The super-group HELLYEAH had a tough decision to make a little while back. But they got together, took their time and decided to carry on after founding member, drummer and brother Vinnie Paul passed away unexpectedly on June 22, 2018. I’m sure it wasn’t an easy decision.
Kyle tells Sound Vapors, “We all sat together and had to get an answer from everybody. Do we want to continue on in some way, shape or form.. or not.” He goes on to explain, “This record is Vinnie all over it, no one else came in and played anything or overdubbed or finished any songs. It’s all Vinnie. It would’ve been a huge letdown to Vince if we would’ve just put the record on the shelf.”
“HELLYEAH was Vinnie’s life”
So with that, the band released Welcome Home on September 27, 2019. Believe me, it’s as strong as any hard rock release out there, this year. There are moments that are almost bittersweet to any music fan. Sweet, because on songs like Oh My God and At Wick’s End, you can almost feel the future of HELLYEAH starting with those two songs. There’s the signature sound of Vincent’s drums and singer Chad Gray’s haunting vocals, especially at those low moments of the songs. Don’t get me wrong, it’s HELLYEAH – but the strengths of the songs on this album sets up many more to come, if the band chooses to do so. The bitter part is that it will be without Vinnie Paul. But if I had a choice, I would say it would be a great way to honor him even further by carrying on. Time will tell but for now let’s enjoy the music we do have from the band.
“All he cared about was making HELLYEAH the biggest band in the world”
Kyle also ran down his current rig set up and gave a heartfelt message to fans of the band that have also been through a lot over the last year and a half. You can hear my entire conversation with Kyle by clicking on one of the links below to your favorite place to listen to podcasts.
-Tommy Marz
You can follow Tommy on Twitter and let him know what you think.
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