MEGADETH: 'The Arsenal Of Megadeth' Certified Platinum In Canada, Gold In U.S.

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine has posted the following message in the "Forums" section of the band's official web site:

"Well, we made it in one piece to Japan and after seeing dozens of musician friends and numerous crew friends from those bands that I have met, I realized that this is going to be one of the coolest shows ever in Japan.

"We are going to start practicing the song 'Gears of War' for the Microsoft XBox party we are playing at on Halloween. We will prolly just go over it for a few days and break it out in OZ, but ya never know. Playing with Glen [Drover], James [Lomenzo], and Shawn [Drover] has given me the luxury to do whatever I want on stage at any time. That . . . lemme tell you, is worth it all.

"Lastly, thank you to everyone in Canada for making 'The Arsenal of Megadeth' platinum, and for the fans in the States for making it gold. I feel like I am part of 'The rise and fall and rise again of MEGADETH.' Thank you for being part of it too.

"Sayonara!

"P.S.: I asked Scott Ian [ANTHRAX] about doing [Gigantour] Euro/UK [2007] and he was into it!"

As previously reported, MEGADETH has tapped British producer Andy Sneap (NEVERMORE, MACHINE HEAD, ARCH ENEMY, CRADLE OF FILTH) to mix its long-awaited new album, "United Abominations", tentatively due in March 2007 via Roadrunner Records.

Commented Sneap: "[I] did a test mix for 'Gears of War' [new MEGADETH song] just before I went out to Cleveland [to work on the new CHIMAIRA album] a couple of weeks ago. Had a good chat with Dave [Mustaine] the other day. He seems very cool, matter of fact, and we begin in L.A. November 6th, so should be great. [I'm] really looking forward to it."

"United Abominations" will include a cover of LED ZEPPELIN's "Out on the Tiles", which Mustaine has previously described as one of the CD's highlights. "It could be the best song," he said. "I think it rocks!"

Dave previously told MTV.com about the album's initial recording sessions (which were held at Sarm Studios, outside of London),"We rented [LED ZEPPELIN drummer] John Bonham's drum kit and recorded at a studio in [PINK FLOYD guitarist] David Gilmour's house, which was great."

"The kit is the only one that's available in the world to rent," drummer Shawn Drover added. "Dave surprised me with that, which was pretty incredible because I didn't even know it was possible to get Bonham's kit to rent for anybody. So I incorporated the bass drum and his floor tom and a snare on the kit that I use in the studio, and that was really inspiring. We played in the middle of nowhere and it was just a really cool vibe."

"United Abominations" was recorded under the watchful eye of Mustaine and co-producer Jeff Balding. The initial studio sessions were filmed by director Michael Sarna (ANTHRAX, OBITUARY) and are available at Megadeth.com to fan-club members. Other songtitles set to appear on the CD include "United Abominations" and "Washington Is Next" (video).

MEGADETH's last CD, "The System Has Failed", has sold more than 180,000 copies since its September 2004 release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The group, who were most recently signed to Sanctuary Records, were joined by bassist James Lomenzo (ex-BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, WHITE LION) in February following the departure of James MacDonough (ex-ICED EARTH).

(Thanks: Rattlehead HQ)