A new Megadeth album could be arriving sooner than we think. According to James LoMenzo anyway.
Thrash metal music is one of those things that makes you feel alive inside...
Dave Mustaine
In an interview with Portuguese site Metal Global, the bassist, who returned to the fold to replace co-founder Dave Ellefson in 2022, said “we’re actively working on music right now.”
“We’re talking with Dave (Mustaine, Megadeth’s singer/guitarist) every day. Dave really wants to do another record and just get something fresh out there.”
I begged, I pleaded, I said, 'I know, I know, I know, but could I please play bass on this?’
LoMenzo didn’t appear on the band’s last record, 2022’s The Sick, The Dying...And The Dead! That album had nothing if not a troubled birth. It took over two years to complete, with recording complicated not only by Mustaine’s throat cancer diagnosis, but by Ellefson’s dismissal in 2021 over allegations of sexual misconduct. His bass parts had to be removed from the album and re-recorded by Testament bassist Steve Di Georgio. Following this LoMenzo rejoined the band in 2022, just before the album’s release.
In the Metal Global interview LoMenzo spoke about how he was itching to play on that record: “When I had just joined the band, they just finished recording it. I begged, I pleaded, I said, 'I know, I know, I know, but could I please play bass on this?’ ’Cause there’s a few things I had heard were so great.
“And they were, like, ‘We’ve been doing this for two years. We just have to get on the road. It’s done.’ I was, like, ‘All right.’
“But Steve Di Giorgio did an amazing job. I really love the way he played on this. And I enjoy playing his style.”
Whenever the new album emerges it’s a fair bet it’ll stick closely to the thrash template Megadeth and Mustaine played such a huge part in establishing all those years ago. In a recent interview with Rock Hard Greece, the 62-year-old reiterated his commitment to the genre, saying: “If we (Megadeth) started doing music that wasn’t heavy and it wasn’t thrash, I would probably not want to do it any more”
“Thrash metal music is one of those things that makes you feel alive inside... I can’t remember anything that I’ve ever experienced that makes me feel as good as thrash metal - not a drug, not a drink, not a person, not a thing,”
The band finish up the last dates of their European tour in France, Spain and Portugal this week, before embarking on an extensive US tour in August and September. For more details go to the band’s website.
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