During an interview with Ibagenscast, Megadeth vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine addressed his past “feud” with Metallica. According to him, he “put that to sleep so many years ago.”
Mustaine said the following while discussing Megadeth’s decision to cover “Ride The Lightning “:
“I’ve got a really good explanation for you. That was one of the songs that I wrote with [METALLICA frontman] James [Hetfield], and just like the other songs that I wrote, something happened when I left. Parts were changed, credits were assigned to other people, and I thought of all the songs, ‘Ride The Lightning’ showcased my guitar talents the best: the spider chord that I invented, the grunting chords. Those were things that bands weren’t doing. And it happens in ‘Ride The Lightning’.
I’ve always thought that James was an excellent guitar player, so when we set out to do the song, we figured we needed to do it as good or better than the original. And we figured, how are we gonna do that? METALLICA’s an amazing group. So we sped it up just a little bit, made it a little bit more frantic, and then we kind of spiced up the solo a little bit. And then, at the end, there’s some drum fills that the METALLICA guys had played, and I told [MEGADETH drummer] Dirk [Verbeuren], I said, ‘Have fun there. Just have fun.’ So he did a drum fill at the end in the four spots that there’s drum fills. And I think that they’re really stunning drum fills. They may be similar to the original stuff, but I’m not sure how similar. And he recorded his parts, and I love it.”
He later added:
“And going back to why we did that song — it’s kind of closing the circle, paying my respects to the band that I was a founding member in. And love me or hate me, they’ll never be able to erase me. And I think that when people can look with acceptance and fondness of the two bands and not try and keep something that I don’t wanna keep going. I don’t wanna have a feud. I’ve put that to sleep so many years ago. So, yeah, I wanted to do something that was — just show some respect, ’cause it doesn’t matter to me if he cares, if he likes it; it matters what I do and that I show respect and close the circle.”
[via Blabbermouth]
More bands have been added to the 2026 Northwest Hardcore Fest. The event will take place at The Off Beat in Portland, OR on August 1-2 and it will now feature: All Out War, Balmora, Dead Heat, Point Of Contact, Scalp, Doomsday, Firestarter, Witness Chamber, Barrio Slam, xSERAPHx, GAG, Empty Shell Casing, Forced To Suffer, Guilt, Lockslip, Under Negative Intent, Dance, Iron Front, The Flail, Staple, Sewn Shut, In 2 Again, Cherub Chains, Reflex, xfortunex, Sacrament, Rise Up, Anubi, and As The Life Leaves Your Eyes. Tickets can be found HERE.
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