degarmo was replaced by guitarist and producer kelly gray. gray's connections with queensrÿche went back to the early '80s, when he was the guitarist for myth, which was also the band tate fronted prior to joining queensrÿche. gray had previously worked as a producer for bands such as dokken and candlebox. queensrÿche recorded one studio album with gray, "q2k" from 1999, which was also the first album for their new label, atlantic records. musically, "q2k" bore little resemblance to the progressive metal of the band's past, and also displayed a similar stripped-down sound as "hear in the now frontier". tate has described "q2k" as a continuation of the experimentation of "hear in the now frontier". declining popularity forced the band to tour in clubs and theaters, rather than in the larger arenas and outdoor amphitheaters where they played before. following the "q2k" tour, rockenfield and gray formed the side project slave to the system with band members from brother cane and recorded a self-titled album.