MEGADETH's DAVE MUSTAINE Working On Special Project To Celebrate 30th Anniversary of 'Killing Is My Business'

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine has revealed that he is working with producer/mixer Mark Lewis (CANNIBAL CORPSE, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, COAL CHAMBER, CANNIBAL CORPSE) on a special project to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band's debut album, "Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!" No further details have yet been revealed.

"Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!", which came out June 12, 1985, included a metallized version of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots", with modified lyrics, and "The Mechanix", a Mustaine song that originally appeared on METALLICA's legendary "No Life 'Til Leather" demo (later reworked by METALLICA as the "Kill 'Em All" track "The Four Horsemen").

"I wrote all the music for 'The Four Horsemen'," Mustaine said in an interview, "and James [Hetfield] wrote the lyrics, and, actually, part of the lyrics was based on a concept I had. I can't tell you how they felt about it, but I know how I felt about it, because when I was asked to leave, I said, 'Don't use any of my stuff!' And then 'Kill 'Em All' came out."

MEGADETH reportedly wasted almost its entire "Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!" budget (an initial advance of $8,000 plus an additional $4,000) on drugs and could not afford to work with a name producer. As a result, they ended up hiring Karat Faye, who had engineered the demo that got them signed. The LP was recorded over a four-week period from December 1984 to January 1985 at Indigo Ranch Studios in Malibu, California and was widely panned for its weak production.

In 2002, "Killing Is My Business…" was reissued with new artwork based on Mustaine's original design. In addition, the re-release contained a heavily bleeped version of "These Boots" due to songwriter Lee Hazlewood's refusal to grant the group the rights to re-release the version with its altered lyrics intact.