Ex-MEGADETH Guitarist GLEN DROVER To Collaborate With TESTAMENT, SANCTUARY Singers

DJ Rob of MetalHeadRadio conducted an interview with Canadian guitarist Glen Drover (MEGADETH, KING DIAMOND) on Friday, May 29. You can now listen to he chat below.

Speaking about his plans to release a new solo album, Drover said: "I've been putting out singles for the last… I don't know… six months, or eights months or so… where it's a thing where I'm… Every few months I release a single for digital download that feature[s] a different singer. The first one ['Discordia'] was Todd [La Torre] from QUEENSRŸCHE. And then I did one with [UNTIMELY DEMISE frontman Matt Cuthbertson]… a new band that are not really well known, but I really dug the singer and I wanted to use him on one track, which is a heavier song I did called 'Walls Of Blood'. But that went out. The third single ['Seven Spirits'] is with… the guy's name is Henning Basse from a band called METALIUM from Germany; I did a song with him. And currently… There's one song that's being worked on… that Chuck Billy [TESTAMENT] has; I'm gonna get him to do one. I talked to Warrel Dane [SANCTUARY, NEVERMORE]; I'm gonna get him to do one. And I have a few other guys in mind, which I won't mention, because I haven't [finalized their participation yet], but these are the ones that are… guys that have worked with, or am working with. And they're all gonna come out along the way here throughout the next… I don't know… whatever… let's say six months to a year. And once I get about a good eight to ten songs from all these different singers that I'm really happy with, then I'm gonna compile it and release it as an album for hard copy, like vinyl and CD. In the meantime, they'll be individually released for digital download through various… There's many sites that it's actually available on, but the most common ones being Amazon and iTunes."

In a recent interview with online teaching site Guitar Zoom, Drover stated about what it has been like stepping in and playing parts originally performed by other guitarists during his stint with MEGADETH: "With MEGADETH, there was a lot of force of trying to be somebody else to a tee. And I don't think that's right, because I think that you should try to keep certain pieces intact, certain melodies and certain key points of solos or whatever it is. But everybody's got their own DNA, and that should be injected. You shouldn't try to play something note for note. Because, for me, you sound like a robot, at the end of the day, if you try to do something note for note. And then you're just kind of a puppet. And I don't believe in that."

He continued: "In MEGADETH, there was a lot of pressure from not only the fans but certain people in the band for that. And I was just very… It's, like, 'This is not really what I envisioned from a musical standpoint.' As an individual guitar player, you have your own thing. For me, it didn't take too long to get to the point where it became boring."

Glen also spoke about the recent departures from MEGADETH of his brother, drummer Shawn Drover, and guitarist Chris Broderick. He said: "Well, I really can't speak too much for those guys a hundred percent, but all I can say is that there's definitely a lot of puppeteering going on, and I'm just not into that kind of thing, man. For me, it's more about the music, and it's about the individuality, it's about expression. Music is about that — it's not a sport, it's not about, you know, you're copying this guy to a tee or this and that. It's definitely an expression. I would never wanna abuse music in any way, and I felt it was definitely being abused."

He continued: "You know, when I played in bands like KING DIAMOND and TESTAMENT, where it was okay to be, like ,'Okay, try to play the solos like they are, but you're not that guy, so you inject your own personality into that.' For me, even outside of that, just watching as a fan, I wanna see what the guy has to offer. I don't wanna see somebody being a complete clone. That's boring. I can listen to the album at home, man. That's the way I see it. But not everybody sees it that way. And that's cool."

Glen Drover left MEGADETH in 2007 and was replaced by Broderick.

Glen's debut solo album, "Metalusion", was released in April 2011 via Magna Carta Records.