MEGADETH's DAVE MUSTAINE Has Become 'Incredibly Close' With CHRIS ADLER

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine spoke to MetalIreland.com about his friendship and working relationship with the band's new drummer, Chris Adler, who also plays for LAMB OF GOD. He said: "LAMB OF GOD and MEGADETH had toured together many years ago — we did Gigantour together. And I got to know Chris and really liked him. I had no idea how much he looked up to me, and to MEGADETH. And especially with Gar [Samuelson, late MEGADETH drummer], he was very impressed by Gar's playing. So we became incredibly close, in a short period of time."

He continued: "There is no drummer, other than Gar, that I've gotten that close to. Honestly! There was Chuck [Behler], there was Nick [Menza], there was Jimmy DeGrasso, there was Vinnie Colaiuta, there was Shawn Drover — and they're all talented, but in terms of being close with someone and really enjoying being in their company and calling someone up and saying, 'Hey, where are you? Wanna do something?' That's where we're at right now."

Mustaine added: "You know, I don't want to cause LAMB OF GOD any problems, and I'm hoping we'll be able to continue to do this. But if a time comes when we won't be able to continue doing this, I'm extremely grateful for his contributions."

Dave also talked in more detail about the personal connection between him and Adler. He said: "[Chris is] funny! You know I went to some concert, to go some New Wave kind of guy, in Nashville where we live, and the songs they were playing, you know they're probably on the radio, but, to me, they just sounded awful. Really noisy, feedback-y kind of stuff. And that was part of the style of the songs. So I wrote to Chris, and I was like, 'Yeah, I'm here with [my daughter] Electra, for her birthday, at this concert and it's just horrible.' And he just replied, 'Yeah, suck it up, buttercup.' And I was, like, 'Ha! Are you signing that 'buttercup' or are you calling me buttercup?'"

He continued: "So we just hit it off, and when I showed my wife, and Electra, my daughter, what he'd wrote, they said, 'I like him.'"

Mustaine added: "I honestly prefer a guy who will be honest with you and who will josh with you, instead of being a puss, and saying stuff about you behind your back."

Adler said in a recent interview that he wasn't particularly concerned about Mustaine's reputation as someone who is difficult to work with. "We [LAMB OF GOD and MEGADETH] had toured together in 2005; we did Gigantour together, and he and I have caught up and become… I wouldn’t say friends, but, you know, acquaintances," he said. "And so, we would talk throughout the day and throughout the tour, and it was fun then. So, coming back into it, that really didn't scare me at all. And I've heard those stories too. I think people like to pick on Dave, because it's easy to pick on the king. This is the guy, for me, that created this whole thing, so it's always easy to pick on the guy at the top."

MEGADETH's new album, "Dystopia", will be released on January 22, 2016. The follow-up to 2013's "Super Collider" marks the recording debut of MEGADETH's new lineup, which also includes Brazilian guitarist Kiko Loureiro, best known for his work with ANGRA.