Dave Mustaine: New Megadeth Sounds ‘A Lot’ Like Our First Two Albums

Megadeth's Dave Mustaine has said the music on the metal act's upcoming album sounds "a lot" like their first two records. In a recent interview, the rocker even suggested the material closely resembles 1985's Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good! and its follow-up, Peace Sells… But Who's Buying?

Mustaine revealed as much to host Eddie Trunk this week (Sept. 14) on Sirius XM Volume's Trunk Nation. Asked about the lyrics for the forthcoming Megadeth LP, the musician mentioned early bandmates Chris Poland and the late Gar Samuelson when illustrating the underlying notes' force.

Watch the video down toward the bottom of this post.

"The music sounds a lot like probably the first couple records we did," Mustaine explained during the videoconference appearance. "I'm not going to say it sounds like Rust or anything like that. But it certainly sounds like something that would've come out while Gar and Chris Poland were in the band."

As for the lyrical topics the Megadeth frontman will cover on the new album, Mustaine seemed uninspired by current events. Not that the precarious state of the world holds no gravity for him — just the opposite. He indicated that the ongoing pandemic and political unrest is too dreadful to shape into song.

"As far as writing about anything that's current right now, the only thing that's really current is tragic," the Megadeth singer remarked. "Every single that's going on right now that's in the news is just tragic. … You could write for weeks and weeks and weeks but it would all be about the same thing."

In a separate chat with Baltimore rock station 100.7 The Bay on Sept. 8, Mustaine mentioned how the new album would likely already be out if it weren't for the cancer diagnosis he made public last summer. (The Megadeth bandleader confirmed he was "100 percent free of cancer" in February.)

"I think we would have been done a long time ago if I hadn't discovered the cancer," the musician observed. "I didn't know I had it … and didn't really know why my voice was hurting. Then I found out. But now, I'm super stoked — I'm actually excited to see how the new record turns out with singing."

Mustaine's new book, Rust in Peace: The Inside Story of the Megadeth Masterpiece, which covers the making of the band's landmark 1990 fourth album, is available now.