Why Does DAVE MUSTAINE Get Such A Bad Rap? Ex-MEGADETH Drummer SHAWN DROVER Weighs In

In a new interview with Canada's The Metal Voice, former MEGADETH drummer Shawn Drover addressed Dave Mustaine's reputation as one of the most divisive personalities in metal. Asked why he thinks the MEGADETH leader is so frequently portrayed in such a negative light, Shawn said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think some of it may be from his political viewpoints at any given time. You know how that goes — politics and religion can definitely rub people the wrong way. That's certainly, I would say, maybe part of it. Which I never had any comment of any sort on any of that stuff."

Shawn, who is currently promoting the debut album from his WITHERING SCORN project, continued: "Who knows? There's always Monday-morning quarterbacks that talk shit about something. And a lot of it gets thrown out of context. Something I'll say on here I'm sure will be on a web site, saying, 'Shawn said this.' It's just to create a headline. It's clickbait, they call it. It's just music, man."

Drover, who spent a decade as the drummer of MEGADETH, went on to say that he looks back fondly on his years with the legendary thrash metal act.

"I have nothing but good memories and good things to say about it," he said. "If it wasn't for that band, we wouldn't be talking today — I guarantee it… I have nothing but good things to say about that. So I'm very thankful."

Shawn's latest comments are similar to those he made back in November 2017 during an interview with the "Talking Metal" podcast. At that time, he said: "I have nothing bad to say at all about [MEGADETH]. Dave Mustaine gave me a career, and I'll always be thankful to him for that. I was very good friends with him for 10 years, and at a certain point, I just wanted to move on and express my own musical vision and do the things I wanted to do before I got too old. I'm not a spring chicken, so I just started to think, If I want to do something, the clock's ticking here… But I have nothing but good things to say about that camp. Dave gave me a career, and I have nothing but good things to say about him and the entire organization. I wish them the best."

Drover quit MEGADETH in November 2014 "to pursue [his] own musical interests", according to a statement he released at the time. Later that same day, MEGADETH guitarist Chris Broderick announced his departure from the group, saying that he was exiting the band "due to artistic and musical differences." The duo later launched an act called ACT OF DEFIANCE with ex-SCAR THE MARTYR singer Henry Derek Bonner and bassist Matt Bachand (SHADOWS FALL).

In a September 2015 interview with Sticks For Stones, Shawn talked about his working relationship with Mustaine and whether personal differences played a part in his decision to quit MEGADETH. He said: "I never had an issue with [Dave] whatsoever. I always thought we got along very well, and I knew my role in the band. And that's a big part of joining a band like that. If you don't know your role and think that you can walk into a situation… to an established band and think that you can be an equal partner or something foolish like that, that would be just that: it would be quite foolish. I walked into the situation knowing what my role was, and I respected the legacy of the band and just tried to do the best that I could. So it actually was quite easy. I got along with him very well. I got along with everybody very well. But I was smart enough to know what the situation was, and never thinking, 'Oh, I'll get my songs on the next record.' It was never like that. I respected the legacy of the band and [tried] to uphold that to the best of my ability, no matter who… whatever lineup was in the band at the time, I just did my job. But at the end of the day, I left the band — I was not fired; I left. So it was just purely a musical… I wanted to write heavier music, and that's what I did [with ACT OF DEFIANCE]."

Shawn joined MEGADETH in 2004 as the replacement for Nick Menza, who had only just rejoined the group. Drover performed on four MEGADETH studio records: 2007's "United Abominations", 2009's "Endgame", 2011's "TH1RT3EN" and 2013's "Super Collider".

In addition to Shawn, WITHERING SCORN features his brother, and fellow ex-MEGADETH member, Glen Drover, along with former FATES WARNING bassist Joe DiBiase and German singer Henning Basse, who has previously played with FIREWIND, METALIUM and MAYAN.

WITHERING SCORN's debut album, "Prophets Of Demise", was released on July 7 via Frontiers Music Srl.