BAND MEMBER COMINGS AND GOINGS: MELECHESH LOSE A MEMBER, A LIFE ONCE LOST GAIN A MEMBER

“We’re captive on the carousel of time.” Jonathan Davis said that, and I believe it. The seasons, they go ’round and ’round, like Ratt, and people change, things change, and so sometimes bands we like have shifts in their line-up. For example:

• Melechesh have split ways with their bass player, Rahm Emanuel, who apparently wants to run for Mayor of Chicago. But I’m operating under the impression that guitarist/vocalist Ashmedi is the driving creative force behind this band, so I suspect that this will have roughly as much of an effect on the quality of their music as someone sneezing in Jakarta might.
• A Life Once Lost has hired Jordan Crouse to replace their recently departed (as in he left the band — he’s not dead) drummer, Justin Graves. In an interview with Metal Insider, ALOL guitarist Doug Sabolick says, “It’s good because with Justin, with the gap between where we live, it was hard to rehearse as much as we wanted to. Now with Jordan, we all live in the same town and we can practice as much as we want to.” So that’s an enthuastic endorsement.

-AR