Hail! have announced that they will go forward with their planned European summer touring despite the recent death of Slipknot bassist Paul Gray. Gray had been tapped to handle the bass duties for the band following the departure of David Ellefson from the outfit. In Gray’s place will be former Megadeth bassist, James Lomenzo. Ironically Ellefson originally left Hail! to replace Lomenzo in Megadeth.

Speaking on the swap and Gray’s passing, HAIL! offered the following statement:

“On Monday we were dealt a devastating blow with Paul’s passing two days before our departure. We discussed the situation and unanimously thought that in the face of this tragedy we needed to remain strong and push forward because Paul would have vehemently insisted that the show must go on. In a desperate situation we made an emergency call to James Lomenzo and James responded with a Herculean effort, on only one day’s notice, to fly to Portugal and rescue the Rock In Rio Festival. His immediate and unselfish call to arms single-handedly saved this entire tour.”

James Lomenzo has had a long and very successful career, having played with White Lion, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society and most recently Megadeth.

HAIL! have epitomized the old-school unity and brotherhood of the metal culture that they have all grown out of and this is another example of that close knit circle of friends coming together to help in a time of need.”

Dates for the trek run as follows:

May 30th Lisbon, POR – Rock In Rio Festival
June 01st Novosibirsk, SIB – Izjum
June 02nd Tomsk, SIB – Fakal
June 03rd Omsk, SIB – Kristall
June 04th Ekaterinburg, RUS – TeleClub
June 05th Moscow, RUS – Tochka
June 06th Kiev, UKR – Bingo
June 08th Helsinki, FIN – Dante’s Highlight
June 09th Tallin, EST – Rock Cafe
June 11th Kouvala, FIN – House Of Rock
June 12th Tampere, FIN – Sauna Open Air Festival
June 14th Madrid, SPA – Rock In Rio Festival

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has checked in with the following update regarding the bands upcoming “Rust In Peace” 20th anniversary tour and a new song he’s been working on:

“Happy Valentine’s Day! I thought that Happy VD was a bit funny, but I really wanted to stop and take the time to thank you all for your support and especially thank all of the ticket holders for the RIP tour cities that have already sold-out.

Rehearsals are all done and we are ready for pre-production next week, and then we will be heading out to start the tour. Please send your prayers, best wishes, and positive thoughts our way, and if we are playing in your city or town I sure hope to see you. A big thank you goes out to all of the cities that are sold-out already!

Just so you know, we are playing 10 songs from over our 25+ year careers, as well as all 9 songs off of RIP.

We are playing:
Set The World Afire
Wake Up Dead
In My Darkest Hour
Sweating Bullets
Skin O’ My Teeth
Head Crusher
A Tout Le Monde
Symphony Of Destruction
Trust
Peace Sells, But Who’s Buying?
(and all of RIP)

One great thing is that we all know so many, many songs, and that this is just the starting point. Remember, David Ellefson knows everything of Megadeth’s career, excluding a few new tracks, Shawn knows them all, and Chris is learning them as fast as he can. All in all, I think that we have approximately 40 songs we can do on this next month’s tour.

We will return to the Endgame Tour after that, and may play any of the RIP tracks over the coming years. We already play several songs off of RIP; Holy Wars, Take No Prisoners, Tornado Of Souls, and Hangar 18. It will be fun to have some new gems added to our set list, and also the possibility of us revisiting songs that I mentioned were added to our playlist for potential songs to perform from KIMB or PSBWB.

I have to get going now to get to the studio to start mixing the new track that I have been working on. I am not sure if the party I am doing this for has said anything lately, because I have been in my studio 20,000 leagues under the sea, and haven’t seen any news lately. I do know that we will be describing the track and the people who I wrote this for very soon.

Have a great day today, and I hope that all of you and your nice red hearts are going to be pumping people all day today with love and kindness, especially for the people you love. Of course tomorrow, you can go back to hating their guts.”

Now former Megadeth bassist James LoMenzo has commented on his recent departure from Megadeth in order to make way for the return of original bassist David Ellefson. Here’s what he had to say:

“My heart is full with your kindness and well wishes. This is the richest part of my years with the mighty Megadeth. I’m truly excited about the two Dave’s getting back together. I think it will be great for Megadeth fans. Anyone who knows me knows I love doing all kinds of things musically and otherwise, so I’m excited for what’s ahead and very grateful for all the great music, fantastic shows and the many friends and fans I’ve come to know over the past four years.

Stay tuned and I’ll let you know what’s next when it’s next!”