Megadeth have announced a a string of European tour dates for summer 2023. The dates are listed below, and you can find ticket links at Megadeth.com.
Feb 202023
Dec 162022
Thrash metal titans Megadeth have unleashed Killing Time: Chapter V, the next instalment of their epic multi-part short film being released alongside the track ‘Killing Time’ from their new studio album, “The Sick, The Dying…And The Dead!” (UMe).
Regarding the lyrical inspiration for ‘Killing Time’, Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine told Kerrang! magazine: “‘Killing Time’ isn’t about homicide. It’s about procrastination. ‘Psychopathy’ [another song from ‘The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!’] gives you the background] for the person that ‘Killing Time’ is about. The subject the doctors are talking about is this guy who thinks he’s got it all going on. But everything that he does peels back another layer of burnt skin. It’s stripping back the paint trying to cover up the mess that this person is. I actually know someone who’s just lost everything. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars and a multi-million dollar company: gone. And he’d been warned. He was the slick dude in ‘Life In Hell’. He was the Junkie. He’s definitely the guy in ‘Killing Time’.”
Nov 292022
The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! is the sixteenth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on September 2, 2022, on frontman Dave Mustaine’s Tradecraft label via Universal. It is the first Megadeth album to feature drummer Dirk Verbeuren, the second Megadeth album to feature guitarist Kiko Loureiro, and their first studio album in six years since Dystopia (2016), marking the longest gap between two studio albums in the band’s career. The album has been in production for more than two years.
In June 2019, the band announced the cancellation of then-upcoming shows, as Mustaine had been diagnosed with throat cancer; Despite Mustaine’s illness, the band vowed to continue working on the album. The band re-entered the studio in mid-2020 to resume recording their new album, by now tentatively planned for release in 2021. Founding bassist David Ellefson bass parts were re-recorded by Testament bassist Steve Di Giorgio.
The album opens with the title track “The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!” which starts off eerie and takes on full power with a chunky guitar riff that is accentuated by flaring guitar tid-bits, has its fair share of surprises that Mustaine drops during the interlude before catching back to where the song gets left. An eclectic guitar solo follows the finishing of the song in style. What a great start to the album. Next up things get heavy with “Life In Hell”, which is as traditional as Megadeth gets. The tempo is on the uptick and the sustained chords are rugged, the vocal delivery changes as it brings forth more engagement with the listener, and the rampant drum rolls finish the song tight.
The intro for “Night Stalkers” sets off a haunting dystopian apocalyptic ambience which is brought forward, multiplied with maddening guitar riffs and thus sets off the heaviest song of the album, with rapper Ice-T collaborating on the song which is about the 160th Battalion with the U.S. Army, and it’s all the black-ops helicopters that go in at night. The acoustic guitar interlude followed by rumbling bass brings in character and brings about punching guitar riffs as the song approaches its end. According to Mustaine, “Dogs of Chernobyl” is not about the war in Ukraine, but “is a love song”. Prior to the album’s production, Mustaine had been diagnosed with throat cancer. He revealed that his treating radiologist contributed “a couple of phrases and some information about the radiation poisoning when everyone got sick at Chernobyl” to the song’s lyrics. The song is packed with high energy, blast beats paired with guitar chugs, blitzing guitar solos, power lyrics and an ambiance set over Ukrainian voice overs.
Oct 202022
Megadeth have released their new video, ‘Life In Hell’, from their new studio album, The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! Titled Life In Hell: Chapter IV, the video is the fourth and latest instalment of the band’s epic multi-part short film revealing the origins of the band’s iconic mascot Vic Rattlehead.
The rapid-fire onslaught of Megadeth’s ‘Life in Hell’ is one of the heavy-hitting thrash songs on the best-selling album The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! This quintessential Megadeth track showcases the band’s tight musical precision and songwriting prowess – co-written by Dave Mustaine and drummer Dirk Verbeuren, and enhanced with Kiko Loureiro‘s stylistic six-string flourishes, “Life in Hell” features seamless tempo and time signature shifts as Megadeth continues to set the bar for modern and classic metal alike.
Sep 022022
Megadeth’s new album, The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!, is out now. Today also marks the premiere of the latest video, “The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!”: Chapter III, the third and latest video instalment from their multi-part short film.
Creator Dave Mustaine, along with Producer Rafael Pensado and Director Leo Liberti, crafted together a story of the origins of Vic Rattlehead into the multi-part short film. “The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!”: Chapter III is the latest in the series that follows the saga of a war hero, now fully transformed into Vic Rattlehead, as he brutally exacts revenge and punishment on those who betrayed him and destroyed his loved ones and life. In this chapter, Vic continues to move up the chain of command as he torments his unsuspecting victim before dragging him down to eternal damnation in the land of the dead.
Watch all three videos below.