Megadeth Latest News

Photos: Megadeth Live In NYC

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:53:00 GMT

Megadeth brought the 2012 iteration of Gigantour to New York on January 28, and our photographer was there! Check out this exclusive gallery of images now!

Gigantour continues to roll across North America; visit our tour page to find a show near you!

Dave Mustaine Interviewed Backstage In NYC

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:22:00 GMT

When Megadeth came through New York with the 2012 edition of Gigantour this past Saturday, January 28, we sat down with Dave Mustaine for an exclusive interview. In the clip below, he discusses whether he still gets nervous on the first night of a tour, how set lists come together, the band's pre-show preparations, and much more. Enjoy!

Megadeth are on the road in North America right now; visit our tour page to find a show near you!

Roadrunner Artists Kick Ass In Guitar World's Readers Poll!

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:05:00 GMT

The March 2012 issue of Guitar World includes the results of their 2011 Readers Poll, and Roadrunner artists were extremely well represented. Here's the rundown:

Megadeth's Dave Mustaine and Chris Broderick won Best Metal Guitarists, with Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt and Fredrik Åkesson coming in third;

Dream Theater's John Petrucci came in second in the Best Shredder category, with Rob Zombie's guitarist, John 5, coming in fifth;

Megadeth's TH1RT3EN won Best Metal Album, and Dream Theater's A Dramatic Turn of Events came in third;

John Petrucci also took second in the Most Valuable Player category, with Dave Mustaine right behind him;

Kenny Wayne Shepherd was voted the #3 Best Blues Guitarist;

Rush's Alex Lifeson was the #5 vote-getter for the Guitar World Hall of Fame;

and the magazine's November 2011 "Big Four" issue, which featured Dave Mustaine alongside members of Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax, was voted Favorite Guitar World Cover!

Congratulations to all!

Roadrunner Artists Locking Down Festival Shows!

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:13:00 GMT

The spring and summer are when major rock and metal festivals can be found all across America and Europe, and some of Roadrunner's biggest artists are going to be playing them! We've already told you that Slipknot will be headlining the 2012 Mayhem Festival tour, and now two more major shows - one in the US and one in the UK - have been announced as well!

From May 18-20, the Rock on the Range festival will take over Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, and among the bands on the bill will be Megadeth, Trivium, Rob Zombie and Black Stone Cherry.

The following month, from June 8-10, the Download Festival will be held in Donington Park in England, and the bill there will include Megadeth, Trivium, Machine Head and DevilDriver.

Start making your travel plans now!

Megadeth's Chris Broderick Interviewed On First Night Of Gigantour

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:13:00 GMT

Megadeth guitarist Chris Broderick was interviewed by Sami Jarroush of the Rock It Out! blog on January 26, the night Gigantour 2012 kicked off in Camden, NJ. Watch the video below!

Megadeth's David Ellefson Interviewed At NAMM

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:21:00 GMT

Megadeth bassist David Ellefson was interviewed by "MzHollyw00d" at NAMM last week. In the clip below, he talks about his new app, as well as his favorite Megadeth song to perform, the best advice he's ever received, and more.

Here's the clip:

Megadeth are on the road in North America right now; visit our tour page to find a show near you!

The Making Of Megadeth's Public Enemy No. 1

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:01:00 GMT

Megadeth's video for "Public Enemy No. 1," the first single from their 2011 album TH1RT3EN, was a huge surprise to fans used to the band's more serious side. After all, it featured chimpanzees with guns! But it was a terrific complement to the song, and as Dave Mustaine reveals in this interview, it was a blast to make, too.

Check Out Roadrunner's Weekly Rock And Metal Playlists On Spotify!

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:56:00 GMT

We've put together two dynamic playlists on Spotify - Roadrunner's Week in Metal and Roadrunner's Week in Rock - and we'd love it if you'd check them out! Each week, a few tracks rotate out, and a few new ones rotate in. This week on the metal playlist, we're focusing on bands that are currently on the road - Machine Head, Megadeth, Trivium and DevilDriver - plus tracks by Korn, Nightwish and more. On the Rock playlist, we've added new tracks by Nickelback, Black Stone Cherry, Theory of a Deadman, The Parlor Mob and more!

Roadrunner's Week in Metal

Roadrunner's Week in Rock

EXCLUSIVE: The Killing Road - A History Of Megadeth's Opening Acts

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:00:00 GMT

Back in the day, back when a Big 4 show was nothing but a fanboy's dream, three of the most important thrash metal bands of all time teamed up for a monumental tour called Clash of the Titans. The US version of the trek featured Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax as rotating co-headliners, playing huge venues across America in 1991, still part of the Rust in Peace era to Megadeth fans.

In interviews at the time, Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine was often asked which band he thought benefitted the most from the tour. His response included three simple words: "Alice in Chains." Yes, when Death Angel reportedly had to turn down the opening slot, the Clash of the Titans organizers turned to a then-little-known Seattle band who had a tough time warming up the thrash-friendly crowds.

Alice in Chains weren't the only band to go on to massive heights of fame and fortune after supporting the world's "state of the art speed metal band," as Megadeth was often billed. Stone Temple Pilots found themselves in the same position in 1993. A few years before their gold-selling Obsolete, in 1995, Fear Factory joined a Megadeth bill that also included a new band called Korn. From Coal Chamber to Machine Head, the list of Roadrunner luminaries alone who've supported Megadeth is astounding.

With the 2012 edition of the Mustaine-curated Gigantour rolling out January 26 with a badass undercard consisting of Motörhead, Volbeat and Lacuna Coil, we're taking a look back down "The Killing Road" at some of the coolest 'Deth openers from within our own catalog.

KORN (1995)
FEAR FACTORY (1995, 2005)
Megadeth's "Reckoning Day 1995" lineup: Korn, Flotsam and Jetsam, Fear Factory. Yes, as Megadeth toured supporting Youthanasia, they assembled a package that began with Fear Factory, who were promoting the groundbreaking Demanufacture. They were preceded by Flotsam and Jetsam, the Arizona thrashers best remembered as the band Jason Newsted played in before Metallica. And first up, there was Korn, who had somehow managed to combine Faith No More, broken childhoods and Bakersfield, California with who knows what else, creating a brand-new sound that changed heavy music both artistically and commercially for years to come. Jonathan Davis broke out his now-signature bagpipes during that tour.

"At the time, no one knew where to put us, so we were doing tours with KMFDM to Megadeth [to] Pennywise," Davis told Explore Music in an interview last year. Fear Factory came back to join Megadeth on the first ever Gigantour a decade later.

COAL CHAMBER (1997)
LIFE OF AGONY (1997, 2005)
DEVILDRIVER (2007)
During the glory years of nu-metal, Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares helped make the Roadrunner A&R team aware of the L.A. band Coal Chamber, who released their eponymous debut in February, 1997. About a year later, Coal Chamber went on tour with Megadeth, who were supporting Cryptic Writings, which had spawned the rock radio hit "Trust."

Coal Chamber's first album, one of the definitive releases of the nu-metal subgenre, eventually went gold in the United States. Years later, following subsequent Coal Chamber albums that further explored the band's darkly Gothic undertones, frontman Dez Fafara returned to Roadrunner with the ferocious extreme metal band DevilDriver, who toured supporting Megadeth as well.

"I've had the pleasure of touring with Megadeth a few times in my career,” recalls Fafara. “I must say that in my case, both bands were treated with kindness and respect and taken care of well. But here is something you don't expect from one of the biggest rock stars of our time. On the second night [of Megadeth/Coal Chamber], as I was walking in the building, I slipped on some ice. At first I tried to laugh it off, but as I stood up, I realized that something bad had happened to my ankle: it was horribly twisted.

"It wasn't broken, but it was not good and it was swelling fast. I hobbled backstage to ice it and was doing so for an hour before the show. A half hour before Coal Chamber took the stage, in walks Dave Mustaine. He kneels down and says, 'I heard you messed up your ankle pretty bad. Let me look at it.'" Dez says that Mustaine "sent out for some holistic ointment" and 15 minutes later he was back, personally wrapping the astonished singer's ankle himself. "[Mustaine] told me to try and have a good show. His kindness that day meant the world to me and now, 13 years later, I'll never forget it! Thanks, Dave, for being a brother."

Life of Agony opened the tour that featured Coal Chamber, and rejoined Megadeth in 2005 on the first Gigantour.

DREAM THEATER (2005)
Dream Theater also played the inaugural Gigantour in 2005, which featured Anthrax (on a separate leg), Fear Factory, Dillinger Escape Plan and Nevermore, two members of whom were in Sanctuary, whose debut album was produced by Mustaine back in the day.

Shawn Drover, who took over drum duties in Megadeth in 2004, continues to feel a strong personal connection to his current labelmates. "I have a lot of great memories from all the Gigantour tours Megadeth have done and having my friends in Dream Theater on G1 is certainly one of them. Progressive metal is something I really enjoy, as the level of musicianship—and certainly in the case of Dream Theater—is very high. To be able to pull off live what they have recorded over the years is something I marvel at, for sure."

Dream Theater’s then-drummer, Mike Portnoy, joined Megadeth onstage on September 3, 2005 at the Toronto Gigantour stop. He got behind the kit for "Peace Sells...," with Shawn switching to guitar. As revealed on the subsequent Gigantour DVD, Portnoy dumped baby powder on the snare before he left the stage. As soon as Drover started playing "Holy Wars...," the powder blew all over his face.

"Great band, great guys, end of story," Drover says.

OPETH (2006)
Dave Mustaine and Mikael Åkerfeldt certainly have a lot in common. They both sing, they both play guitar, they've both fronted monumentally game-changing metal bands and they have both navigated lineup changes and changing times while maintaining a vision as creative bandleaders that has ensured each man's musical legacy. The pair finally shared a touring bill together in 2006, when Opeth took part in the second Gigantour alongside Lamb of God, Arch Enemy and Overkill.

SOULFLY (2006)
Max Cavalera is a heavy metal legend in his own right, from the noisy thrash of early Sepultura to the landmark Arise album, the hugely influential Chaos AD, the hugely influential all over again Roots and continuing through to his eight albums fronting Soulfly along with all of his other projects. Despite his own iconic status, he still counts Megadeth as a major inspiration to him.

"I still love the classics like Megadeth, Slayer and all those bands that are still playing now with kick-ass shit after twenty or thirty years," he told MetalSucks.net last year. "That's awesome that those bands are still playing. It makes me really proud and makes me want to continue playing because it's an inspiration that those bands are still going."

Also, did you know David Ellefson played bass on nearly half of Soulfly’s 2004 album, Prophecy? He was still a few years away from rejoining Megadeth, though, when Soulfly were added to the Australian edition of Gigantour in 2006.

MACHINE HEAD (2007, 2009, 2011)
Bay Area metal warriors Machine Head have toured with Megadeth on several occasions, including as direct support on Megadeth/Slayer, on the 2011 Rockstar Mayhem Festival tour, and when both supported Heaven & Hell, aka Black Sabbath with the late Ronnie James Dio.

In 2009, speaking about The Blackening touring cycle, Machine Head's Robb Flynn told About.com: "We got to tour with a lot of our idols. We did Slayer and Megadeth, we did six months with Metallica... There were some huge moments for us."

Shawn Drover is quite fond of Flynn and his crew as well, calling them "definitely one of my favorite heavy metal bands of today."

"We have played a ton of shows with Machine Head since 2007, which was great for me as I am friends with all those dudes," Drover says. "One of the great things about Machine Head is that they completely have their own sound. I have not heard one band that sounds like they do, which in this day and age, seems rare. They are a very consistent live band as well."

Gigantour 2012 kicks off this Thursday, January 26; visit our tour page to find a show near you!

Video: Megadeth's David Ellefson Talks Basses At NAMM

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:30:00 GMT

Megadeth bassist David Ellefson was at the Jackson Guitars booth at NAMM this weekend, talking about his signature series of basses. The video is below.

The 2012 Gigantour, headlined by Megadeth with support from Motörhead, Volbeat and Lacuna Coil, kicks off this week. Visit our tour page to find a show near you!

Roadrunner Musicians Appearing At NAMM 2012

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:00:00 GMT

NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants, is having its annual convention this weekend at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, and members of DevilDriver, Korn, Megadeth and Soulfly will be appearing there this weekend.

Michael Spreitzer and Jeff Kendrick of DevilDriver will be performing for Blackstar Amplification on Friday, January 20 from 4:30 - 5 PM. The event will be held at the KORG performance stage located at booth #6440 in Hall A.

Korn drummer Ray Luzier will be signing at the Pro-Mark Drumsticks booth at 3 PM, and at the Remo Drumheads booth at 4:30 PM on Friday, January 20, and at 1 PM at the Prentice Practice Pads booth on Saturday, January 21. Also, look for Ray demoing new cymbals and drums at the Sabian, Pearl and DW booths Friday and Saturday and a signing at the Sticks and Skins booth (to be announced).

Three members of Megadeth will be appearing at NAMM: bassist David Ellefson will be signing throughout the day on Friday and Saturday, on the following schedule:

11 AM - Pocketlab Works (in the Apps Pavilion booth E5)
12-1 PM - Hartke (at the Samson Booth)
2-3 PM - SIT Strings Booth
3-4 PM - EMG Booth w/Tony Campos of Soulfly

Saturday January 21
11-11:45 AM - Planet Waves (at the D’Addario Booth)
12-12:45 PM - Hartke (at the Samson Booth)
1-2 PM - Jackson Guitars with Chris Broderick (at the Fender/Jackson Booth)

Shawn Drover Signing Schedule:
Saturday January 21
11:30 AM - 12 PM - Gibraltar Hardware
12-1 PM - ddrum
1-1:30 PM - Toca
5-6 PM - Promark/Evans

Visit namm.org for more information!

Check Out Roadrunner's Weekly Metal And Rock Playlists On Spotify!

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:26:00 GMT

We've put together two dynamic playlists on Spotify - Roadrunner's Week in Metal and Roadrunner's Week in Rock - and we'd love it if you'd check them out! Each week, a few tracks rotate out, and a few new ones rotate in. This week on the metal playlist, we're focusing on bands that are currently on the road or will be soon - Machine Head, Megadeth, Trivium and DevilDriver - plus tracks by Korn, Nightwish and more. On the Rock playlist, we've added new tracks by Nickelback, Black Stone Cherry, Theory of a Deadman, The Parlor Mob and more!

Roadrunner's Week in Metal

Roadrunner's Week in Rock

13 Of Roadrunner's Wildest Covers

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:30:00 GMT

At their worst, cover songs are lazy album filler. At their best, they can eclipse even the best original material. Covers are a chance for bands to cut loose and have fun by digging into the catalogs of their idols and influences, and once in a while, they result in something so awesomely unexpected or incongruous that the cover song becomes a staple of their catalog. Everyone with an iPod and an idea has put together a playlist of favorite cover songs; we here at Roadrunner have saved you the time and effort of making one for our stable of artists by doing the work for you. Here, in chronological order, are Roadrunner’s wildest cover songs: enjoy our bands slipping into someone else’s clothes.

Wanna listen as you read? Check these tracks out on Spotify!

Sepultura, Motörhead’s “Orgasmatron”, 1991
Now a stone classic, “Orgasmatron” was only six years old when Max Cavalera picked it as the only cover on Sepultura's Arise. But he knew a perfect fit when he heard one: the band maintains the original’s punishing strut, while Max’s vocals replace Lemmy’s cruel snarl with a cutting, martial bark.

Type O Negative, Seals & Crofts’ “Summer Breeze”, 1993
Cover songs—both deranged and sincere—were part of the Type O Negative experience, both live and on record. This swirling, gothed-up version of Seals & Crofts' mellow soft-rock staple from 1972, with front man Peter Steele laying on his thickest undead croon, might be the best of the lot.

Fear Factory, Gary Numan’s “Cars”, 1998
Entering the realms of the truly odd, we find Fear Factory taking a stab at Gary Numan’s New Wave synth-pop classic (as a bonus track on Obsolete)—and somehow roping Numan into participating as well. Odder still is how faithful it is to the original. Oddest of all? It works.

Coal Chamber, Peter Gabriel’s “Shock the Monkey”, 1999
Coal Chamber didn’t share much with art-rock pioneer Peter Gabriel besides a morbid sense of theatricality, but with “Shock the Monkey”, they had a ringer on their hands. Still, they took no chances: they brought in Ozzy Osbourne to handle backing vocals, and the result was their mainstream breakthrough.

Opeth, Deep Purple’s “Soldier of Fortune”, 2005
Given Mikael Åkerfeldt’s idolization of Deep Purple, you might think the only problem with this cover (from the deluxe edition of Opeth's Ghost Reveries) is that it might be too on the nose. But it avoids that pitfall, remaining a faithful cover while adding a new element: Åkerfeldt’s unexpectedly soulful vocals. Indeed, this cover is a strong signpost pointing to the '70s-influenced prog direction the band explored on their latest album, Heritage.

Trivium, Metallica’s “Master of Puppets”, 2006
When Kerrang! asked eight bands to cover a song from Metallica’s Master of Puppets album for its 20th anniversary, Trivium got the best—and hardest—of the lot. They acquitted themselves honorably, with Matt Heafy’s already Hetfield-esque vocals complemented by sharper, rougher guitars that make the song even more sinister.

Stone Sour, Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game”, 2006
Here’s a real curiosity: Corey Taylor takes on Chris Isaak’s smooth, sexed-up ballad of regret and desire, in an all-acoustic arrangement. In a bonus track for Stone Sour’s Come What(ever) May, Taylor manages to strip the song to its barest bones, but loses none of the intensity he’s known for.

Killswitch Engage, Dio’s “Holy Diver”, 2006
Taking on a legendary song requires stones big enough to seal a tomb, and metal songs don’t come much more legendary than “Holy Diver”. Whatever else you can say about Killswitch Engage, though, they never lack for brass, and they throw themselves into the deathless Dio classic with total commitment.

Megadeth, Led Zeppelin’s “Out on the Tiles”, 2007
On Megadeth's terrific United Abominations album, Dave Mustaine accessed his bluesier side by covering a heavy deep cut from Led Zeppelin III. The tremendously filthy guitar playing (including a "Kashmir" outro!) transforms the song into almost a Megadeth original. (Note: This song is not currently on Spotify, but we're working on it.)

3 Inches of Blood, Lucifer’s Friend’s “In the Time of Job When Mammon Was a Yippie”, 2007
In addition to having the greatest title, this cut from the Trial of Champions EP may just be the most fun cover song on this list. Reworking a song by the nearly-forgotten German prog-metal outfit Lucifer’s Friend, 3 Inches of Blood goes absolutely gonzo, and the result is a cover impossible not to love.

Dream Theater, King Crimson’s “Lark’s Tongues in Aspic Part II”, 2009
Speaking of prog... Cover songs are fundamental to the Dream Theater live experience; the band is never afraid to break out a cover, be it goofy or ambitious. The special edition of Black Clouds & Silver Linings came with an entire EP of covers, including this go-for-broke version of a daunting prog masterpiece.

DevilDriver, Iron Maiden’s “Wasted Years”, 2009
DevilDriver normally doesn’t traffic in cover songs, so it’s all the more surprising that they took on a band as iconic as Iron Maiden for another Kerrang! compilation. It’s somewhat jarring, given the two bands' radically different guitar and vocal styles, but in the end, it’s a solid modernization of a great original.

Machine Head, Judas Priest’s “The Sentinel”, 2011
Covering Judas Priest is the metal equivalent of running a marathon: you better be in good shape before you even try it. After training for almost two decades, Machine Head was finally ready, releasing a razor-sharp cover of this monster-of-the-week deep cut as a bonus track on Unto the Locust.

Want to hear these covers for yourself? Check 'em out on Spotify!

Megadeth's Dave Mustaine Talks Cold Weather, Gigantour

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:17:00 GMT

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine was interviewed by the Kingston Whig Standard, a Canadian newspaper, in anticipation of the kickoff of the 2012 Gigantour, which features Motorhead, Volbeat and Lacuna Coil. (Click here to find a show near you.)

"I think our management and agents want to kill us, that's why they booked us in Canada in February," says Mustaine. "I am sure (Canadian drummer Shawn) Drover is going to be ready. But seriously, it's not so much about any potential inconvenience of discomfort because of the weather, because we're going to be travelling in a nice warm bus. We're coming there to entertain people and to help them feel good. It's just the right thing to do, to not let the elements intimidate you, especially if you're a metal band."

Says Mustaine about the 2012 Gigantour lineup, "I like the way this format makes people feel, because when you go to a festival, and there are several bands, it's got a really great vibe. You go home feeling a certain way. And let's face facts, the entertainment value of concerts these days is pretty low. When I go to a concert, I want to see some activity. I want to see some movement. I want to see some showbiz, you know what I mean?"

Read the whole thing!

Megadeth's latest studio album, TH1RT3EN, is available now; click here to get it!

Ever Met A Roadrunner Artist Somewhere Really Boring And Ordinary?

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:18:00 GMT

There's a hilarious new website collecting stories of what they call "Rock and Roll Tedium" - people's encounters with rock stars at the grocery store, on the train, or other everyday places. Here are a few examples:

I MADE GEDDY LEE FROM RUSH A CUP OF COFFEE
When I lived in Toronto I worked in a cafe when one day Geddy Lee walked in and ordered a latte. I asked him if he was in a ‘rush’ and wanted it to go. He was not amused.

I MET KERRY KING FROM SLAYER ON THE R TRAIN
I was getting on the R train on 57th and 7th in midtown, when Kerry King got out of the train with some chick. I went “Kerry King!” and he went “Hey man!” and we both just walked away.

I WENT TO B&Q WITH STEVE HARRIS
The Iron Maiden founder and bass player wanted better broadband so I was sent to realign his satellite dish for our service. The dish needed to be moved onto a different wall so I needed some wall fixing bolts and Steve took me to the local B&Q. He’s a nice man who makes a very nice cup of tea too.

[Note: B&Q is the English equivalent to Home Depot.]

I NODDED AT LEMMY
I went to the local club notable for hiring heavy metal acts after work with my workmates. I was standing near the stage with a beer in my hand when I felt, more than saw, a shadow fall near me. I looked to my left, and then up, and there was Lemmy from Motorhead. “How’s it going?”, he said. I responded in some typical cool, guys-nodding-to-each-other manner and went back to watching the band.

We think this site needs some stories about Roadrunner acts! So how about it? Have you ever shared an elevator with Matt Heafy of Trivium? Sat near Robb Flynn of Machine Head in a diner? Stood behind Dave Mustaine of Megadeth on line for a movie? Head to rockandrolltedium.tumblr.com and share your (not all that) thrilling story!

Megadeth Scores Big On PowerlineMag.com's Best Of 2011 List!

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:15:00 GMT

Megadeth was honored in a major way by the editors of the hard rock and metal site Powerlinemag.com on their "Best of 2011" list - not only was the band labeled "Metal Artist of the Year, but "Deadly Nightshade," from their latest CD, TH1RT3EN, won Metal Song of the Year, and the deluxe version of their 1986 classic Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? won Best Metal Reissue.

Explaining their decision, the editors wrote, "Dave Mustaine plays in pain at The Big Four gigs (with Anthrax, Slayer and Metallica), gets neck surgery and then releases one of the band’s best albums in years (with bassist Dave Ellefson back in the fold). A great outcome to 2011. Now the band is about to deliver its Gigantour to conquer 2012."

Gigantour - with Megadeth supported by Motörhead, Volbeat and Lacuna Coil - launches on January 26. Visit our tour page to find a show near you!

Megadeth's latest CD, TH1RT3EN, is available now - click here to get it!

Play Battlefield 3 With Megadeth's Dave Mustaine And Korn's Jonathan Davis This Weekend!

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:33:00 GMT

EA is presenting a very special online gaming event this weekend: the Battlefield 3 Metal Vs. Hip Hop Challenge!

MATCHUP NO. 1
Representing Team Metal: Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine
vs.
Representing Team Hip Hop: Big Boi
Time: 10AM-12PM PST, January 7, 2012
Weapon of choice: Battlefield 3, Xbox 360
Map and mode: Strike at Karkand, Conquest Assault

MATCHUP NO. 2
Representing Team Metal: Korn’s Jonathan Davis
vs.
Representing Team Hip Hop: Mickey Factz
Time: 10AM-12PM PST, January 8, 2012
Weapon of choice: Battlefield 3, PlayStation® 3
Map and mode: Strike at Karkand, Conquest Assault

In order to participate, you've got to become a fan of the Platoon of your choice on Battlelog. Click the links below to go directly to the Platoon of your choice to fan it and pledge your allegiance:

Dave Mustaine’s (Megadeth) Metal Platoon
Jonathan Davis’ (Korn) Metal Platoon

Megadeth Wins Metal Album Of The Year And Metal Song Of The Year On Loudwire.com

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 07:28:00 GMT

Megadeth won Metal Album of the Year for TH1RT3EN and Metal Song of the Year for "Public Enemy No. 1" in the 2011 Loudwire Awards. The poll was open for a month, and they claimed over 40% of the total vote in each category.

The band will be kicking off Gigantour on January 26, with support from Motorhead, Volbeat and Lacuna Coil. Head over to our tour page to find a show near you!

Megadeth's Chris Broderick Talks Guitar Retreat, TH1RT3EN & More

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Megadeth guitarist Chris Broderick was recently interviewed by ArtistDirect.com. He spent the week between Christmas and New Year's tutoring fellow players, alongside Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick, at the first annual Skolnick & Broderick's Winter Guitar Retreat in upstate New York, and he talks about that, as well as Megadeth's most recent album TH1RT3EN and more.

Broderick is a guitar teacher in what little time he has between Megadeth tours; he says, "When they get a new idea or technique down, you can tell they want to take it home and own it. Then they woodshed and utilize the information. That's by far the most rewarding thing about teaching. I realize that everybody's an individual, and their strengths and weaknesses are who they are. As a teacher, I'm always trying to identify those things as well as their learning traits. I try not to overwhelm the student at first. I try to ease them into it."

Regarding the band's latest album, he reveals that there was no unified vision when they first entered the studio; he says, "We had talked about what we wanted it to do in terms of live performance. We were thinking ahead about how we want these songs to come across when we play them out. That was really it. Once you sit down and start writing, the songs take their own course. Sometimes, you can't deny the way a song wants to go and it almost develops itself. Once you're in the studio, that's what tends to happen."

Read the whole thing!

Megadeth's Dave Mustaine Talks About Playing With Metallica

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:03:00 GMT

Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine made an appearance at the fourth and final Metallica 30th anniversary concert at San Francisco's Fillmore on Saturday, December 10, playing five of the band's earliest songs with them. Three days later, he was interviewed by Powerline, and talked about the experience.

"I had some mood swings," says Mustaine. "There was some ups and downs and stuff. And, you know, got excited, and kind of got impatient, ‘Let’s go. I’m okay. Well, lets go!’ and this kind of thing and that’s just the artist in me. I’m just squirrely like that."

He continues, "'Jump in the Fire' was the first song I brought those guys. And 'Phantom Lord' and 'Metal Militia' were songs that I brought to them, too, and the only other song was 'Mechanix' which later changed to 'Four Horsemen.' And the rest of those songs were written by James (Hetfield) or by Hugh Tanner or Lloyd Grant and that’s why those guys were there...I was locked into Lars’ playing and James’ playing. Me and James, we were like the the Toxic Twins back when we played together and we were a very very dangerous duo. And for a moment I think I stirred some of those old feelings up. I saw one of the videos and it looked like he was having fun. I know I was having fun. I had a smile that I went to bed with."

The wide-ranging interview also covers the 2012 return of Gigantour, the recording of Megadeth's latest album TH1RT3EN, and more. Read the whole thing at this link.