SLIPKNOT Bassist Joins HAIL!

HAIL!, the supergroup featuring mainstays Tim "Ripper" Owens (BEYOND FEAR, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, ex-JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH),David Ellefson (MEGADETH) and Andreas Kisser (SEPULTURA),has announced its newest all-star member — Paul Gray from SLIPKNOT will be the new bass player for the band's upcoming European and Asian dates.

"With David Ellefson going back to MEGADETH, we needed someone to help fill-in for him as we had a lot of dates scheduled," said Owens. "We all knew Paul and it was actually Andreas who suggested him first. They had worked together pretty extensively during the 'Roadrunner United' show so it just seemed like a very easy and natural fit."

Kisser's response? “YEEEEAAAAHHHH! This will be f'ing great!!"

David Ellefson graciously passed the torch to his old friend,. I've known Paul for a long time and he's just a great guy," David said. "SLIPKNOT is huge and they have had an enormous impact in carrying on the metal tradition to the newer generation. I'm thrilled for Paul and I'm glad that he will now have this opportunity to share in the HAIL! fun."

Paul Gray shared his excitement: "This is going to be amazing! After I heard the news about David reuniting with MEGADETH I touched base with Andreas and everything fell into place pretty immediately. I was excited about what they were doing and their whole attitude is just cool, old school camaraderie and fun and I wanted to share that with them. Fortunately, I had this window of time available as SLIPKNOT are on break so the timing worked perfectly. These guys have been through it all and they represent true metal brotherhood. I like that and I'm glad to now be a part of it. I can't wait, I wish we’d leave tomorrow. These shows are going to kick ass!"

In addition to Gray, drummer Paul Bostaph (TESTAMENT, SLAYER, EXODUS) will also be rejoining HAIL! for this tour.

"I played the Beirut, Lebanon, show with them back in November and we all just had a blast together," Bostaph said. "The cultural experience was one of a lifetime and hanging out with everybody was awesome. HAIL! has a very, very special thing happening — I mean, come on, first Lebanon and now three dates in Siberia?! Who does that? I'm excited to be playing with them again; they're great guys and I'm honored."

"As always, we plan on having some of our friends come up and jam with us and we already have some very cool guests confirmed. Between us we know a lot of people so you never know what's going to happen," said Kisser.