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

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.