Dave Mustaine on new Megadeth album

Dave Mustaine has revealed the anticipated release date of Megadeth’s latest album ‘The Sick, the Dying and the Dead!’. The album has been pushed back multiple times but Mustaine has given the hopeful release date of 8th July 2022.

In an interview with Loudwire Mustaine said “I think it’s July 8th. I think that was the latest we heard for a release date. I’m sure it could be scooted forward a little bit. I think that would actually be worse than if it stayed where it was at.” He adds “We need every little bit of time to let people get everything all set up with all this COVID shit. It’s been really difficult to ship anything, let alone records.”

In regards to the return of bassist James LoMenzo and the musical direction of the band, Mustaine said “I like to push things as far as I can right because of the — not only the ability but the excitement level that Dirk [Verbeuren, drums] and Kiko [Loureiro, guitar] have with their playing ability right now. Our guest bassist that we had [on the new album] he was a fantastic player. And having James be part of the band again… I remember there were so many, many wonderful nights playing with him. So when the situation kind of revealed itself that we needed to make a change. James was pretty much the obvious choice.”

Megadeth Merchandise

James Lomenzo played his first show back with Megadeth in 2021. It was twelve years before that he played his last show with them. The gig took place three months after Ellefson was kicked out of Megadeth due to allegations.

In an interview with Melodic.net James speaks about how he adjusted into playing with Megadeth again “Well, I’m really having the best time. Dave’s [Mustaine] been really welcoming and supportive, and the band as a whole is just fantastic. It’s a real powerhouse. Dirk is a dream drummer for this type of music, and Kiko‘s just so musically deep. Dave’s playing as good or better than ever. Now that he’s on those Gibson guitars, his sound is so much more gut punching then I remember it.”

Regarding how he ended up returning to Megadeth, James said: “Dave’s management reached out at first to see if I’d even be available. Which I really wasn’t, but after a call with Dave, I realised how important it for Megadeth and even for myself this would be. Time was ticking, so I knew it would be a crunch, but having been here once before the re-learning curve was a tad less steep. I made some arrangements with the Fogerty camp, and they were gracious enough to allow me a leave to do this.”