Megadeth singer Dave Mustaine sounds very keen on reuniting thrash metal’s “Big Four”.
In a new interview with Songfacts, Mustaine first started discussing the modern guitarists that impressed him, naming Arch Enemy’s Michael Amott, Nevermore’s Jeff Loomis, as well as “the guys from Lamb of God and the guys from Trivium.”
That’s when he struck upon the idea of reuniting the “Big Four” – Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and his own Megadeth – to perform a “Big 4 passing of the torch” to the “new Big 4.”
Although Mustaine didn’t specify who would form this “new Big 4,” he did insist it would “include some of the players we already mentioned” like Trivium and Arch Enemy.
“I think it would be really cool symbolically if we did something at like, the LA Coliseum, even if it’s one show and that’s it. Slayer is from Los Angeles, so it would probably make it more convenient for them to go home at night,” he considered.
“I personally have been hoping for this for a while, and I keep asking and asking and asking,” Mustaine continued. “They’re just not into it. But that’s up to them.”
Thrash metal’s OG ‘Big Four” were hailed in the late ’80s and early ’90s for their influence on the metal subgenere. Two decades later, they came together to play a run of shows in Europe and North America. Some of the footage from that tour still remains (watch below).
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Elsewhere in the Songfacts conversation, Mustaine recalled a potential collaboration with Metallica’s James Hetfield that never worked out, and also added that he’d be happy to work with Lars Ulrich again. You can read the full thing here.
It’s not that Mustaine needs a “Big Four” reunion – things are going well for Megadeth on their own. The band received a nomination for Best Metal performance at the upcoming Grammy Awards for ‘We’ll Be Back’, a track off their latest album, The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!.
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