PORTNOY, ELLEFSON, SKOLNICK, BUSH, SANDERS Perform At METAL ALLEGIANCE’s East Coast 10th-Anniversary Show

On September 6, 2024, METAL ALLEGIANCE rocked the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, performing a balance of original material with classic covers of metal royalty. Several guests joined METAL ALLEGIANCE on stage at the gig, including Troy Sanders (MASTODON),John Bush (ARMORED SAINT),Dave Davidson (REVOCATION) and Doc Coyle (BAD WOLVES),among others.

METAL ALLEGIANCE began as a celebration of heavy metal, powered by the almost tribal bond shared between the extreme music community’s most revered trailblazers, armed with a list of contributors onstage (and off) that read like a Wikipedia entry on the genre itself.

Since METAL ALLEGIANCE‘s inception in 2014, the band is comprised of the core four members of: Mark Menghi on bass, Alex Skolnick (TESTAMENT) on guitar, David Ellefson (MEGADETH) on bass, and Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER) on drums.

METAL ALLEGIANCE has issued two full-length albums so far, 2015’s self-titled debut and 2018’s “Volume II: Power Drunk Majesty”, as well as an EP, 2016’s “Fallen Heroes”.

The Starland show will came nine months after the group’s last performance in January, at the House of Blues Anaheim, as part of NAMM, and this was the first METAL ALLEGIANCE show to feature the group’s core four in six years on the East Coast.

Getting the core of METAL ALLEGIANCE together once is nothing short of a minor miracle, considering the complex crisscross of schedules and outside obligations. That Ellefson, Menghi, Portnoy and Skolnick have written and performed together multiple times and produced not one but two studio albums is nothing short of astounding. It’s evidence of their total commitment to the spirit that METAL ALLEGIANCE embodies, to the force of their unique creative chemistry, and to the fans.

The year after they first performed as METAL ALLEGIANCE on MOTÖRHEAD‘s Motörboat cruise in 2014, the group issued a surprise debut album of original material, packed with the caliber of guests that crowds at their live shows would rightfully expect. Considering songs like “Pledge Of Allegiance”, “Let Darkness Fall” and “Can’t Kill The Devil” rose to the level of excellence of the myriad iconic acts associated with them, it was inevitable that lightning would strike twice with the arrival of the sophomore set from the band. The first METAL ALLEGIANCE album featured contributions from past and present members of LAMB OF GOD, SLAYER, EXODUS, PANTERA, MACHINE HEAD, LACUNA COIL, JUDAS PRIEST, ARCH ENEMY and ANTHRAX, to name but a few. On “Volume II: Power Drunk Majesty”, the core membership was once again strengthened by a small army of friends, an eclectic mix of metal legends, visionaries, and firebrands. Vocalists included Trevor Strnad (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER),Bush, Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth (OVERKILL),Mark Tornillo (ACCEPT),Johan Hegg (AMON AMARTH),Max Cavalera (SOULFLY, ex-SEPULTURA),and Floor Jansen (NIGHTWISH). “Volume II: Power Drunk Majesty” also marked the return of unofficial “fifth Beatle” Mark Osegueda (DEATH ANGEL, KERRY KING) and Sanders.