LAMB OF GOD Guitarist Was 'Blown Away' By CHESTER BENNINGTON's Contribution To His Solo Album

December 19, 2018

LAMB OF GOD guitarist Mark Morton spoke to Metal Hammer magazine about his collaboration with LINKIN PARK singer Chester Bennington on a song for his upcoming solo album, "Anesthetic" which will be released on March 1, 2019 via WPP Records and Spinefarm Records.

"[Chester] just had a lot of creative input at the ready when he came into the studio," Mark said. "That was my initial, like, wow. He had told me he really liked the song, and we had communicated, but I'd never really hung out with Chester until when we started tracking. I was really impressed for a guy at his level, at the place in the career he was at, someone of his stature and celebrity, to have that level of humility and commitment to come in there and treat this like it would be a LINKIN PARK song, or his own song, or whatever. I was pretty blown away by that. And it was immediate. Fifteen minutes after we met, we were standing over a table, one on either side, each with scraps of paper and pencil, crossing off words and trying different rhyme schemes and stuff. And then after the track was laid out, then we took a breath and started talking about more personal stuff — real-life shit. And yeah… he surprised me the most."

Asked how they connected in the first place, Mark said: "I had my people call his people. It was one of those things where we were listening to the song, like, who in our world would we have singing this? And Chester was the name that came out. So we almost didn't try, because it's Chester Bennington; he's such a superstar. We were kind of, like, come on, we can't get him. But if we hadn't tried, we wouldn't have got him, so we tried, we got his ear, I was surprised to find I was on his radar and all, but through LAMB I was. He heard the song and he was in. It is a really good song. I'm sorry; I don't know if I'm allowed to say that, but it's a good goddamn song, right? We had to iron out a couple of things legally and all that kind of stuff, but on the creative side, he was in from the jump. And I didn't realize how in he really was, but when he showed up, I did, and that was humbling for me."

Starting as idea between Jake (leader of heavy rock band ONI and founder of WPP Records),producer Josh Wilbur (LAMB OF GOD, TRIVIUM, ONI, GOJIRA),and Morton, the project quickly gathered steam — with Mark at the creative center, Josh Wilbur co-writing, recording, mixing, and producing, and Jake Oni also co-writing and performing.

Other singers on the album include Randy Blythe (LAMB OF GOD),Jacoby Shaddix (PAPA ROACH),Myles Kennedy (SLASH, ALTER BRIDGE),Alissa White-Gluz (ARCH ENEMY),Mark Lanegan, Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT),Jake Oni, Josh Todd (BUCKCHERRY),Mark Morales, and Naeemah Maddox. Musically, Morton performs all guitars, with Roy Mayorga (STONE SOUR),David Ellefson (MEGADETH),Ray Luzier (KORN),Paolo Gregoletto (TRIVIUM) and Alex Bent (TRIVIUM),Mike Inez (ALICE IN CHAINS),Jean-Paul Gaster (CLUTCH),Steve Gorman and Marc Paul rounding out the band.

"Anesthetic" track listing:

01. Cross Off (feat. Chester Bennington)
02. Sworn Apart (feat. Jacoby Shaddix)
03. Axis (feat. Mark Lanegan)
04. The Never (feat. Chuck Billy + Jake Oni)
05. Save Defiance (feat. Myles Kennedy)
06. Blur (feat. Mark Morales)
07. Back From The Dead (feat. Josh Todd)
08. Reveal (feat. Naeemah Maddox)
09. Imaginary Days
10. Truth Is Dead (feat. Randy Blythe + Alissa White-Gluz)

The disc's first single, "The Truth Is Dead", featuring guest vocals by Blythe and White-Gluz, can be streamed below.

Find more on Lamb of god
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).