Listen to Chester Bennington’s spine-tingling vocal performance on previously unreleased Grey Daze demo

By Paul Brannigan
( Metal Hammer )
published

Hear late Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington at his most impassioned on the previously unheard Grey Daze demo B12_demo.1997.aiff

Grey Daze demo
(Image credit: Grey Daze)

Grey Daze, the Phoenix, Arizona rock band who featured Chester Bennington on vocals before the singer signed up to join LA rock band Xero, aka Linkin Park, have released a previously unheard demo recording of B12. 

A reworked version of B12, featuring additional guitars from Korn’s Brian ‘Head’ Welch and James ‘Munky’ Shaffer was released in June 2020 as the fifth single from the group’s Amends album. Now the band have made a demo of the song, titled 12_demo.1997.aiff, available, giving fans a new insight into Bennington’s pre-fame character. 

On the new release, the band say: "A lot of the stuff [Chester] was talking about twenty years ago in these lyrics is really relevant to what happened and our current times.  One of the things that’s abundantly clear when you listen to this record is his emotional intensity on every single word. There’s sadness, pain, aggression, and anger. Every bit of emotion he’s trying to portray is believable.”

Grey Daze - B12_demo.1997.aiff (Official Audio) - YouTube
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Chester Bennington passed away at his home in California on July 20, 2017. 

Grey Daze will announce future plans for 2022 soon.

Paul Brannigan
Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.