WHAT A PAYNE: BASSIST QUITS BAND THAT NO LONGER EXISTS

I interviewed Joe Payne once, and as far as I could tell from our brief time together, he’s a nice guy, so I feel bad making fun of him.

But I’m gonna do it anyway.

The former Nile bassist has spent the past three-odd years in Dino Cazares’ Divine Heresy, a band I assume we will never hear from again. I know there was never an official break-up announcement, and for all I know, the other members of the band do not believe DH to be dead. But let’s be real here — with all due respect to Tim Yeung and company, Dino IS Divine Heresy, he’s the reason anyone ever paid attention to Divine Heresy, and without him, there is no Divine Heresy.

And right now, Dino is preoccupied with Fear Factory. And I don’t foresee him not being preoccupied with Fear Factory for some time to come. So even if Divine Heresy ever do return, it most likely will not be anytime soon. Especially since Divine Heresy aren’t even listed on Century Media’s artist page right now (the band released both of their albums through that label), which is probably not a good sign of new music to come.

And this fact makes the statement Payne released to Blabbermouth last night baffling:

“With a great amount of thought and consideration, I have decided to leave DIVINE HERESY to pursue my true passion (lead guitar) with my best friends in my band PAIN AFTER DEATH.

“I’ve had a blast over the past four years playing with DIVINE HERESYand enjoying the laughs, blood, sweat, tears, and brotherhood that comes with being in a touring band.

“It’s become painfully clear to me that my passion for this project has been insufficient for quite sometime now. It’s not fair to DIVINE HERESY fans, my fellow bandmembers in DIVINE HERESY, or to myself to continue on with this project an not wholeheartedly believe in what we were doing, musically or otherwise.

“I wish nothing but prosperity and happiness to the other members of DIVINE HERESY and am eternally grateful to every single DIVINE HERESY fan around the world who have supported us the years and helped me pay my bills. This shit ain’t over for me yet.

“PAIN AFTER DEATH‘s full-length album will be complete and available very soon.. Go check that shit out and leave feedback. Good or bad. Bring it.”

First of all, I’m shocked and appalled that Joe is forgoing the opportunity to call his new band Payne After Death. I mean, HEL-LO… that pun worked great for Damon Wayans, so why wouldn’t it work great for a young metal band?

Second of all, uh… so, basically, I see two possibilities here:

• Divine Heresy is, indeed, dunzo, and there is absolutely no reason to quit the band.
• Divine Heresy is on an extended hiatus, and there is absolutely no reason to quit the band, especially when you might need a paycheck in a couple of years after your new project fails to burn up the charts.

The cynical side of me (read: all of me) wants to say that Payne must realize the silliness of his public departure from a defunct group, and that this statement really exists for no reason other than to promote Payne After Death. (Sorry, I’m going to insist on calling them that until the sun dies.) In which case, well… promoted!

And I’m actually listening to Payne After Death right now. It’s fairly generic DM, but as far as generic DM goes, I’ve heard way worse.

-AR