DAVID ELLEFSON Looks Back On MEGADETH's 'Countdown To Extinction' Album: 'Our Performances Sound Timeless'

In a new interview with Erin Greatrix of Shot Of Metal magazine, former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson spoke about the upcoming December 2026 leg of his "Bass Warrior" European tour, which will feature Ellefson and his solo band performing select cuts from his well-known catalog of MEGADETH hits, including the "Countdown To Extinction" album in its entirety, solo material and other hard rock and metal favorites which inspired him during his 40-year music career. Asked if there is anything, looking back on when "Countdown To Extinction" was launched initially, that hits differently now for him than it did when he first recorded it, David said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's funny. When we did the first 'Big Four' show in Poland in 2010 — I'd just come back to MEGADETH a couple of months before that, and we were playing the 'Rust In Peace' album. It was the 20th anniversary, and this music, which, to me, seems like quite a long time ago. But I realized how timeless it was. And that was always a thing when we started that band, and as we went through — that was a benchmark of the material, is that we try never to repeat ourselves. We try not to repeat lyrics, titles, licks, riffs, you know what I mean? If we heard a bit, 'God, that sounds too much like that other song,' we'd either scrap it or we would change it or modify it so that it was something new and fresh. Now, you get 16 albums in, well, it's harder and harder to do. But I think overall, at least during my time in the band, we did a pretty good job not repeating ourselves. But on the 'Big Four', I got to hear our friends and our contemporaries — ANTHRAX, SLAYER, METALLICA — and I felt like our music... And again, I was a performer — I wasn't a listener, listening to it as a concertgoer — but I felt like our music really held up well and really was timeless, that it had really spanned, at that time, 30 years, coming into our fourth decade, beginning of the fourth decade of the band's existence, or at least 30 years, I guess."

Ellefson continued: "As I've seen it over the years, as I've performed some of those songs, 'Countdown To Extinction', I think, is for sure, when I hear it on the radio, 'cause here in America we have SiriusXM, which is satellite radio, so it reaches across the country, when I hear it on the radio against new music that's out, other sort of classic rock stuff, I go, 'This really does still sound very cool.' The production doesn't sound dated. Our performances sound timeless. So I think we did a good job holding ourselves to our own standard of being timeless music, timeless production and timeless material that will stand up over the years."

Ellefson went on to talk about some of the specific tracks that he is planning to perform on the upcoming tour. He said: "Well, look, when you advertise an album, you gotta play the album, for sure. [The song] 'Peace Sells' is kind of a hook for me, of course, and I'm very lucky that I have one of those. [GUNS N' ROSES guitarist] Slash has 'Sweet Child O' Mine', [LED ZEPPELIN guitarist] Jimmy Page has 'Stairway To Heaven'. Some of us are very lucky that we have that one song, that one riff, that lick, whatever, that melody that just has connected with so many people for so many years, so I'm very thankful for that. But we really focused this tour on 'Countdown To Extinction'. And there's a couple of other songs that were around that time, too. 'Angry Again' was done. That was recorded for the 'Last Action Hero', Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. We recorded that for Sony Pictures during the 'Countdown' cycle in 1993. And same with '99 Ways To Die'. And that was a song that we played — gosh — very little. I mean, I think maybe we played it a little bit when it came out, but that was about it. It was never something that was in our repertoire back in the day. So I like bringing out these rare gems like that, and I think the fans love it. I mean, that's what I did with the KINGS OF THRASH [project, also featuring former MEGADETH guitarist Jeff Young]. Yeah. It was about playing deep [MEGADETH] cuts, rare tracks, because there's an audience for it. Of course people know the hits and everything, but I think that for this one, adding those songs in is cool because that was part of that album cycle, those two songs in particular."

Ellefson launched his "Bass Warrior" tour in 2024, with musical director Andy Martongelli (ELLEFSON-SOTO, ARTEMIS) as a way to perform songs for fans across Europe from his 40-plus years as a world-renowned recording artist.

Ellefson was originally in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, when the group briefly broke up because MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine suffered severe nerve damage that left him unable to play.

Mustaine reformed MEGADETH 22 years ago. Originally setting out to record a solo album, Mustaine enlisted studio musicians to play on what ultimately became MEGADETH's 2004 "The System Has Failed" comeback album, subsequently recruiting former ICED EARTH bassist James MacDonough to take Ellefeson's place for the album's touring cycle.

Ellefson sued Mustaine in 2004 for $18.5 million, alleging that the MEGADETH guitarist/vocalist still owed him substantial merchandise and publishing royalties. In January 2005, the case was dismissed in court, and five years later, Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH.

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH more than five years ago after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.