Megadeth‘s forthcoming fourteenth studio album  is being produced by Johnny K [full name: John Karkazis], who has previously worked with Disturbed, Sevendust, Machine Head and Staind. The CD is currently being recorded at Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine’s Vic’s Garage studio in San Marcos, California for a late spring release via an as-yet-undisclosed label following the band’s recent split with Roadrunner Records.

In a tweet yesterday, Mustaine wrote: “[I] played guitar, sang, and did minor adjustments yesterday to songs one-four. Mixing has begun and you’ll have something soon to hear! I’m so pumped!!”

Speaking to Full Metal Jackie at last month’s NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) show in Anaheim, California, Mustaine stated about the direction of the band’s new material: “[Megadeth bassist] David Ellefson is one of those guys that’s kind of the barometer of the band. You ask me, you never really know what you’re gonna get, but when you ask David Ellefson, it’s kind of like reading the ingredients on the back of something, ’cause he’s such a straight shooter. He told some people the other day that this is music that’s really similar to [Megadeth‘s 1985 debut album] ‘Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good!’, some of the stuff — really dark, really heavy and fast stuff. I mean, I don’t thnk it’s really as fast and heavy as ‘Killing’ is, to me, but Junior is a great, like I said, barometer — bad word, but he knows what’s going on.”

On the topic of Megadeth‘s current label situation, Mustaine said: “We have a new label. We left Roadrunner; we completed our contract with them, which not a lot of many metal bands have the luxury to have been able to complete contracts. They usually either break up or quit or give up and stuff like that, but we were honorable and finished our contract with them and we moved on. And we’ve actually got a fantastic relationship with a brand new label that we’re gonna be telling everybody about real soon. We have eleven songs already recorded. We wanna give them thirteen, ’cause, you know, the B-sides and Japanese releases and all that kind of crazy stuff.”

In a January 24 post on his Facebook page, Ellefson wrote about the recording process for Megadeth‘s new album: “Having a great week here at Vic’s Garage laying down bass on the new songs. Really some great, great songs taking shape at this point in the recording process. I told Dave [Mustaine] today that one of them totally reminded me of the earliest stuff back when we first met. Fast, ripppin’ and fully bringing the REAL old-school Megadeth sound!!!”

Johnny K produced Megadeth‘s last album, 2011′s Th1rt3en, which was recorded at Mustaine‘s Vic’s Garage studio in San Marcos, California. Mustaine previously stated about the recording process for Th1rt3en, “We’ve got a great new partner with Johnny K. I mean, I was satisfied with our last co-producer, with Andy Sneap, and Andyreally took us — and he even admits — as far as he could take us, and it was great because we wanted to go back to the big leagues where we were, and we feel that Johnny is, obviously, a big-league producer; not that Andy isn’t — don’t get me wrong. But we feel that this record is definitely one of our best. It’s a great feeling, because, you know, finishing some of the last record, I can honestly say, in my heart I knew that it wouldn’t contend with some of the great records in the past, just because of the timing, the label that we were on and stuff like that. Lineup changes and stuff… But I really think that everything just lined up for this record.”

Th1rt3en has sold around 119,000 copies in the United States since its November 2011 release. The CD marked the recorded return of bassist David Ellefson who was part of the band’s classic lineup from 1983 to 2002. In a move that delighted the band’s legion of diehards, Ellefson returned to performing live with Megadeth in early 2010 and has remained a fixture on the stage ever since. This was the first time Ellefson has played on a Megadeth record since 2002′s Rude Awakening.

According to Nielsen SoundScan. A track from the CD, Whose Life [Is It Anyways?], is nominated in the “Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance” category at the 55th annual Grammy Awards, which will be held on Sunday, February 10, 2013 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.  You can read our review of  Th1rt3en at this location.

Related articles:
Megadeth – Th1rt3en [CD review]
‘David Ellefson’ ‘There Are A Lot Of Artists Who Are Very Open About Their Faith’ [March 2012]
‘Megadeth’ Behind The Scenes At ‘The Fox Theater’ In Pomona, CA [Dec. 2012]
 ‘Megadeth’ Parts Ways With ‘Roadrunner Records’ [Dec. 2012]
‘Megadeth’s’ Bassist ‘David Ellefson’ To Release Autobiography Next Year [Dec. 2012]
‘Megadeth’s’ ‘Dave Mustaine’ Issues New Album Update [Dec. 2012]
‘Dave Mustaine’ Says ‘Three Songs For Next Album Are Tracked And Almost Done’ [Dec. 2012]
‘Dave Mustaine’ About His Inspiration Sources For The New ‘Megadeth’ Album [Dec. 2012]
New Video Footage From ‘Megadeth’ In The Studio Available [Jan. 2013]
 New Video Footage From ‘Megadeth’ In The Studio Posted [Jan. 2013]
‘Megadeth’s’ ‘Dave Mustaine’ Says ‘I Really Am Trying To Live My Life Differently Today’ [Jan. 2013]
‘Megadeth’ At ‘NAMM’ – Signing Schedule Revealed [Jan. 2013]