MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson spoke to Metal Rules about the musical direction of the band's upcoming follow-up to 2016's "Dystopia" album. Aked if the new effort will be more in line with "Dystopia" or more commercial-sounding like 2013's "Super Collider", Ellefson said: "It's definitely not in the 'Super Collider' vein. I think it's 'Dystopia', and even way past that. It is a very technically challenging record. Dave [Mustaine, MEGADETH leader] and I agree that there are riffs on this record that are way harder to play than any of the stuff on 'Rust In Peace'. It is an insanely progressive record. "I remember when I was a kid and heard [RUSH's] Geddy Lee and Neil Peart play something inhumanly impossible," he continued. "I had that same feeling now on our record with [new MEGADETH drummer] Dirk Verbeuren. [Laughs] It lit me up. I was, like, 'Holy shit! This is a moment that I have never felt or experienced until now.' Who knows? Maybe I needed to be 55 years old to experience and accomplished it with a seasoned guy like Dirk. That's the emotion, fucking fire, and spirit that I have around this new record." David added: "If you liked 'Dystopia', this CD will not let you down." Mustaine recently told SiriusXM's Jose Mangin that MEGADETH's upcoming album will be "up there with 'Countdown [To Extinction]', 'Rust In Peace' and probably 'Peace Sells'" and "Dystopia". He went on to say: "This is the first time in a really long time that we've had a record that the guitar playing and the bass playing was so hard that we had to stop in between parts. Ask Ellefson — he's the best ambassador — what he's doing with his [bass] guitar parts, because he's playing the same thing I'm doing. And we do some really cool stuff. Like, there's one part in one song that he played parts that are like 'Five Magics'. And there's another part where it was full-on 'Take No Prisoners' — just shredding on bass guitar. So you'll have to see for yourself. The guitar playing could totally suck, but I don't think it will." The LP will be the first to feature Verbeuren (ex-SOILWORK), who joined the band four years ago. The early sessions for MEGADETH's new album took place last year with co-producer Chris Rakestraw, who previously worked on "Dystopia". Brazilian guitarist Kiko Loureiro made his recording debut with MEGADETH on "Dystopia", whose title track was honored in the "Best Metal Performance" category at the 2017 Grammy Awards. MEGADETH's North American tour with LAMB OF GOD, TRIVIUM and IN FLAMES has been rescheduled for 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic which is sweeping the globe.
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