are thousands of nobodies who would be more than happy to be in touring metal band for a few months, Spawny.

 

[spawn]

But in one with Jon Schaffer?

 

[Spiff]

But it's a good stepping stone to getting work with Megadeth and Howard Stern!

 

[spawn]

Or defending your homeland!

 

[Goreripper]

 

[spawn]

A big Hello to all the Droogies!!!!!!

First off I would like to thank you for all the kind comments about me coming to the fold, you've already made me feel welcome. I'd like to say a few things about how it happened. I knew that Dave had Jimmy Sloas record the bass tracks for the new album but didn't know if he was going to do the tour or not, so on a hunch I e-mailed Dave Mustaine a while back saying that I was very interested in the position. I grew up listening to Megadeth and Dave has always been inspiring to me, his music and his 'in your face' attitude made me respect him in many ways. Megadeth are pioneers, they belong and will always remain in the true METAL category. The first e-mail I received back from Dave stated that things were up in the air and didn't know exactly what was going to happen yet. I talked to my bandmates about it and Schaffer told me to go for it. After a while of trading e-mails Dave McRobb called me and we hit it off right away, a very down to earth and good person. It's no wonder why he is so close to Mustaine. The next thing I knew, after a few calls we were on a conference call with Mustaine and talked for about an hour, letting me know his plans and what he would expect of the new bassist. I must say I was really nervous at first but after a few minutes it was like talking to a good friend. I got up early the next morning and video taped myself playing a couple of Megadeth tunes and sent them to Dave & Dave and within a couple of days I got the call that would change my life. Dave Mustaine made me feel more like a band member than I have in a very long time. Dave is a very intriguing person and I look forward to that relationship growing. I am extremely grateful for Dave McRobb taking a lot of time in dealing with me and putting everything into action, and in the process have made a great friendship.

The last Megadeth tour Iced Earth opened for them on the last leg and it was really cool seeing them in action from the front and back and how they operated as a true unit. Dave was always very kind to us and the whole band made us feel quite welcome. I didn't know it but I guess that was kinda like my first audition. I'm very much looking forward to playing live and dishing out some awesome music with Dave, Glen and Nick. It's a dream come true. This will be a very hungry and sincere line-up, I guarantee that!!!

I wanted to tell this little story to anyone that was wondering about it and to also say that I won't be addressing much to do with Iced Earth just for the record. That part of my life is over. I've had many fond memories and played with some really good people.

I have Jon to thank for quite a few things but we have different mindsets and I'll leave it at that.

I just wanted to say a big HELLO to all of you, and I'll look forward to seeing you on the road very soon.

James MacDonough
*********************

Jon Schaffers response about how James was never an integral part of the band and they will be just fine without him because he never wrote anything or had the vision Jon did begins in 5, 4, 3, 2...

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Aren't Megadeth just doing this last long tour then calling it quits? He shouldn't be severing all ties with Iced Earth just yet...

 

[spawn]

Well, Dave will still need a bass player when he goes solo

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Yeah, I thought that after I posted. Fair enough then.

 

[Winmar]

Sounds like working with Jon S is a lot of fun! Blimey, does anyone like him?

What kind of fucking idiot is Matt Barlow though? He swapped being a metal star for being a boring public servant. Fuck me dead, I'm a public servant and dream of actually doing something enjoyable.

 

[phlogiston]

Ah, but are you defending the homeland?

 

[Winmar]

Not unless we're fighting off foreign invaders with a fistfull of stats!

"Ooh look there's an arab with a bomb strapped to his arse!"

"No worries mate, I'll just hit him with a couple of standard deviations."