MEGADETH's DAVE MUSTAINE And KIKO LOUREIRO: 'Fatal Illusion' Playthrough Video

MEGADETH's Dave Mustaine and Kiko Loureiro recently stopped by the Guitar World studio to play through the band's new song "Fatal Illusion". Check out the footage below.

In a recent interview with Full Metal Jackie, Mustaine spoke about his relationship with Loureiro, best known for his work with ANGRA. He said: "Well, I think when you get around somebody that's great, you have a few choices. You can either roll up into a ball and just die, or you can see what you can learn, or you can say, 'You know what? I'm as good as you are.' And I'm good at what I do, Kiko's good at what he does."

He continued: "It was super exciting to be in [Kiko's] presence and to learn a lot of the stuff that he does. I showed him some stuff, he showed me some stuff. But I've gotta tell you, probably the most rewarding feeling out of all this is having a partner again. Because for a long time, it hasn't really felt like there was a partnership."

Kiko recently told Music Radar that he picked up a lot of new things while jamming with Mustaine. "He has such an interesting and unique style of playing," Loureiro said. "I was kind of not sure I could really play it the same way. He showed me many guitar tricks. Because he is self-taught, the way he plays is different to everybody else. I got to learn how to really play the thrash metal riffs from the source. Y'know, Mustaine. It was a great experience. Although I was intimidated in a way, I knew it would be a very good learning moment for me, to really learn from Mustaine, who created this style, who created this way of playing thrash metal riffs."

Kiko also said that a time eventually came during the songwriting process for MEGADETH's new album, "Dystopia", where he felt comfortable offering his input.

"If an idea doesn't work for a song or doesn't work for the concept, that's all good, let's bring another one," Kiko said. "And that's the way you can be creative and help through the whole process of creating an album. I had to understand what was cool, what was not, what belongs in MEGADETH. If you know the concept, where to go, it's easier to record a solo. You just go in there and improvise and something cool is going to happen."

"Fatal Illusion" is taken from MEGADETH's latest album, "Dystopia", which was released on January 22 on CD, LP, and digitally, as well as a special Deluxe Virtual Reality CD package.

"Dystopia" shifted 49,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending January 28.

In terms of pure album sales, "Dystopia" opened with 48,000 copies, marking MEGADETH's highest-charting album since 1992's "Countdown To Extinction" debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the chart dated August 1 of that year. "Dystopia" also logged the group's best sales week since 2007, when "United Abominations" landed at No. 8 with first-week sales of 54,000.

In addition to Mustaine and Loureiro, MEGADETH's current lineup includes longtime bassist David Ellefson and LAMB OF GOD drummer Chris Adler.

On April 8, Universal Music / Tradecraft / T-Boy Records issued "Dystopia" as a limited-edition vinyl picture disc featuring the album's vivid dark and chilling artwork which takes the bands long-time mascot Vic Rattlehead to a whole new level and drops him into a bleak, futuristic dystopian universe.