MEGADETH Shares New Chapter From Epic Short Film Featuring 'Life In Hell' Song

MEGADETH has released the official music video for the song "Life In Hell", taken from the band's latest studio album, "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" Titled "Life In Hell: Chapter IV", the video is the fourth and latest instalment of the band's epic multi-part short film revealing the origins of the band's iconic mascot Vic Rattlehead.

The rapid-fire onslaught of MEGADETH's "Life In Hell" is one of the heavy-hitting thrash songs on "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!" This quintessential MEGADETH track showcases the band's tight musical precision and songwriting prowess — co-written by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine and drummer Dirk Verbeuren, and enhanced with Kiko Loureiro's stylistic six-string flourishes, "Life In Hell" features seamless tempo and time signature shifts as MEGADETH continues to set the bar for modern and classic metal alike.

Mustaine told Kerrang! magazine about "Life In Hell": "'Life In Hell' is about someone who believes he's this James Bond-like motherfucker who can live this life of espionage. He's ultra-cool. No matter what, he thinks that he's going to get out of it. He's someone with a nihilistic — maybe fatalistic is a better word — outlook towards things. It's about that self-obsessed, self-absorbed person, and how they eventually get caught.

"I like to have a moral, or a payoff, to my lyrics. I think the middle-eight here really does that: 'Only a fool would do what you've done / You lie, you steal and you cheat everyone / When you're caught in your most despicable deed / You plead the court for diplomatic immunity…' That could have been any of those people over the last four or five years who [were called out for] their terrible, predatory behavior in Hollywood. 'Life In Hell' is ultimately about that person who's so into himself that nothing else matters to him, except him."

"The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" sold 48,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marked MEGADETH's eighth top 10-charting album. Of "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!"'s 48,000 units earned for the week, album sales comprised 45,000, SEA units comprise 3,000 and TEA units comprised a negligible sum.

MEGADETH's previous top 10 entries on the Billboard 200 were "Countdown to Extinction" (No. 2, 1992),"Youthanasia" (No. 4, 1994),"Cryptic Writings" (No. 10, 1997),"United Abominations" (No. 8, 2007),"Endgame" (No. 9, 2009),"Super Collider" (No. 6, 2013) and "Dystopia" (No. 3, 2016).

"The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" consolidates a furious return to form that began with the Grammy-winning "Dystopia", while pushing forward musically and marking Mustaine's recent triumph over throat cancer. Reuniting Dave with co-producer Chris Rakestraw (DANZIG, PARKWAY DRIVE),who together helmed 2016's "Dystopia", the album was recorded at Mustaine's home studio in Nashville, Tennessee, with Loureiro and Verbeuren. Bassist Steve DiGiorgio temporarily stepped in to record the album. With the kick-off of MEGADETH's recent tour, MEGADETH alumnus James LoMenzo rejoined the MEGADETH family as permanent bass player.