Thrash metal legends Megadeth are back in the studio, actively working on the follow-up to their 2022 album, “The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!”
Bassist James LoMenzo confirmed the news in an interview with Portugal’s ‘Metal Global.’ “We’re actively working on music right now,” LoMenzo stated. “We’re talking with Dave [Mustaine, Megadeth’s singer/guitarist] every day. Dave really wants to do another record and just get something fresh out there.”
LoMenzo joined Megadeth after the recording of their previous album, where session player Steve Di Giorgio filled in for the bass parts. Di Giorgio stepped in following the departure of David Ellefson, who was dismissed amid a sex scandal.
Reflecting on his non-participation in the last album, LoMenzo said, “The last one I thought was great. When I had just joined the band, they had just finished recording it. I begged, I pleaded, I said, ‘I know, I know, I know, but could I please play bass on this?’ ’Cause there were a few things I had heard that were so great. And they were, like, ‘We’ve been doing this for two years. We just have to get on the road. It’s done.’ I was, like, ‘All right.’ But Steve Di Giorgio did an amazing job. I really love the way he played on this, and I enjoy playing his style.”
Mustaine, who was undergoing treatment for throat cancer in 2019, continued to work on the album despite his health challenges. He discussed the difficulties of dealing with “chemo brain” in a 2022 interview with Total Guitar. “I think it did [distract me], to a degree,” Mustaine admitted. “The toughest part wasn’t the process of going through all the radiation and chemotherapy. A lot of the cancer medication they gave me messed with my memory really bad. They call it chemo brain, so I’ve been having a hard time staying in the moment, but it’s getting better.”
Despite his health struggles, Mustaine remains committed to his music career and has no plans to retire. “When I got sick I had been talking a lot about playing out a little less,” he said. “Now, if anything, I want to tour more and just carry on until the end when I actually can’t do it anymore. I’m not talking about the time when I don’t want to do it anymore. I mean when it’s not possible for me to do. When I can’t do it, that’s when I’m not gonna want to do it.”
Megadeth fans can look forward to more fresh music as the band works diligently on their next studio album.
