After four decades at the helm of one of Thrash Metal’s most iconic bands, Dave Mustaine still commands attention and not just with a guitar in hand. As Megadeth prepare to close the curtain with their self-titled farewell album and the accompanying documentary Behind The Mask, MetalTalk’s Paul Hutchings spoke with Dave in a candid conversation on music, mortality, and what it means to bow out on your own terms.
It’s a new experience for me. Despite many years of doing interviews, I have never been in a managed media event before. Tonight, I am in the waiting room for the Megadeth Media Junket, and my 20 minutes with the main man, Dave Mustaine.
I have been a fan of Megadeth since Killing Is My Business rattled the speakers in 1985, and I will add Peace Sells to my top all-time albums. But I am fully aware that the man comes with a reputation; forthright, outspoken, arrogant and at times probably wrong. But you do not lead a band single-handed through over 40 years in the Metal scene, selling 50 million albums and winning a Grammy without making hard decisions and having a singular vision.
Dave Mustaine is in the middle of a round of interviews, and my time has already been pushed back from afternoon to evening. Whether this is to accommodate more conversations or because of something else, I am not sure, but I am suddenly on Zoom with the man responsible for Rust In Peace, Countdown To Extinction, Dystopia, oh yeah, and Risk!
But that is the past. We are here primarily to talk about Megadeth, the self-titled final album, and Behind The Mask, the combined retrospective history of the band and listening party, which is due just a few days after the interview.
Having had the film to watch and review, it was a surprise when a full stream of the album dropped in the in-box a few hours before the interview. Playing it in full as opposed to bit by bit in the movie allowed me a quick opportunity to see how the album flowed in full.
I ask Dave Mustaine about how important it is to create that flow. “I think what you’re talking about is primarily sequencing,” he says. “Knowing the structure of your songs is really important when you are sequencing. What I’ve always tried to do with our sequencing, and you can go back to all our records over time, we try to hit with a really strong song.
“The second slot is more of our Thrash song. So, we try to put what we think is going to be our best song for the world in number one and then a Thrash song for the core audience in the second spot, and then that third spot, it’s kind of like getting your hat-trick.
“That’s a very important part because when people put in a CD, what they do is they’ll listen to that first song for a while and get bored. They’ll hit fast forward, and they’ll listen to that second song, and if that second song doesn’t hit it, they’ll hit fast forward again, and they won’t do that very many more times. So yeah, we’re trying to be as clever as we can when we’re loading those songs out for defence to hear for the first time”.
One of the immediately noticeable things about Megadeth is the speed of it. It is fast. Really fast in parts. Some of it would fit seamlessly into those earlier albums.
I wonder how Dave Mustaine sees his writing today, compared to how he viewed writing back in the ’80s. I view Peace Sells in a different way to Dystopia because of my age. A teenager when Peace Sells first arrived meant I was in a different place and had different emotions.
Dave appears nonchalant when he tells me that it’s a gift, but I think I know what he means. “The Music is a gift,” he says. “I don’t practise, and so this is clearly a gift. And to be able to play for as long as I have and come up with songs out of nowhere, that’s clearly a gift as well. So yeah, that’s how I look at it.”
When I posted I was speaking to Dave Mustaine on social media, many friends were able to share memories of meeting him. One remembered waiting to meet him instead of going to hospital with a damaged finger, another throwing a CD at him at one point.
Dave’s relationship with the fans goes back a long way, and he is clear in the film how important the fans are, but he avoids my clumsy question about where he feels the best fans are located.
“I think that would be a dangerous question to answer,” he says, “because I’ll come off looking like a prat if I say, oh, it’s whatever city you’re in. But you know, the fans change from season to season and record to record, and I think that we’ve never had a bad experience with fans.
“You know, everyone smiled, there’ll be some people who are not really familiar with the band, and they will say things or do things to get a reaction out of me, and it doesn’t really work with me. You know, I’m there to sign stuff and answer questions for our fans and be a nice guy out there because they’re waiting and they want to meet their guy, and they want to ask questions.
“And if I’m unable to go out, say, it’s raining or something, I still sign their stuff. I have my security guys go up there and grab people’s stuff and bring it back to the bus, where I’m dry, and I sign away to everybody. That’s a huge part of this job.”
Like many bands, Megadeth have thousands of die-hard fans who are dedicated to the band. It makes Dave Mustaine feel good, but he feels that this is something that the band have earnt over the years.
“It doesn’t surprise me because we’ve worked so hard to keep our fans treated with respect. We were the first band in the history of the world to have a website, and I think you might know that story from back in ’94. So, we’ve always tried to keep our fans on the cutting edge of cool, and, you know, we’ve done a really good job about it.”
We move on to Behind The Mask, the review of which you can find here at MetalTalk. Although Megadeth will not be the first band to deliver an album listening party via a movie, it is still a unique opportunity.
“The unique thing about this particular film is that it consists of two stories that are going on at the same time. You’ve got the history of the band where we’re lightly touching on that, and when I say lightly, I used that term very lightly, because I learned a couple of things in that documentary that I hadn’t known.
“So that was good stuff. Then we’re also revealing the new album while I’m talking and bringing everybody up to speed with the band’s history. So, I think that was a great way to do this. If I was a Megadeth fan, there’s no way I would miss this movie.”
Interestingly, Dave’s input, apart from being the main star, was not huge. In fact, he admits it was barely anything. “The director was amazing, and he did such a great job with putting his thing together. The management was involved to an incredible degree, Steve (Ross), Justis (Mustaine), (Danny Nozell), we just have a great team, and it’s undeniable.”
There is plenty of old footage in the movie, and Dave Mustaine acknowledges that it’s a bit of an eye-opener to see. “Yes, it was [funny to see that footage]. It was as funny as seeing yourself when you’re younger and seeing yourself when you’re a little bit older, going from one scene to another.
“You get a chance to see how you’ve aged, and you know, and I have aged not much. But I’m really happy that we were able to have fun with that. Casey did a great job, putting everything together.”
It has been well documented that Dave Mustaine’s health has been one of the key reasons for the decision to call it a day. We all want to know how he is doing.
“You know, playing is okay for now. The only problem is that the disease is progressive, so we’re going to keep playing until we can’t keep playing at our best, and then that’s it. You know, I’ve had a great run. I love everybody, all our fans. I love you all, and I thank you.”
Neil Peart is often quoted as saying something like “I could play Charlie Watts’ drum parts at 75, but I can’t play Neil Peart’s drum parts.” Dave is clear that it was not a difficult decision to make.
“It wasn’t,” he says. “Because I’ve been having issues with my hearing down in the South Pacific. We played in Australia, and my hearing was impacted pretty hard. And that was one of the things that I didn’t talk to anybody about.
“The other stuff that’s been chronicled about my arm, getting messed up and neck and messed up and cancer, the fusion, it’s a lot of stuff. So, I think when the story is done, we’ll get a real good look at our history. I’m excited to do that, to sit back and look at the kingdom that we’ve left behind. You know, our music is going to last forever, and I’m excited about that.”
I hesitate to call Dave the last of a dying breed, but he really is one of the ’80s generation still delivering 40 years later. That is incredible when you think about it. There will not be many like him.
“Yeah, I don’t think so. Part of it has to do with the longevity of the artists. A lot of people had songs that were really popular. But you know, do we understand that one wonder is principle? You never really think about it.
“I just saw a picture of two of my friends, and they’re not really friends, but they’re acquaintances, and I was looking at it. And I thought it was with Right Said Fred,” he laughs, before telling me it was actually with Joe Satriani and Kenny Aranoff.
Dave has already said that the final tour could last three years, so will we see Megadeth back in the UK and, more importantly for me, back in Wales?
“Yeah, we don’t have anything holding us back,” Dave says. “The reason we’re not playing the UK this year was we want to do a proper tour and not just going to a festival where we’re on a second stage and we’ve got 50 minutes to play.
“You can’t expect to make an offer like that to us when it’s our farewell tour and for us to say, oh, I’m so excited to play on your festival. So we’re taking a step back and looking at what all the opportunities are because it’s the same promoter. He’s a huge friend to the band, so I know it doesn’t have anything to do with him. It has to do with a lot of decisions that get made, and we’re making really good decisions right now. So, if we do, then it’ll be a proper UK tour.”
We reminisce about the Newport Centre, where Megadeth played twice in the ’90s, and Dave regales me with a tale about wiping some shit on a can of Pepsi for a security guard who opened the dressing room door with half the band butt naked inside.
It’s an appropriate place to end the interview, with a smile on his face. I think Dave Mustaine still has a lot to say, and there is a bit more to come yet.
Megadeth release their final album on 23 January 2026 via Dave Mustaine’s Tradecraft imprint in partnership with Frontiers Label Group’s BLKIIBLK label. Pre-orders are available now – Visit the Megadeth Shop for more details. Full details of the Megadeth: Behind The Mask can be found at MegadethFilm.com.
Were you there from the beginning, or did you discover Megadeth later? What era of the band hits hardest for you? Let us know at Editor@MetalTalk.net.
