Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has spoken out about his fraught relationship with the band’s former bass player David Ellefson.
In an interview with Rolling Stone this week, Mustaine admitted it was “uncomfortable” to discuss Ellefson. “It was hard on me letting him go,” he said. “And I’m happier now than I’ve ever been.”
Ellefson was removed from the lineup last year after a video surfaced online of him engaging in an inappropriate sexual encounter with a young woman. James LoMenzo was confirmed as his replacement earlier this year, and Ellefson hailed the musician as “one of those just really amazing talented players.”
He continued: “It’s a different camp now, and I’m really happy. I feel totally invigorated. I feel like I’ve hit my stride, like my best years are ahead of me right now.”
Mustaine was being interviewed by Rolling Stone to promote the upcoming Megadeth album The Sick, The Dying And The Dead. At the start of this week, the band unveiled a special website dedicated to the record.
“The sick, the dying and the dead are among us,” the teaser caption for the new site read. “Mark yourself SAFE from Vic Rattlehead (the illustrated mascot of the band) before it’s too late at sickdyingdead.com.”
The album is the thrash metal outfit’s 16th studio album and is expected in September, as frontman Dave Mustaine told a U.K. festival crowd earlier this month, although it was initially supposed to be released next month. The album’s lead single, ‘We’ll Be Back’ came out on Thursday, June 23rd (listen below).
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The Sick, The Dying And The Dead is the band’s first studio album since 2016’s Dystopia, the longest wait between two studio albums in their history.
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Check out ‘We’ll Be Back’ by Megadeth:
