It’s taken a while but Megadeth have finally named James LoMenzo as their new permanent bassist.
LoMenzo replaces founding bassist David Ellefson, who was infamously removed from the band’s lineup last year after a video surfaced online of him engaging in an inappropriate sexual encounter with a young woman.
“While we do not know every detail of what occurred, with an already strained relationship, what has already been revealed now is enough to make working together impossible moving forward,” Dave Mustaine said about Ellefson’s departure at the time.
LoMenzo was initially recruited to join Megadeth in a touring capacity, featuring on their ‘Metal Tour of the Year’ alongside Lamb of God, but he can now call himself a full-time member. LoMenzo, of course, previously performed in Megadeth between 2006 and 2010, playing on the albums United Abominations and Endgame.
Megadeth confirmed the news on social media. “I am thrilled to welcome back James to the Megadeth family,” Mustaine said. “James rejoined the fold as the touring bassist and it’s been a blast having him back, we thought let’s make it permanent.”
“I’m so excited to rejoin Megadeth and move forward full steam into the next phase of this iconic band’s history! With Dave, Kiko and Dirk there’s no stopping us! It just feels great to be home again,” LoMenzo added.
It comes after Steve Di Giorgio, bassist for thrash metal icons Testament, stepped in to help out earlier this year by re-recording all Ellefson’s bass parts on the new Megadeth album.
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Mustaine continued by sharing his reasons for choosing Di Giorgio. “It was a good choice,” Mustaine said back then. “I didn’t think about anybody else at the time. I was thinking about ‘who’s the hottest guy out there that can play these new songs?’ [My son] Justis told me one of the fastest songs we’ve ever written is on this record.”
LoMenzo and Megadeth are about to begin a European tour, and will also tour the U.S. later this year with Five Finger Death Punch (find ticket information here).
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