New Megadeth Music May Be Released by January

Despite the throat cancer diagnosis that understandably derailed Megadeth’s touring plans for the second of half of 2019, we know that Dave Mustaine was periodically well enough to at least work on new material in the studio. And it sounds like we’re gonna get to hear some of that new Megamaterial sooner rather than later: Mustaine tells Rolling Stone that the band will release either two or perhaps even four new songs before beginning a European tour with Five Finger Death Punch in January (tickets). If they go with four, why… that’s an EP’s worth of new material!

Some other highlights from this new Rolling Stone piece:

• The band wrote “nine really crushing songs” which were “presented… to their management, and Mustaine was pleased when various people who worked with them all picked the same three tracks to release.” 
• “[Mustaine] doesn’t have finished names for the songs yet, just working titles — ‘The Dogs of Chernobyl’ has a feel similar to Dystopia, while he says ‘Faster Than Anything Else’ and ‘Rattlehead, Part Two’ speak for themselves.”
• Mustaine pushed bassist David Ellefson to write a ballad… about Mustaine: “I said to him, ‘What was the biggest song that Kiss ever had?’. He goes, ‘Beth.’ I said, ‘Yeah, we should write a song like ‘Beth,’ where it’s a ballad and it’s just you singing it. I think you should write a song about what it’s like being in Megadeth with me, because I read all your lyrics, and I know that your lyrics are aimed at me. You’re upset. So why don’t you write about it?’”

This last bit is the most interesting. On the one hand, it could potentially be insightful for Ellefson to write lyrics about Mustaine. On the other hand, “Megadeth should write a song like ‘Beth’ by Kiss” is a sentence no one had ever said until Mustaine said it to Ellefson. I’m all for creative exploration, but I hear “Megadeth” and “ballad” and I get nervous. Actually, I hear Mustaine talking about the biggest song another band did and I get REALLY nervous. These guys don’t exactly have the best track record with that kinda stuff.

Read the entire piece here.