MEGADETH: U.K. Fan Convention To Be Held In Early November

MEGADETH fans will hold a "MEGADETH Convention" on November 4 in the U.K. The event is being held at the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool (where THE BEATLES played their first show back in 1961). Tickets for the convention can be purchased at Ticketmaster.co.uk. Event details can be found at this location.

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 183,000 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).