MEGADETH Bassist Wants To Lead The Charge In Shaking Up Metal Scene

Glenn BurnSilver of NextNC.com recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH bassist James Lomenzo. A couple of excerpts follow:

On the inspiration for recreating the band's old-school sound on the new CD, "United Abominations":

"We were doing the Gigantour and it occurred to us as we were watching a lot of the younger bands that they were the epitome of what they do. It shook us up and got us looking back at what MEGADETH did classically. It seemed that as one of the forerunners of this type of music, that if there should be a shakeup, we should be leading the charge and making that noise."

On going against the metal stereotype with the band's lyrical approach:

"(The metal credo) used to be 'Let's go party with the devil.' But what does that get you? Within metal a lot of people thought the pentagram was about as cool as it was going to get and got on board without thinking of all the implications. It goes hand in hand. But when we're talking about people, the world's survival and where we're going as a spiritual people, it does seem, and I don't think anyone would argue it, that we're all heading to hell in a handcart."

"Dave [Mustaine] has always had something timely and interesting to say and our music kind of indicates that feeling through aggression. It makes a lot of sense for MEGADETH to pump it out that way. This is stuff that's written everywhere. It's written in scriptures and commentary on TV; the president is talking about it. This isn't a unique idea at all. It's something that's on people's minds."