Grey Daze, the former band of the late Linkin Park lead vocalist Chester Bennington, has released “B12,” a song and video from their upcoming Amends album due to be released June 26, 2020 on the Loma Vista Recordings label. Earlier in the year, mxdwn reported on other songs released from the album Amends, including, “Soul Song,” “Sometimes” and “Sickness” as well as a documentary detailing the band’s history, reunion and upcoming album.
As far as Bennington’s influence on the song and overall album, Grey Daze co-founder and drummer Sean Dowdell says “Everything we’ve done surrounding the upcoming release of Amends has been to honour Chester. The video for ’B12’ is no exception. We wanted to celebrate all that has been accomplished in seeing Amends, a release he had wanted to bring to life, and in this video we not only brought his lyrics to life, we also were able to feel his presence as we performed alongside his vocal track.”
Bennington formed Grey Daze with Dowdell, a high school friend, in the early ‘90s. They went on to record three albums, Demo in 1993, Wake/Me in 1994, and No Sun Today in 1997. Bennington left Grey Daze in 1998 and had since gone on to sing for Linkin Park, Dead by Sunrise and Stone Temple Pilots. In 2017, Bennington announced that he planned on getting back together with Grey Daze, however that never materialized due to Bennington’s passing.
“B12” is a hard-hitting release with deep rhythms and a moving groove. It is a mixture of powerful vocals, punching rhythms, pad-like leads, crisp drums and soft analog synths. The song ends with a catchy chorus with no outro causing the listener to want to go back and listen to the song again and again.
According to a press release, “The remaining band members – Dowdell, Mace Beyers (bass) and Cristin Davis (guitar) – along with Talinda Bennington (Chester’s widow) and his parents, made it their mission to see the project through with assistance from Tom Whalley, the founder of Loma Vista Recordings and former Warner Bros. Records Chairman during Linkin Park’s tenure at the label.”
Photo Credit: Shareef Ellis