Megadeth have resumed work on their next “crushing” LP

Megadeth have resumed work on their follow up to 2016’s Dystopia, after pausing due to frontman Dave Mustaine’s diagnosis with throat cancer.

Mustaine, speaking to Rolling Stone, said that nine “really crushing” tracks had been written for the album, with scratch drum tracks complete – only needing to be captured in full in the studio. He also confirmed that some ”early offerings” will be released ahead of the band’s winter tour, but the exact number fans will hear before the band hit the road hasn’t been confirmed, with Mustaine saying that “it might be two, it might be four.”

While a sizeable chunk of progress may have been made on the record, Mustaine noted that the band still had their work cut out for them. Their label wants 11 core tracks, and various distribution channels want bonus tracks: “You need another track for Japan and another track for Best Buy, and another track for Apple, and another track for Spotify, and it’s like, fuck, when does it stop?”

Megadeth’s tour begins 20 January next year, with Mustaine excited to get back on the road, saying: “I can’t wait to fire up my guitars.” What guitars he will be using remains to be seen, as Mustaine offloaded a lot of his personal instruments for sale on his Reverb shop – most of which were snapped up by a single buyer, a UK recording studio co-owner.

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