CHRIS ADLER Says MEGADETH Was The Band That “Changed My Life”
March 30, 2021, 3 years ago
In an interview with Saint Vitus Bar, Chris Adler was asked how he got the Megadeth job in 2016. The former Lamb Of God drummer played on 2016’s Dystopia and toured with the band until Dirk Verbeuren took over in May 2016.
Adler responded to a question on how he received the Megadeth job by saying, “I'm in L.A. I'm recording drums for [Lamb Of God's VII: Sturm Und Drang]. We had been on tour in 2005 with Megadeth. And I get a call really early in the morning; like, six in the morning. And it is Dave Mustaine's guitar tech, a guy named Willie G who I became good friends with along the tour; a great guy. And Willie's, like, 'Hey, your phone's gonna ring in about five minutes, and you should answer it.' I'm, like, 'Okay. Sure.' And the phone rings in five minutes, and it's Dave. And Dave's, like, 'Hey, I enjoyed touring with you. Good chat now and then.' He's not a particularly social guy on tour, but we did hang out a couple of times for breakfast or whatever. And he's, like, 'There's a lot of people that I really trust that tell me you're somebody that I think I should be talking to right now. I'd really like to go back and make a pretty sick thrash record, and I'm interested in having you be a part of that, if you'd like to be.' And it was a Candid Camera kind of moment. 'Is something happening?' It really was the band that changed my life, and now I'm on a phone call that's about to change my life again."
Firstborne, the thrash / heavy metal project featuring Chris Adler, James Lomenzo, guitarist Myrone and vocalist Girish Pradhan, is continuing their busy schedule cranking out tunes with "Mourning Star" - their latest track mixed and mastered by Machine. This song is a continuation of the sound that the band has moved toward since "Save Myself" - a high intensity mix of thrash, rock and heavy metal punctuated by breakneck technical playing from Adler, Lomenzo and Myrone.
Listen to "Mourning Star" here, and below.
Some words from Chris Adler: “How do you rephrase the standard press response of 'here’s our new song and it’s the best!!'? Been there done that - as have you. I’ll say this, I’m very proud to be in a band with these guys [James, Myrone, Girish] and ‘Mourning Star’ is a great example of why I feel that way. Working with the guys and Machine on this has been a blast and we are all excited to share it with you today.”
The band recently released "Soul Control" as a Bandcamp exclusive. This is the first song that Firstborne worked on as a complete band and traces the roots of their music back to the earliest stages of Chris assembling the group. This track is mastered by Arthur Rizk (Power Trip, Iron Age) and available here (listen below).
Some words from Girish Pradhan: "Chris and I were in the green room after finishing our gig in Bangalore a few years back. He was like, 'Hey I got some friends making music together. Myrone, James Lomenzo. You wanna try out the vocals?' , passed his phone to me and played a demo track.
"Of course, the thing totally felt like some dream and I was super excited. After a few days, I started sharing vocal demos, mostly gibberish and the first line actually sounded like, 'When everything goes south, I feel alive'. We kept discussing and building on that until eventually we had the track that became 'Soul Control'. Both Chris and Myrone were super encouraging and helpful in the process. We kinda defined how we were gonna work from there on.
"To me, the song is about inner strength and will power. It's about facing the challenges and in life and rising up against the odds!"
