Megadeth Have Been Able To "Expand And Try A Lot Of Different Things" On Their New Album

A new Megadeth album has seemingly been in the works for quite some time now, but David Ellefson has given a big update on where things are at – not just in terms of progress, but also sound and direction.

Discussing album number 16 on The Metal Circus, the bassist explains that recording with the band happens "in various stages", with bass and drums coming first, then rhythm guitars, and "then starting to put some vocals down and solos and all the embellishments of extra guitars and whatever layers of melody and stuff". Now, having been recording some of these parts in Nashville, Tennessee recently, Dave says the follow-up to 2016's Dystopia is "officially underway".

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"We've been writing it since late 2017 – our last show was in Buenos Aires, Argentina back in November of 2017," he continues. "And then the intention from there was just to get started composing. But it's on its way – the ship is sailing, which is great."

Alluding to the musical direction of the new record, Dave teases, "There's a saying, 'You have your whole life to write your first record, and then you have about a year to write your second one.' And once you put the first one out, the die is cast – now there is sort of a sound that people expect when they hear the next record. And if album two is too much of a departure, people go, 'Eh, this is kind of weird. I like the first one better.' And I think with Megadeth, this is album 16, so we have a lot of experience doing this. We've been able to expand and try a lot of different things."

He also adds that the band's enthusiasm for what they're creating often gives them the belief that fans will enjoy it, too. "What we find is that when we're in a room and we're playing something, and if we're all going, 'Yeah, that's freaking awesome,' if we like it, chances are you're all gonna like it."

Check out the interview below:

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