Queensryche Producer Says Rockenfield, Wilton + Jackson Had Little Involvement in the Studio

As the Queensryche legal battle continues to heat up over naming rights, the latest allegations are coming from a sworn declaration submitted by producer Jason Slater. Slater's history with Queensryche includes producing their last three studio releases.

According to the new reports, Slater alleges that guitarist Michael Wilton, bassist Eddie Jackson and drummer Scott Rockenfield had very little involvement with the writing and recording of the band's 2006 disc ‘Operation: Mindcrime II’ and even goes as far to say that Rockenfield never even played on the album.

In the sworn declaration of support for Geoff Tate submitted by Slater and recently posted on Blabbermouth.net, Slater paints a very detailed yet incredibly disjointed picture of the band, basically saying the only one that ever showed up in the studio on a regular basis to write and record was Tate. In the below excerpt from his statement, Slater describes what he witnessed leading up to the recording of 'Operation: Mindcrime II':

When I met the band, everyone seemed enthusiastic about making the CD, but as we began working, none of the band members except for Geoff Tate were interested in contributing, showing up for recording sessions or participating in any fashion. On several occasions, studio time was arranged but none of the band members showed up. This left myself, Geoff Tate, and [then-Queensryche guitarist] Mike Stone to write and record the record the record. Every attempt was made to include the band. They received copies of the songs after they were written and time was set aside for them to come in and record. We scheduled two weeks at a local studio to record Michael Wilton. When he showed up, he hadn't learned any of the songs, so all the time was spent trying to teach him the songs so he could record them. In the end, he wasn't capable of performing any of the songs accurately enough to be used on the record. In the end, we had no guitars from Mike that could be used. The guitars on the record were played by Mike Stone, a session guitarist and myself.

According to Slater’s statement, Rockenfield didn’t participate in the recording sessions at all. He states: “Scott Rockenfield did not participate in the making of the record at all, and a session drummer was brought in to play on the record. I don't believe [Scott] listened to any of the music until after the record was completed.”

In addition to Slater's formal statement, claims by a guitarist named Mitch Doran posted on the MyLesPaul.com message board allege that he and other session players were brought in to record the majority of ‘Operation: Mindcrime II’ in addition to future Queensryche releases after that.

This whole situation just keeps getting uglier and uglier for all parties involved each time something new develops. Stay tuned for more details as the story continues to unfold.