Testament’s Alex Skolnick Was “On Standby” to Cover for Megadeth’s Kiko Loureiro
If you’ve ever looked at Megadeth‘s timeline and paid attention to that band’s lineup over the years, you’ll notice one thing — the guitarist slot not taken up by Dave Mustaine is a revolving door. Like if you join Megadeth as a guitarist, you’re likely going to either quit or get fired for one reason or another.
Back in 2023, then guitarist Kiko Loureiro was experiencing some major life changes. He and his wife were expecting and as the due date got closer, there was some concern that he would have to miss a few shows while Megadeth was on tour. What’s a redheaded band leader to do? Well, you reach out to one of the best guitarists in the game to see if he can fill in, which is exactly what happened with Testament axeman Alex Skolnick.
In a recent interview with eonmusic‘s Eamon O’Neill, Skolnick revealed that there was a moment in time when there was a very real possibility that he would have shared the stage as a fill-in for one of the “Big Four”.
“There were a couple shows, actually, as recently as the Kiko Loureiro era, where I was on standby to fill in. Kiko’s wife was giving birth, so there was a possibility of that, and they didn’t know exactly when it was going to be, and there was a possibility it was going to conflict with a show or event. So it was on standby. I learned the songs. I was ready, but as it turned out, he didn’t need to miss any shows. I’ve always been friends with the Megadeth camp, you know, mad respect for the band, but I like my role as… occasional possible understudy is as far as it’s gone.”
Turns out, that’s not the first time that Skolnick nearly joined Megadeth. Apparently, he’d been on Mustaine’s radar for years by 2023. In fact, there was a time when Skolnick said he considered trying to join Megadeth just before Marty Friedman’s time with the band.
“I heard through the grapevine, many, many years ago [that they were interested]. I don’t know, if I’d made a call secretly, and reached out to management, or whatever, and said, ‘hey, I really want to give this a shot,’ I’m sure maybe it could have happened, but it was, pre-Marty [Friedman, 1989], and it was during the time Testament was just up and running, and I knew, ‘okay, if I were to join this other thing…’ At that time with Testament, we were really finding our footing, and establishing a sound with albums like The New Order and Practice What You Preach, like now essential albums, and it just seemed like, ‘okay. I’m a part of this thing.’ And I think at that point Megadeth had already had three guitar players, and there’d been so many members, so it was just clear, ‘okay, if you’re in Megadeth, you don’t know how long it’s going to last.’”
Man, imagine what Megadeth would have turned into if someone of Skolnick’s capabilities and sensibilities had been added into the mix. That’s not to say anything negative about Friedman or any of the other guitarists that have joined Megadeth since, but hot damn. Mega-Skolnick would have been bananas.
