Nick Menza

Nicholas Menza(July 23, 1964 – May 21, 2016) was an American musician who was the drummer of thethrash metalbandMegadethfrom 1989 to 1998. He recorded drums on four of Megadeth's albums:Rust in Peace(1990),Countdown to Extinction(1992),Youthanasia(1994), andCryptic Writings(1997).

Nick Menza
Menza on the back cover ofRust in Peace,1990
Background information
Birth name	Nicholas Menza
Born	(1964-07-23)July 23, 1964 Munich,West Germany
Died	May 21, 2016(2016-05-21)(aged 51) Los Angeles, California,U.S.
Genres	Heavy metal,hard rock,thrash metal,jazz
Occupation	Musician
Instrument(s)	Drums, percussion
Years active	1981–2016
Formerly of	Rhoads Cold Fire Megadeth Menza Chodle's Trunk Fear Assembly (Mindstreem) Memorain Orphaned to Hatred Deltanaut OHM Sweet Eve

Early life

Menza was born inMunich,Germany, where his father, jazz musicianDon Menza,had been stationed with the U.S. Army. He began playing drums at the age of two, at which age he performed at his first public concert when during the intermission someone sat him down onJack DeJohnette's drums and he proceeded to play. Menza's influences stem from being nurtured around the tutelage of such notables asBuddy Rich,Steve Gadd,Nick Ceroli,Jeff Porcaro,andLouie Bellson.

Beginning his professional musical career at the age of 18, drumming in the band Rhoads featuring singer Kelle Rhoads, brother of the lateRandy Rhoads,Menza released his first record with Rhoads, titledInto the Future,in Europe in 1986.

Following Rhoads, Menza was part of a succession of Los Angeles metal bands, including The Green (with Rhoads bandmates John Goodwin on guitar and Darwin Ballard on bass), Von Skeletor (another collaboration with Goodwin and Michael Guillory on guitars, Cam Daigneault on drums, and Menza handling lead vocals on the band's demo and self-released album,Injection of Death), and Cold Fire (also featuringWarriorguitarist Joe Floyd) before joining Megadeth.

Career

1989–1998: Megadeth

Moving on to session playing including styles ranging fromR&Btogospel,funkandheavy metal,recording with the likes ofJohn Fogerty,Menza caught the attention of thenMegadethdrummerChuck Behlerand became his tech. When Megadeth needed a drummer in 1989, Menza was asked byDave Mustaineto join the band. Mustaine noted that Menza previously filled in on drums when Behler was unable to. Menza first played live with Megadeth on May 12, 1988, in Bradford, England. This prior experience and personal relationship led to the invitation to join Megadeth for the 1990 recordingRust in Peace.

For the next ten years, Menza became associated with Megadeth's "classic" period and also hisGreg Voelker Rack System.This included a double-bass drum kit with the tom-toms mounted on a lower chrome rack and all cymbal crashes mounted on a higher rack, which was supported by two chrome bars behind the drummer. This was later adopted by Megadeth on 2004'sBlackmail the Universe tour,which featured a similar rack system.

During his tenure in Megadeth, Menza also played drums on his bandmateMarty Friedman's three solo albums,Scenes(1992),Introduction(1994) andTrue Obsessions(1996).

By the summer of 1998, while the band was still touring in support ofCryptic Writings,Menza was having knee problems and sought medical advice. He was informed he had a tumor, which was later found to bebenign,and had it removed. Rather than cancel any dates, Megadeth hiredJimmy DeGrassoas a temporary replacement. When the time came to record a follow-up album, Menza was not asked back and DeGrasso became the band's official drummer. Menza has said in several interviews that, while in the hospital recovering from knee surgery, he received a phone call from Mustaine that simply said "Your services are not needed anymore".

1998-2015: Post-Megadeth

After his departure, he began work onMenza: Life After Dethwith guitaristAnthony Gallo,bassist Jason Levin,and guitaristTy Longley.The album was initially intended to have a 2002 release date and tour to follow; however, on the tour in 2003 with the reformed Great White, Longley was among the 100 people killed inThe Station nightclub firein Rhode Islandand a year later Jason Levin died of heart failure, Menza and Gallo were devastated and theLife After Dethtour was never announced.Guest guitaristChristian Nesmith,son ofThe Monkees'Michael Nesmith,did some leads and Menza hired producerMax Norman(Ozzy Osbourne,Megadeth).

Following the reissue of the entire Megadeth catalog, Menza reunited with Megadeth in July of 2004.Months later, Menza was fired after rehearsals and replaced withShawn Drover.Mustaine said that this was because Menza "just wasn't prepared" for a full-scale U.S. tour, physically.

In April 2006, Menza joined the Los Angeles–based metal band Orphaned to Hatred. The group describe their sound as "a continuation of the heavy style of 1990sPantera".He left the band in late 2010.

Menza nearly suffered the loss of an arm in 2007, after having an accident with a power saw. He required reconstructive surgery and metal plates in his arm and a lengthy rehabilitation, but later recovered. Menza later auctioned off the blood-stained saw blade and an original copy of an X-ray from the incident.

In March 2011, Menza appeared in a music video for Mindstreem's "We Up Next", a song originally written bySIN 34guitaristAnthony Gallofeaturing Tony Lanza and Daniel Wayne, Jr. on vocals. The actual recording is Menza (drums), Gallo (guitars), Gregg Babuccio (bass), and Tony Lanza and Daniel Wayne Jr. (vocals).

Also in March 2011, Menza's band Deltanaut posted a video for the song "Sacrifice" in conjunction with the release of theirRoy Zproduced digital-only five-song EP. The lineup consisted of Menza, his old Rhoads and The Green bandmate, bassist Darwin Ballard, guitarists Christopher Grady and Colin Reid, and lead vocalist Brian Williams. Menza's fatherDonplays saxophone on the song "The King"; other guests include Roy Z on guitar and Ed Roth on keyboards.

In 2014, Menza played on the demo version of the song Babylonian Ships.

In 2015, Menza contributed drum tracks to the song "Are We Alone?" on the albumWarless Society (The Global Invasion)by Ci2i, with John Goodwin and Darwin Ballard on guitar and bass, respectively. In 2015, he also began working with Los Angeles band Sweet Eve on their follow up album "The Immortal Machine" as producer and drummer.

Death

On May 21, 2016, Menza was performing with his band OHM atThe Baked Potatojazz club inStudio City, Los Angeles.Only three songs into the set, Menza collapsed onstage. He was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. An autopsy later showed the cause of death to beatherosclerotic,hypertensive-inducedcongestive heart failure.Menza was 51.

Groups/acts worked with

• Rhoads (1986–1987)
• Cold Fire (1988)
• Megadeth(1989–1998, 2004)
• Marty Friedman(1992–1996)
• Menza (1997–2016)
• Chodle's Trunk (2000–2001)
• Fear Assembly (Mindstreem) (2002–2003)
• Memorain(2005–2008)
• Orphaned to Hatred (2006–2010)
• Deltanaut (2006–2016)
• OHM(2015–2016)
• Sweet Eve (2015–2016)

Discography

Rhoads

• Into the Future(1986)

Megadeth

• Rust in Peace(1990)
• Countdown to Extinction(1992)
• Youthanasia(1994)
• Nativity in Black–Tribute to Black Sabbath(1994)
• Hidden Treasures(1995)
• Cryptic Writings(1997)
• Capitol Punishment(2000)
• Arsenal of Megadeth(2006)
• Warchest(2007)
• Anthology: Set the World Afire(2008)

Marty Friedman

• Scenes(1992)
• Introduction(1994)
• True Obsessions(1996)

Menza

• Life After Deth(2002)

Memorain

• Reduced to Ashes(2006)

Von Skeletor

• Injection of Death(1988)

Deltanaut

• DeltanautEP (2011)

Sweet Eve

• The Immortal Machine(2016)

External links

• Menzajamz– website
• Menza Nation– official YouTube channel
• "Nick Menza biography".megadeth.com. Archived fromthe originalon April 4, 2012.