MEGADETH Drummer Is Ready To Hit The Road

On January 7, MEGADETH commenced the recording process for its twelfth studio album at the band's own Vic's Garage studio in San Marcos, California. The CD is once again being helmed by acclaimed British producer Andy "Undie" Sneap, who produced MEGADETH's last album, "United Abominations" (May 2007, Roadrunner Records).

Tentatively due later this year via Roadrunner Records, MEGADETH's forthcoming LP will be the group's first with guitarist Chris Broderick, who replaced Glen Drover at the end of 2007.

MEGADETH drummer Shawn Drover has posted the following update on the band's official web site:

"It really does not seem that long ago that we finished up the 'United Abominations' world tour, though in reality it has been almost eight months now. During this time lapse, of course, we have been quite busy with writing/recording the next MEGADETH record, and with the guitars/bass/drums now completed (vocals, guitar solos remain),I think it is actually good timing to go out on tour for a bit and step back from the record for a short period. Lots of ideas can come out of being in a different surrounding, etc. so we will see what happens with that. If nothing else (and for totally selfish reasons),being on tour with [JUDAS] PRIEST and TESTAMENT is going to be an absolute blast for me. Once this tour leg is completed, [MEGADETH mainman] Dave [Mustaine] and Chris will be back in the studio with Andy Sneap getting this new piece of heavy metal finished. Believe me when I say to you that all of us are very excited for you to hear this new record, and that is all I am going to say about it.

"I am now 100% packed and ready for this trip, and although it is so hard to say goodbye to my family, I do look forward to seeing you all on the Killing Road."

The "Priest Feast" tour featuring JUDAS PRIEST, MEGADETH and TESTAMENT is scheduled to kick off on February 10 in Dublin, Ireland.

U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine has uploaded a podcast featuring an audio interview with Dave Mustaine. Dave talks about the recording of MEGADETH's new album; the "Priest Feast" tour; the state of the metal scene; and other topics.

You can download the podcast as an MP3 audio file at this location. (Note: The Mustaine interview begins around the 24-minute mark.)

Mustaine recently told Revolver magazine that MEGADETH's upcoming CD will contain "stuff that's melodic like nobody's business, stuff that's heavier than hell, and stuff that's a combination of both." He said, "The way I write, I'll play a riff and tape it and save it. And if I don't use it now, I'll use it later. The very first song I ever wrote, 'Rust In Peace… Polaris', didn't appear on anything until the fourth MEGADETH record. Right now, there are about 20 songs that are in the making, and there's another good 25-to-30 hours worth of guitar riffs on tape. And I've also got a lot of old lyrics I've assembled over my career. Some of it's relevant to this day and age; some of it is stuff that, if I released it, would probably get me in a lot of trouble. Those songs deal with a lot of the anger that I felt when I was younger and reading things like [the 1971 underground manual for making homemade explosives] 'The Anarchist Cookbook'."

In a recent online posting, Mustaine stated about the band's new material, "I am more excited about this new record than I was with 'United Abominations' or anything in the last several years. . . I am not saying that this is 'Rust In Peace 2'! But I can say that the five out of nine songs I have arranged, I like and love them all, and every one of the songs has one or more of the strong points of me as a guitarist being showcased instead of me writing songs for radio — radio that won't play us anyway. . . This is really going to be a record that will make a lot of people that thought we couldn't do it anymore sit up and take notice."