As a drum magazine, we generally stay out of any drama, as it's just not what we are about. We try to remain positive and promote all drummers and all drumming. However, a few things in the past 24 hours have been very upsetting and this post is to address them.
Yesterday, Gus Rios anounced on our site that he had left Malevolent Creation. His statement was professional, respectful, thankful and genuine. Many drummers leave bands for many reasons and this situation is no different.
Since then, the band has made some less than professional posts on their Facebook page, two of which have been removed. The one that remains tries to explain something from the first (now gone) post that outright called Gus "gay" and ripped on his talents, even though he has spent the last five years playing with the band. Not that it matters one bit either way, but Gus is not gay. The problem here is that now he has to deal with other sites and posts spreading rumors about him around the internet that are totally unfounded, childish and pretty much ignorant. All of this nonsense and hearsay can be harmful to anyone's reputation, not just a drummer, and seeing all the negative comments this has created is truly disheartening.
If there was a problem with Gus' drumming, personality, lifestyle or recording techniques, any one of these things could have been addressed privately within the last 5 years. They were not though and it seemed all was fine with his drumming and recording. To come out now and say these things about someone who just spent 5 years with your band, is what prompted me to write this post. If any of these things were true or that bad, he could have been "fired" a long time ago. If the band was not happy with the recordings, they shouldn't have been released. If Gus was "editing" all his drums in secret or making any other adjustments to the drums, it would have been noticed then and dealt with at that time.
We have known Gus for a long time and he's never been anything other than professional, kind and an overall nice guy. He has his own studio and the time to make sure his tracks are done right, without editing. He is a musician in every sense of the word, and none of these accusations should be taken even remotely seriously.
The point is, none of this bashing or name calling is necessary. It's not good for a band, their Record Label, and certainly not good for the reputation of any band. If you are in a band (especially one on a respected label), do yourself and them a favor! Keep the posts professional. Don't air your dirty laundry on the internet, keep it where it belongs, between the members. A band is a business and tarnishing your "brand" in any business is just not a good idea.
Check back later tonight, as we will be premiering a track from the new Create A Kill project that features Gus, Alex Marquez (another former MC drummer), Daniel Gonzalez, Tobias Gustafsson, and Dirk Verbeuren! The song is from the upcoming album entitled "Summoned To Rise" and if you've never heard Alex Marquez sing, you are in for a treat! Additionally, Jet & Metal Messiah Radio will be airing a new interview with Gus a week from Thursday on 3/6/2014. We will post links to the interview closer to the air date.
We wish Malevolent Creation and Gus Rios all the success in their future endeavors and hope we get to hear much more music from all of you, regardless of what band it may be with.
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