Glen Drover Unveils Solo Band

Former Megadeth/King Diamond guitarist Glen Drover recently completed work on his debut solo album, Metalusion. The album will see an early 2011 release via Magna Carta Records. Drover has also put together a solo band consisting of the following musicians:

Glen Drover - Guitar
Paul Yee - Bass
Jim Gilmour - Keyboards
Chris Sutherland - Drums

On his newly launched official Facebook page, Drover stated:

"In December of 2007, I made one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make in my life, which was to leave the band Megadeth - a band that I had worked very hard with and helped bring back from the dead. Although I am very happy about what we accomplished in the four-year period I was in the band, things had changed quite a bit towards the end of my time with Megadeth, and not necessarily for the better for me, so I handed in my resignation, so to speak.

"Shortly after a nice long break, I decided to start recording again, but wanted to try something different, which was to form a band and play all instrumental music - a task that would not be easy and would become something very challenging and fun, of course! A combination of metal, harder edge jazz fusion and prog. I contacted Chris Sutherland and shared this idea with him and he was very excited about this possibility. At that point, he recommended a friend of his to play bass, Paul Yee, and also recommended Jim Gilmour from the prog rock band Saga, which Chris had played with for a short while." (Read More)

Gwar Checks in from the Road

Gwar are back from the No Sleep Til... festival in Austrailia and New Zealand after having rocked the outback with acts such as Megadeth and NOFX. Now the band is set to finish 2010 with a string of east coast U.S. shows.

Speaking from a garbage dumpster behind a popular Battle Creek nightspot, Oderus Urungus commented, "We did a Christmas special for Break.com, we tested the new Microsoft Kinnect for Game Informer, and my human slave even wrote a book about some good friends of ours. The only thing I regret is that I apparently can't tell a Bantha from a Wampa!" (Read More)

Megadeth Bassist Thinks Fans Won't be Disappointed with New Material

Recently, Megadeth bassist David Ellefson spoke to Ultimate-Guitar.com's Robert Gray about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's next studio album which is tentatively due out in late 2011 via Roadrunner Records. A few excerpts from the chat can be found below.

Concerning the amount of new material that has been accumulated at this point in the writing process:

Ellefson: There's some ideas that we're now starting to individually compose. We're starting to put some things together, but the actual getting together in the studio to really get things started for the next record as far as all of us being in a room with a producer and all that, that is something we're gonna start [in January].

Regarding the new songs and how they're sounding:

Ellefson: We're at a stage where we're just compiling ideas - riffs, lyrics, things like that. Those early ideas often turn many corners and take many new twists before they're finalized on the final album. The seeds of the ideas I think are great, and I think they're really heavy and they're powerful. I don't think Megadeth fans will be disappointed at all. If the final outcome of what I'm hearing at this point with these seeds of ideas, if these come to fruition like they should, I think we're gonna have ourselves a smoking record ... I think, more than the actual material, though... because again, at this point everybody has some individual ideas or some collective ideas that are at least established... More than anything though, I think we're excited about it because we've had such a great year of reconnecting. There've been some huge successes with the 'Rust In Peace' tour and the |Big Four DVD, and just coming off of that, it's an exciting time for us to start and carve out the next chapter of Megadeth. (Read More)

Former Megadeth Guitarist Makes Guest Appearance on Gashead Single

Guitarist Chris Poland makes a guest appearance on "Skeletal" - the latest digital single from Colorado metallers Gashead. Produced by Dave Beegle, the new track is available in two versions at GasheadMusic.com. The track can also be streamed via Blabbermouth.net.

In 2003, guitarist Mike Lopez started Gashead as an all instrumental one-off, releasing the album LandSpeedRecord that same year. By 2005, Knuckles Avec Sombreos had been released and critics found a lot to love. (Read More)

Kerry King to Perform with Megadeth Tonight

Slayer axeman Kerry King is scheduled to perform alongside Megadeth on stage tonight (October 21) at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, California. They will collectively perform the Megadeth classic, "Rattlehead." Tonight's performance marks the second time King has performed the song with Megadeth. The first performance was 26 years ago, in February 1984, during which time King played as the band's second guitarist.

Tonight's performance is part of the final show for the Jägermeister Music Tour, which features 1991's original Clash of the Titans lineup: Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax.

During an interview with Decibel magazine in 2006, both Slayer guitarists - King and Jeff Hanneman - discussed King's decision to play with Megadeth over 20 years ago:

Hanneman: "I thought [Kerry] was an ass for doing that. [laughs] I remember talking to Tom [Araya] about it, like, 'I guess we're gonna get a new guitar player.' I thought he was kissing Dave's [Mustaine] ass or something, and I thought it was kinda fucked up. I think he was gonna join. Kerry will probably tell you something different, but why do that if you're not thinking about joining? I'm a loyalist, you know, and I thought Slayer was the best thing going. Why go hang out with somebody else? If Dave would've asked me to do it, I would've told him to fuck off."

King: "I did it because I admired Mustaine — I'd seen him play with Metallica. He'd be up there drunk off his ass, just ripping, not even looking at his fingers. Me and Jeff didn't know how to do that yet. [laughs] When he got kicked out and was sniffing around for a guitarist, I figured I'd do it because I thought I would learn something. The other guys in Slayer were probably unhappy, but we weren't really known back then, and the way I looked at it was that if people saw me playing in Dave's band, it'd be more publicity for Slayer. Now you look back and you think 'supergroup,' but back then, absolutely not. I played their first five shows, and then I was like, 'Man, this is taking too much of my time.' I can't speak for Dave, but I don't think he would've been unhappy if I stuck around."

Below is a video featuring former Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson discussing King's time with Megadeth. Also below is footage from the 1984 performance of "Rattlehead." An image from Megadeth's official Twitter feed is included as well.

Testament Hopes to Begin Recording New Album by the End of 2010

San Francisco Bay Area metal veterans Testament recently wrapped up the American Carnage tour with Megadeth and Slayer. Now the band is eager to begin writing and recording for their next album - a follow-up to 2008's The Formation of Damnation.

In a recent interview, vocalist Chuck Billy commented:

"The American Carnage tour was great for us, but now is the time for us to hold off on performing and go full steam ahead on getting the record finished. We currently have studio time booked at the end of this year, and we're shooting for a mid-2011 release. The new album will most likely be a culmination of [1999's] The Gathering and The Formation of Damnation, but we're definitely not going to forget who we are or our roots. I think we've found a comfortable spot in our writing style."

Adding to the topic, guitarist Eric Peterson said:

"I think the tour went really well for us. It's the first time we had a stage set to our live performance, which was a lot of fun, and it brought the band to a whole new level in regards to performing. Playing with Megadeth and Slayer again was a lot of fun. We're going to be home during the fall and winter working on new material." (Read More)

Dave Mustaine Talks About "Sudden Death"

Video footage of Megadeth's Dave Mustaine discussing the band's new track, "Sudden Death," is now available for streaming. The footage can be viewed below.

In reference to the track, which is set to appear as the finale piece in the upcoming Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock game, Mustaine told RollingStone.com that he more than expects mixed reactions from fans. "I'm sure some fans will think it's the greatest thing we've ever done," he commented, "But other people will say it sucks. That's just the way of the world." Mustaine went on to say that "Sudden Death" has a "funky kind of polyrhythm to it" - a characteristic that will likely present the Guitar Hero elite with an even more difficult tune to master. "Just the sheer repetitiveness of it can blow people's minds. And, my guitar style is way different than [other Megadeth guitarist] Chris Broderick's. Chris plays with a lot of love and I play with a lot of hate. My guitar playing is explosions, and his is more like fireworks. When you are trying to emulate the two kind of guitar styles, it's tricky. I don't care what anyone says, you've gotta be good."

"I thought it was a great idea for us," continued Mustaine. "We've had experience with games in the past, and our songs have been in sports games and Grand Theft Auto, but we never really got into the Guitar Hero thing. When they talked to us about doing this, I never imagined it would be something this honorable."

"Only once in my career have I had this happen before," Mustaine said, referring to 1991's soundtrack for Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey (which featured Megadeth's "Go to Hell"). "We had written something and Interscope told me to make the lyrics even darker. Activision heard the track, and said, 'We want more solos on it.' And I said, OK, I can do that.'"

Dave Mustaine Talks Metallica, Religion, and Rock and Roll Excesses

In a recent interview, CTV.ca chatted with Megadeth main man Dave Mustaine about his upcoming autobiography.

Leaving no stone unturned, Mustiane discussed an array of personal topics, including the neglect he experienced during childhood, the excesses of his "rock and roll lifestyle," and the more recent events in his life including his newfound religious devotion. Concerning his turn to God, Mustaine commented on how religion doesn't readily meld with the metal archetype:

"I think in the beginning there were a lot of people who were very angry because they'd lost their guitar player, their singer, their frontman, their Dave Mustaine. [But] if you go back and look at all my lyrics now, there's a lot of God in it."

Mustaine also discussed metal giants Metallica. His excessive drug and alcohol use was the reason for his being booted from the band in 1983. In his book, Mustaine writes, "Without my songs and my solos - without my energy - I don't know that Metallica ever would have become the band that it was."

Outside of substance abuse, Mustaine experienced a number of other setbacks in his career. Among them: an arm injury that nearly ended his career entirely, the near-disintegration of his marriage, and a number of stints in rehab. "Heroin was a terrible experience for us," he admitted. "It was part of my life for 13 years." According to Mustaine, Megadeth's back catalogue is full of clues regarding the band's downward spiral: "You can see where the different types of drugs changed, where the band changed. The heroin and the cocaine use, and the debauchery, and the fighting and the theft and stealing and robbing."

Having recently embraced a more spiritual outlook on life, Mustaine credits religion as having saved his life, protected his family, and kept him going as a member of Megadeth:

"When I got saved it wasn't about getting me saved. It was about me getting my life right with God, getting my family out of what looked liked extremely dire straits ... and just making a really good decision for once in my life."

After all he's endured, Mustaine has no intention of stopping in the near future. "I think that I'll be a musician for the rest of my days," he remarked.

Megadeth Guitarist Interviewed at Getaway Rock Festival

During the Getaway Rock Festival in Gävle, Sweden, CrankItUp.se had the chance to interview Megadeth guitarist Chris Broderick. The chat can be streamed via Blabbermouth.net.

The Getaway Rock Festival was held for the first time from July 8 to 10. The exclusively heavy metal festival featured acts such as Motörhead, Megadeth, Exodus, Cannibal Corpse, and Mayhem. (Read More)

Megadeth Guitarist Interviewed in Milan

Prior to Megadeth's June 5 concert in Milan, Italy, SpazioRock.it chatted with guitarist Chris Broderick. The interview can be streamed below.

The band's historic Rust in Peace 20th Anniversary Tour has been documented for an upcoming release. A Blu-ray, DVD, and CD - recorded on the final night of the tour - will be released as Rust in Peace Live on September 7 via Shout! Factory.

Rust in Peace Live also marks the return of original bassist David Ellefson after an eight-year absence. Ellefson played with the band from 1983 to 2002.

Megadeth's latest live recording will feature the entire Rust in Peace track listing as well as an array of bonus material. This material will take the form of fan favourites from other releases such as "Peace Sells," "Symphony of Destruction," and "Skin O' My Teeth."

Concerning the new release, founder/frontman/guitarist Dave Mustaine explains, "We are pumped to be able to share the RIP Live concert with you all around the world. The anniversary and David Ellefson coming back was better than a facelift and a bottle of Viagra for old [Megadeth mascot] Vic."

Rust in Peace Live has an 80-minute running time and is presented in 5.1 Dolby Surround 16:9 Widescreen in DVD format and 5.1 DTS Master Audio 1080p High Definition in Blu-ray format. Directed by Kerry Asmussen, both DVD and Blu-ray editions of the show will include behind-the-scenes footage, including clips of the band rehearsing in their dressing room before taking the stage.

Considered one of the best metal albums of all time by numerous fans and critics, Rust in Peace debuted on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 Album chart at #23 and came in at #8 in the U.K. Noted for showcasing a much tighter sound, the album saw Mustaine's writing style adopt a rhythmically complex and progressive edge - elements which caused All Music Guide to name Rust in Peace as "Megadeth’s strongest musical effort." The album also received Grammy nominations for Best Metal Performance in both 1990 and 1991. In the July 2010 issue of Guitar World, Richard Bienstock emphasized the massive impact of Rust in Peace, calling it "one of the pinnacles of the first wave of thrash metal." He continues, "A defining quality of Megadeth's sound - and the one that perhaps most sets them apart from their Big Four thrash brethren, Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax - has always been the band's fiery mix of speed-metal ferocity and progressive instrumental virtuosity... nowhere has this combination been displayed better than on Rust in Peace."

The full track listing for Rust in Peace Live (including CD, DVD, and Blu-ray formats) is as follows:

01. Holy Wars...The Punishment Due
02. Hangar 18
03. Take No Prisoners
04. Five Magics
05. Poison Was the Cure
06. Lucretia
07. Tornado Of Souls
08. Dawn Patrol
09. Rust In Peace...Polaris

Bonus Content:

10. Skin O' My Teeth (Countdown To Extinction; 1992)
11. In My Darkest Hour (So Far, So Good...So What!; 1988)
12. She-Wolf (Cryptic Writings; 1997)
13. Trust (Cryptic Writings; 1997)
14. Symphony of Destruction (Countdown to Extinction; 1992)
15. Peace Sells (Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?; 1986)
16. Holy Wars – Reprise (Rust in Peace; 1990)

Megadeth to Release Live Rust in Peace DVD/CD

Megadeth is scheduled to release a live DVD/CD that will capture the final night of their Rust in Peace 20th Anniversary Tour. The media combo, entitled Rust in Peace Live, is set to hit shelves on September 7 and will be distributed via Shout! Factory. (Read More)

Big Four Sonisphere Festival Tour Opens in Poland

The historic Big Four tour has finally come together, but the process has been a slow one. However, despite a number of setbacks, the tour has finally kick-started and on June 16 100,000 fans at Bemowo Airport in Warsaw, Poland witnessed history in the making as Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax took to the same stage. (Read More)

Judas Priest Win Grammy for Best Metal Performance

Judas Priest have been honoured with a Grammy in the Best Metal Performance category. The award was bestowed upon the band during the pre-telecast ceremony at the 52nd annual Grammy Awards which are currently underway at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Judas Priest was nominated for “Dissident Aggressor,” a track from the band’s 2009 live album A Touch of Evil: Live. Lead vocalist Rob Halford and drummer Scott Travis accepted the award.

“The fifth time is the charm,” said Halford during his acceptance speech. He went on to mention that Judas Priest has been making metal for twenty-five years and still love what they do. He also thanked the radio stations and press that supported the band and then dedicated the award to heavy metal fans everywhere.

The nominees in this year’s Metal category were as follows:

Judas Priest – “Dissident Aggressor” (from A Touch of Evil: Live)
Lamb of God – “Set to Fail” (from Wrath)
Megadeth – “Head Crusher” (from Endgame)
Ministry - "Señor Peligro" (from Adios...)
Slayer – “Hate Worldwide” (from World Painted Blood)

The only albums considered for this year’s Grammys were those released from October 1, 2008 through August 31, 2009. The nominees are determined by 12,000 music industry professionals, all of which belong to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS).

A complete list of Grammy nominees can be found here.

Megadeth Announce Rust in Peace 20th Anniversary Tour Dates

It's official: Megadeth are set to join forces with Exodus and Testament for a month-long tour. The thrash titans will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of Megadeth's Rust in Peace. The band will play the entirety of its landmark 1990 album along with other fan favourites.

Endgame, Megadeth's latest studio endeavour, was released in September 2010 and received a critical response that has been among the best of the band's career.

The anniversary tour is scheduled to kick off on March 1 in Spokane, WA and tickets go on sale today (January 29). Dates are as follows:

3/1 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory
3/2 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory
3/3 - Medford, OR - Medford Armory
3/6 - Calgary, AB - Big Four (Testament with Special Guests)
3/7 - Edmonton, AB - Shaw Conference Centre (Testament with Special Guests)
3/8 - Saskatoon, SK - Prairieland Exhibition Hall
3/11 - Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theater
3/12 - Pittsburgh, PA - Palace Theater
3/13 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
3/15 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
3/16 - Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live
3/18 - Scranton, PA - Scranton Cultural Center
3/19 - Norfolk, VA - The NorVa
3/21 - Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
3/22 - Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
3/23 - Memphis, TN - Minglewood Hall
3/25 - Houston, TX - Verizon Wireless Theater
3/26 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s Amphitheater
3/27 - Lubbock, TX - The Pavilion
3/28 - El Paso, TX - Club 101
3/30 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theater
3/31 - Hollywood, CA - Hollywood Palladium (Testament with Special Guests)

Metal on Metal Listener Poll Brings Top Honours for Megadeth

WJCU's annual Metal on Metal listener top 25 countdown show has given the No. 1 spot to Megadeth's Endgame. Runners up for top spot were Slayer's World Painted Blood and Heaven & Hell's The Devil You Know respectively.

The poll, which has become an annual tradition in Cleveland, Ohio and is one of Metal on Metal's most listened to programs, is now in its 26th year.

Metal on Metal host Bill Peters said: "I received an incredible response to this year's poll. When all was said and done, 1,195 votes were registered.

"My listeners really look forward to this 'best-of' show each year and I enjoy doing it for them. It's their night to program the show.

"The list they have put together is very diverse with several surprises. There are some albums on the list I do not play on the program and several of my personal favourites did not make it, but that's okay.

"My listeners are very knowledgeable and passionate when it comes to their love for the music. I always rave to people around the world just how great they are and this is another reason to prove this fact true.

"This list holds up to and is better than most lists I have seen. I like it because it comes from the fans, not the so-called music industry insiders who are often out of touch with what the true metal fans like. The fans are the ones buying the music and supporting the bands. Their voices need and deserve to be heard!"

Metal on Metal can be heard every Friday night from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (EST) on 88.7 in the Cleveland area. It can also be streamed worldwide at www.wjcu.org.

The show's top 25 albums of 2009 are as follows:

01. Megadeth - Endgame (Roadrunner)
02. Slayer - World Painted Blood (American)
03. Heaven & Hell - The Devil You Know (Rhino)
04. Wolf - Ravenous (Century Media)
05. Kreator - Hordes of Chaos (SPV)
06. Warbringer - Walking Into Nightmares (Century Media)
07. Primal Fear - 16.6 (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead) (Frontiers)
08. Saxon - Into the Labyrinth (SPV)
09. Satryicon - The Age of Nero (Koch)
10. Anvil - This Is Thirteen (VH1 Classic)
11. Lick the Blade - Graveyard of Empires (Auburn)
12. Fu Manchu - Signs Of Infinite Power (Century Media)
13. Tim "Ripper" Owens - Play My Game (SPV)
14. Amorphis - Skyforger (Nuclear Blast)
15. Immortal - All Shall Fall (Nuclear Blast)
16. Doro - Fear No Evil (AFM)
17. Mastodon - Crack the Skye (Reprise)
18. Outloud - We'll Rock You to Hell and Back Again (Frontiers)
19. Epica - Design Your Universe (Nuclear Blast)
20. Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue (Virgin)
21. Iron Fire - To the Grave (SPV)
22. Redemption - Snowfall on Judgment Day (Century Media)
23. Kiss - Sonic Boom (Kiss)
24. Baroness - Blue Record (Relapse)
25. Suede Brothers - Ill Knew You (Bad Breaker)

Chris Broderick to Appear on WRUW 91.1 FM's Forte

This Friday (January 15), Cleveland, Ohio's WRUW 91.1 FM radio station will air an interview with Megadeth guitarist Chris Broderick. The interview will be featured on the station's Forte show between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. EST.

The interview can be streamed live via the Internet at WRUW.org.

The American Carnage tour, which featured Megadeth, Testament, and Slayer, was recently put on tour due to health issues. Tom Araya, bassist and singer for Slayer, needs to undergo back surgery - a procedure that cannot be postponed.

Although Megadeth has expressed disappointment over the delay of the much-anticipated tour, the band said in a statement to its record label (Roadrunner Records) that it "is concerned for Araya and wish[es] him a speedy recovery."

In the meantime, Megadeth is scheduling a U.S. headline run for March and April 2010. However, they hope to reschedule the American Carnage tour before the summer arrives. (Those who previously purchased tickets to the now-cancelled show have been advised to hold on to them until further notice.)

Endgame, Megadeth's latest album, debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 chart when it sold 45,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week of release. The band's previous album, United Abominations, opened with roughly 54,000 copies in the U.S. and debuted at No. 8.

Recorded at Vic's Garage - Megadeth's new, self-built studio in San Marcos, California - Endgame was overseen by frontman Dave Mustaine and British producer Andy Sneap (Machine Head, Nevermore, Exodus, Arch Enemy).

Future Tour for the Big Four?

Metallica's official website has released footage from the band's September 17 concert at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. (See below for clip.)

The following tunes made up the set list for the event:

01. That Was Just Your Life
02. The End of the Line
03. Ride the Lightning
04. Wherever I May Roam
05. One
06. Broken, Beat & Scarred
07. Cyanide
08. Sad but True
09. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
10. All Nightmare Long
11. The Day that Never Comes
12. Master of Puppets
13. Damage, Inc.
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. Enter Sandman

Encore:
16. Last Caress
17. Motorbreath
18. Seek & Destroy

The band recently kicked off a new North American tour, which started on September 14 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Drummer Lars Ulrich has not yet confirmed reports of a future tour featuring the "Big Four" of the 80s thrash metal scene - Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax. During a radio interview in Dayton, Ohio with 103.9 The X, Ulrich was quoted as saying:

"I think it would be a super-fun thing to do. It's something that I would definitely support. It's something that I would love to encourage. It's something I love to be very proactive in putting together. But right now . . . it's not something that's like hush-hush being worked on behind the scenes or anything like that. I read some of those Internet sites myself once in a while, and it's not something that's going down, but it's something that I would be totally for at some point if it could happen. And we would love to be a part of that at any level possible."

According to Ulrich, the idea for a Big Four tour started in March 2009. "...a bunch of us were sitting around way later than we should have been sitting around [having] a bunch of very heavily red wine-induced conversations . . . And the idea of doing that at some point came up in that conversation."

However, the chatty drummer's comments have been noted as contradicting those of Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo who, despite admitting that a tour was indeed in the works, offered a discretionary note in a Metromix interview saying, "It's not a sealed deal. We're working on it."