First things first. I’d like to point out that I respect the hell out of Deryck. The guy has been through hell and back. He can sing, he play guitar, and he has a great stage presence.
But he doesn’t have the chops to put on the same shoes as Chester.
It’s fine when bands replace singers that do the former justice, but this won’t be the case for Deryck and Linkin Park. William Duvall has done wonders for Alice in Chains and obviously Brain Johnson was a great fit for AC/DC. Having a new singer step in with a voice that is different can be a good thing so it doesn’t like a cover band, but there needs to similarities.
Deryck and Chester sound nothing a like. That’s fine. But Deryck’s range isn’t near what it needs to be for this role.
Remember, this is just my guess and opinion. There is a decent chance this could happen, too. Deryck joined Linkin Park to do The Catalyst back in 2017.
Not bad. But it’s not quite what Linkin Park needs to make this ‘reunion’ big enough.
Deryck did sound pretty good covering Faint four years ago when Mike Shinoda joined Sum 41 on stage at Reading.
Here’s a live comparison with Chester.
This is going to be tough act to follow.
I could be completely wrong, and I’ll eat my words if I am, but I just don’t think Deryck is the right fit.