And the Vocalist on Death to All 2013 Will Be…

Yesterday, we learned that the Death to All tour would return this year, and would focus on the Human-era Death lineup – guitarist Paul Masvidal, bassist Steve DiGiorgio, and drummer Sean Reinert — although it wasn’t clear who would have the unenviable job of trying to fill the late Chuck Schuldiner’s shoes on vocals and second guitar. Last year a number of special guests — including Abysmal Dawn’s Charles Elliott, Obscura’s Steffen Kummerer, and Exhumed’s Matt Harvey — stood in for Schuldiner, but this year, it looks like it’s going to be the job of one man, and one man only.

And that man is Max Phelps, Masvidal and Reinert’s bandmate in the most recent line-up of Cynic. (He’s also part of fusion metal outfit Exist.)

For that reason alone, Phelps make a lot of sense as the choice; he’s already proven his chops as a guitarist, as a Schuldiner-esque death metal vocalist, and a live performer. He may not be as well-known in the metal world as guys like Harvey and Kummerer and Elliott, but that obviously doesn’t really matter when it comes to the quality of his work. And as a bonus, he bears kind of a passing physical resemblance to Chuck, which is to say, his hair is similar.

Get dates for the Death to All tour here. A portion of the proceeds will once again benefit the Sweet Relief charity, a non-profit devoted to helping musicians without insurance who are facing serious illness.