“I hope your new band is faster than Metallica”: The letter to Dave Mustaine that changed the sound of Megadeth – MariskalRock.com


August 7, 2022 6:00 pm
published by Drafting

Life is full of specific moments that completely change the course of events, turning points along the way that are no strangers to bands, offering us anecdotes like the letter that could drastically change the history of thrash metal, making the sound of Megadeth out as fast and aggressive as we find in the first albums of those of Dave Mustaine… and one more time, Metallica has something to do with it.

This has been reported by one of the direct protagonists of this story, the bassist David Ellefsonin the third chapter of his ‘The Killing Chronicles’a series of publications in which David recounts curiosities from those early years of the band, such as the one he points to a letter received by Mustaine, which changed everything.

As Ellefson recalls: “It is well known that the album ‘Killing Is My Business…’ it is one of the fastest thrash records that have come to mankind. However, fast tempos in the band weren’t always like this. When we formed the band and the first batch of songs were written in mid to late 1983, the tempos were much, much slower. In fact, almost at a tempo of Black Sabbath. I remember that “The Skull Beneath the Skin” it had almost half the tempo compared to when it was finally recorded, which gave it that monstrous groove and weight. The same thing happened with “Chosen Ones”which allowed me to play the bass lines with my fingers in a way more like geezer“.

The appearance on the scene of the name of Mustaine’s previous band would change everything: “However, one day a fan letter to Dave appeared in our mailbox, pleading, ‘I hope your new band is faster than Metallica,’ and boom! That was it… That night at rehearsal all tempos were drastically increased (20-40 beats per minute plus at least!) and so the ‘KIMB’ album represents a true turning point in the trajectory of speed as leading business card of innovation for the founding fathers of the thrash genre. exodus were already fast as hell and once Kerry King saw them live slayer I would follow his example.”

These stories are being the perfect complement for the announced tour “The Mega Years”in which Ellefson has joined fellow ex-Megadeth Jeff Young under the name of Kings of Thrash ahead of the four concerts that will begin on October 12 in San Diegobefore touring Phoenix. Las Vegas Y West-Hollywood. Along with the bassist and the guitarist there will also be another of the musicians who have passed through the ranks of Megadeth, the guitarist Chris Polandwhich last June remembered the contrast of being a member of Megadeth and cleaning tables in a coffee shop at dawn. Kings of Thrash line-up completes with drummer fred aching and the guitarist and singer Chaz Leonwith whom the albums will be performed in their entirety ‘Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good’ Y ‘So Far, So Good… So What!’

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“I hope your new band is faster than Metallica”: The letter to Dave Mustaine that changed the sound of Megadeth – MariskalRock.com