On March 6th, Tom Åsberg announced that he would be leaving his position as lead singer with Priest.
Though he was mum to elaborate as to why, he has asked than fans respect his wishes and not pry.
Just yesterday, Priest performed for the first time with a new lead singer at the E-tropolis Festival 2019. While I have my own speculations as to who might be behind the mask this time, I will remain mum on the subject until further proof.
What is apparent from the videos that have surfaced is that a) the new singer is definitely not in the same league as Åsberg b) does not look as comfortable on stage, and c) is going to need a warming up period.
I’ve seen (and heard) my fair share of singers who aren’t great live, but I have to be honest. This new “Mercury” is seen and heard struggling with the vocals of classic songs. And I would like to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, but how can you be so unprepared for a show?
My question for those few of you who read this, what do you think? Can you think of any band that replaced their lead singer with an equivalent, if not better, lead singer? Will the new Mercury ever rise to the status of the original Mercury?
Only time will tell for Priest. Their upcoming release Obey is set to be released at the end of the month with the original singer in the recording booth.
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