MEGADETH Drummer Discusses 'Endgame'

PureGrainAudio.com recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH drummer Shawn Drover. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

PureGrainAudio.com: Now I've read that MEGADETH's twelfth studio album is very close to being completed in the studio. Can you let us in on any news about its sound or what we can expect?

Shawn: Well, it's completed, the tracks are recorded and it's being mixed and mastered as we speak. It's that close to being one hundred percent done and then, you know, we deliver it to the record company and all of that stuff. What does it sound like? You know, to me, it sounds like a good solid MEGADETH metal record, you know?! From what I'm hearing, there seems to be a little bit for everybody, you know?! A lot of different elements that MEGADETH has done in the past, and I think a lot of fans are really going to dig it. Whether you're a fan of heavy, fast, thrashy stuff or more mid-tempo stuff or slower stuff — whatever it is; slower or heavier stuff — it's got a little bit of everything in there.

PureGrainAudio.com: What's perhaps different about this new forthcoming record compared to your last record "United Abominations"?

Shawn: It's just, you know, like any other MEGADETH record; not two MEGADETH records sound the same. You can't name two MEGADETH records that sound similar, can you? I really think that this is just another offering from the band, you know?! It's just got a lot of great metal songs on it. Sonically, I think it sounds amazing, the songs are really well arranged... It's a heavy record, so... I think it's great, so hopefully a lot of people will share that opinion, but that remains to be seen. You know, again, I don't like to refer it to any other record — you gotta keep moving, you can't rely on the past, you gotta keep moving forward. So all I can say is it's a good, solid, sonic metal record, it's a good record.

PureGrainAudio.com: Now how involved are you, James [Lomenzo, bass] and Chris [Broderick, guitar] involved in the writing, recording and production process? Do you take an active role helping Dave [Mustaine, guitar/vocals] write the songs?

Shawn: Sure. I mean. the bulk of the material is written by Dave. I mean. that's nothing new, it's always been like that. But a lot of it was broken down into parts — old riffs, new riffs — there was a lot of stuff on file, it was a Pandora's box of metal riffs is what I like to call it and there was so much good stuff that we would say, "Well, hey, why don't we put that part with that or let's put those two together and let's go in to the warehouse and jam out some new stuff and maybe we can fit something into that part." You know what I mean?! It was a kind of putting the pieces of the puzzle together to make all these songs. It was really interesting, but yeah, we all had input and made opinions on it. Dave would say, "What do you think about this, what do you think about that, do you like this, do you like that...?" So it's a collaborative effort, but it does all stem from the riffs and songs that Dave writes.

PureGrainAudio.com: Over the years, Dave has gotten a bad rap at times in the press for having feuds with other bands and being difficult to work with. What's your take on all of this? Is it just the press looking for a headline?

Shawn: Well, I think the press perpetuates those headlines, don't they? When you're asking questions, twenty-seven and twenty-eight years later, to Dave about Lars [Ulrich] and METALLICA, that's just people starting shit or they're not doing research, so I don't pay any attention to that at all. You know, all I can say from my experience personally, right from the get-go, I've had a great time with him, he wants things done with the utmost professionalism and he wants things executed as perfectly as possible... But I'm the same way and I wouldn't expect anything less from him. Maybe that's why we've gotten along so well is because we kind of want the same thing. It's like if I came into the band and was a twenty-year-old punk who just wanted to do drugs and get wasted, you know — all that rock and roll bullshit that's been done — maybe it would have been different. But my whole mindset since joining this band has been that I want to be as professional as possible and maintain the integrity of MEGADETH. I think I've done that very well and he appreciates it and we just share the same vision in a lot of ways of what we want to do with this band so it's been quite easy for me.

Read the entire interview from PureGrainAudio.com.