Hear What Would Velvet Revolver Have Sounded Like With a Death Metal Vocalist

Ever wonder what Velvet Revolver would have sounded like if they were fronted by a death metal vocalist? Wonder no longer, as Atheist's Kelly Shaefer has shared demos from his audition with the hard rock supergroup, along with recollections from the audition.

You can listen to the demos — including two songs, "Eye for an Eye" and "Room 169" — below.

The audition tapes, which were uploaded to YouTube a couple years ago, date back to either 2002 or 2003, when Velvet Revolver — featuring ex-Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, plus guitarist Dave Kushner — were seeking a lead singer. They eventually settled on ex-Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland.

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Despite Shaefer's larynx-shredding growls with Atheist, his Velvet Revolver audition demos sound like straightforward, melodic hard rock. Shaefer's twangy, swaggering vocals bear more than a little similarity to Josh Todd of Buckcherry.

How Kelly Shaefer 'Catfished' His Way Through Velvet Revolver Audition

Shaefer posted the Velvet Revolver demos on his Facebook page on Monday (July 21) and reflected on his brief collaboration with the band.

"Gotta love the internet for preserving history," he said. "This is myself, Slash, Duff, Matt Sorum and Dave Kushner. Pre-Velvet Revolver. 2003. They recorded their tracks LIVE at a rehearsal studio called 'Mates' in L.A. and sent to me to write vocals."

Shaefer said he was careful to hide his musical background from the band so they wouldn't be put off by his death metal resume.

"I have hours' worth of stories about this experience," he continued. "As a 'Death Metal' guy, this was a classic sort of 'catfish' scenario. They had no idea what my roots were with Atheist, and I wasn't about to tell 'em. Super cool experience to hang with them in L.A. and jam together. I had long lost any copies I had of this experience and tripped upon this tonight. Thank you internet!"

Why Kelly Shaefer 'Lost Out' on Velvet Revolver Gig to Scott Weiland

Shaefer detailed the Velvet Revolver audition process and his eventual loss to Weiland in a 2006 interview with Blastwave webzine.

"I did a record with Neurotica and we were on Ozzfest 2002," he said (via Blabbermouth). "So I sent them that record when they were looking for a singer, and they called and sent me three songs, asked me to do my thing on it. I sent it back and they dug it, so I moved to L.A. for a weekend. We wrote another song and recorded a bunch of shit."

He continued: "I had the gig pretty much; Slash and me really hit it off, it was cool. But, of course, I don't blame them a bit. I'm happy for their success, and Scott's a great frontman that fits in perfectly with them. I think they wanted someone a bit more dangerous, and obviously he's sold millions of records so I lose out on that one! [Laughs] It would've been a great story though. It would have been interesting for a death metal guy to end up singing in a band with Slash. But it was a good experience and a lot of fun."