Interview by Kris Peters
More often than not when a group of musicians get together to form a new band - often termed Supergroup (which still makes me cringe), those musos have either played together before or mixed in the same circles and come across each other in a musical capacity.
Not so the three well known musicians that make up death/thrash outfit Dieth.
Coming together out of musical connection rather than friendship, David Ellefson (bass, Megadeth), Guilherme Miranda (guitarist/vocalist, ex Entombed A.D.) and drummer Michał Łysejko (ex-Decapitated) recently announced their debut full length album To Hell And Back, which will be out on June 2.
Heavier than anything Ellefson has ever done in the past, Dieth also provides a creative outlet for three musicians who have each been major contributors over the past few decades to start fresh with only the sweet smell of creativity in the air.
Dieth have already given fans a taste of what to expect with the singles In The Hall Of Hanging Serpents, To Hell And Back and Don't Get Mad...Get Even, each song further exploring the extremities with which Dieth plan to take their music.
Ellefson sat down with HEAVY to talk more about the upcoming album.
"Great!" he exclaimed when asked how he is feeling about the release. "Especially talking to people like yourself and getting some feedback from people around the world. Obviously we had a great journey making the album over the last year. It's nice to know the record company is excited, it's nice to know the fans are excited. It's a process. The album coming out, it's a great anticipation and I'm glad we're doing it."
We press him on what to expect musically from To Hell And Back.
"I think the title says alot, right" he laughed. "It talks about a journey, ironically a journey the three of us were separately on individually. I just find it funny how the three of us were brought together to unify our journey - strength in numbers. It's more fun as a musician to be in a band playing with your friends and I think in this case it's more fun for three strangers to become friends and become brothers to tell a unified story together. I think lyrically that's that part of it. Musically, a theme I keep hearing is that people are excited to hear me do something so heavy, so brutal. It's a step or two beyond probably what I've done in my past, so that's cool. And I like that, because ... I did The Lucid, which was a bit within range but maybe skewed a little more over here, and then I've got Dieth which is way over here. I've got Kings Of Thrash, Ellefson solo and I've got other records that I've done in between. I'm a versatile guy (laughs). I like to play a lot of different music, so to me Dieth represents a really cool cornerstone of a new sound for me."
In the full interview, David talks more about what to expect from the album, the singles released and how they represent the rest of the music, the acoustic passage that opens the album and why it is there, the track Walk With Me Forever which is Ellefson's first ever vocal performance, how him singing came about, how Dieth represents a new beginning for all involved, what elements of each former bands the three brought to Dieth, the upcoming Australian Kings Of Thrash Tour with Jeff Young and more.