DAVE MUSTAINE Is 'Preparing' To Start Writing Next MEGADETH Album: 'I Feel Like I Still Have The Mojo In My Hands'

In a new interview with Mexico's OsvAlex Comunicación, MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine was asked if there are any plans for him to work on a new album once he and his bandmates have finished touring in support of 2022's "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're not on tour right now. We're getting ready to go on tour. We're preparing. I am also preparing the studio and all of the equipment, getting it ready to start writing. I'm not writing new music at the moment, but I'm getting prepared. And that process — the last couple of records have taken a little bit longer than usual, because of personnel stuff, moving. pandemics, cancer, all that stuff that happened. I don't think it's gonna take as long this time from when we start till when we're finished creating a record. I feel like I still have the mojo in my hands. Probably by the end of this year I'll be ready to start recording some new stuff."

He added: "You've gotta live life in between records, man, and we've been living life so fast right now, I've gotta take notes so that I can actually remember a lot of the stuff that goes on on a day-to-day basis. I mean that — I actually have to journal my life so that I can look back and say, 'Shit, look at everything I did there, man. That's crazy.'"

In September 2022, "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!", debuted at the top of the charts during its first week of sales, taking the No. 3 spot on the Billboard 200 as well as number ones on Top Album Sales, Top Current Albums Sales, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Hard Rock Albums. "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!" was the highest-charting MEGADETH album of all time around the world, notching No. 1 In Finland, No. 2 in australia, poland, Switzerland, and Scotland, No. 3 in the U.K., and more.

MEGADETH's previous top 10 entries on the Billboard 200 were "Countdown to Extinction" (No. 2, 1992),"Youthanasia" (No. 4, 1994),"Cryptic Writings" (No. 10, 1997),"United Abominations" (No. 8, 2007),"Endgame" (No. 9, 2009),"Super Collider" (No. 6, 2013) and "Dystopia" (No. 3, 2016).

MEGADETH received its thirteenth Grammy nomination for "Best Metal Performance" for the song "We'll Be Back" from "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!".

MEGADETH won the 2017 Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance" for the title track of the band's 2016 album "Dystopia". This marked the group's twelfth Grammy nomination in this category (including nominations in the discontinued "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category).

Mustaine revealed his throat cancer battle in June 2019 on social media, saying the doctors had given him a 90 percent chance of beating the illness.

He later shared that he went through 51 radiation treatments and nine chemotherapy treatments, determined to overcome the disease so he could continue to play music.

MEGADETH played its first concert with new guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari on September 6, 2023 at Revel in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The 37-year-old Mäntysaari was born in Tampere, Finland and began playing guitar at the age of 12. In 2004, he joined the band WINTERSUN. He has also been a member of SMACKBOUND since 2015.

Mäntysaari stepped into MEGADETH as the replacement for the band's longtime axeman Kiko Loureiro, who announced in September that he would sit out the next leg of MEGADETH's "Crush The World" tour in order to stay home with his children back in Finland.

Loureiro officially joined MEGADETH in April 2015, about five months after Chris Broderick's exit from the group.

In addition to Mustaine and Mäntysaari, MEGADETH's current lineup includes former SOILWORK drummer Dirk Verbeuren and bassist James LoMenzo.