MEGADETH’s DAVE MUSTAINE Has No Interest In Making A Concept Album: ‘I Think It’s A Little Limiting’

In a recent interview with Heavy Consequence, Dave Mustaine of MEGADETH, which has released a multi-part short film about the origins of the group’s mascot Vic Rattlehead, was asked if he has any desire to make a concept album in the future. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “No. I’ve never been interested in doing concept records. I think it’s a little limiting. And to take an idea and to beat the shit out of it and make 10, 12 songs out of it — I’ve got way more to write.”

Dave continued: “When you have so much music to write, why have so much music and not lyric to balance that out? If you truly are a songwriter, you should be able to do both. A lot of people here, even today, are musicians only; they’re not songwriters. And some of the people that are songwriters in bands aren’t songwriters. So, it’s always a treat to be able to see people that are masters at their craft.”

MEGADETH played its first concert with new guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari on September 6 at Revel in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The 36-year-old Mäntysaari was born in Tampere, Finland and began playing guitar at the age of 12. In 2004, he joined the band WINTERSUN. He has also been a member of SMACKBOUND since 2015.

Mäntysaari stepped into MEGADETH as the replacement for the band’s longtime axeman Kiko Loureiro, who announced in September that he would sit out the next leg of MEGADETH‘s “Crush The World” tour in order to stay home with his children back in Finland.

Loureiro officially joined MEGADETH in April 2015, about five months after Chris Broderick‘s exit from the group.

In addition to Mustaine and Mäntysaari, MEGADETH‘s current lineup includes former SOILWORK drummer Dirk Verbeuren and bassist James LoMenzo.

In September 2022, MEGADETH‘s latest album, “The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!”, debuted at the top of the charts during its first week of sales, taking the No. 3 spot on the Billboard 200 as well as number ones on Top Album Sales, Top Current Albums Sales, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Hard Rock Albums. “The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!” was the highest-charting MEGADETH album of all time around the world, notching No. 1 In Finland, No. 2 in australia, poland, Switzerland, and Scotland, No. 3 in the U.K., and more.

MEGADETH‘s previous top 10 entries on the Billboard 200 were “Countdown to Extinction” (No. 2, 1992),“Youthanasia” (No. 4, 1994),“Cryptic Writings” (No. 10, 1997),“United Abominations” (No. 8, 2007),“Endgame” (No. 9, 2009),“Super Collider” (No. 6, 2013) and “Dystopia” (No. 3, 2016).

MEGADETH received its thirteenth Grammy nomination for “Best Metal Performance” for the song “We’ll Be Back” from “The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!”.

MEGADETH won the 2017 Grammy Award for “Best Metal Performance” for the title track of the band’s 2016 album “Dystopia”. This marked the group’s twelfth Grammy nomination in this category (including nominations in the discontinued “Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance” category).

Photo courtesy of Gibson