The thing about Dave Mustaine is he’s always had one eye on the cosmos and the other on whoever’s about to catch an elbow in the pit.
“Some of these security guards, they act like it’s their show,” he says, barely hiding a growl. “And I’m like, ‘No, no. If I want someone on someone’s shoulders, I’ll let you know. I’m doing an Angus Young impression up here.’” He chuckles, but it’s the kind of laugh that feels like it’s sharpening something.
Now 40 years into leading Megadeth, Mustaine isn’t just surviving the thrash wars—he’s touring like it’s 1987 and releasing music like he’s got something to prove. Which, of course, he does. Always has. But he’s also reflective, playful even, in a way that seems to come with time—or maybe space.
The latest tour, dubbed Destroy All Enemies, slams into arenas this fall with Mudvayne and All That Remains. It’s the kind of name that promises flamethrowers, circle pits, and the complete opposite of a seated acoustic set. More importantly, it’s not just “The [Insert Album Name Here] Tour,” a trend Mustaine clearly despises.
“I think it might be so we know what bus to get in at the truck stops,” he jokes. “You’d be surprised how many people don’t name their tours anymore. It’s like, how do you even find your merch booth?”
This leg—because yes, this is a new leg, not just a continuation—will feature deeper cuts, more setlist shakeups, and fewer visuals. Mustaine explains that dropping the video components has been freeing. “We didn’t really have any reasons we weren’t changing the setlist before—other than someone didn’t want to, or couldn’t,” he says. “Like me with my voice, or we were stuck with syncing stuff to video.”
Without the shackles of projection screens, the band’s ready to throw in songs like “Kick the Chair” and whatever else strikes them that night. “The System Has Failed” turns 20 this year, but that’s not the reason for the resurrection. “It just had a heavy riff,” he shrugs. “No real reason. We just talk about adding stuff all the time.”
New blood helps. Guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari joined the band recently, and Mustaine lights up talking about him. “He’s got this greenness to him, if that’s the word,” he says. “It makes it fun again."
Teemu is also a purist, at least for now. “He plays everything identical to the original players,” Mustaine says. “He’s one of the best at stepping in and doing someone else’s stuff. But I don’t know what his stuff sounds like yet. I’m looking forward to that.”
So, no, they haven’t started writing the next record yet. Not exactly. “We’ve been dissecting songs, which is kind of like writing in reverse,” Mustaine says.
Which brings us back to The Sick, The Dying… and The Dead!—Megadeth’s most recent slab of rage, riffs, and yes, pop hooks. If that phrase sounds like heresy in a metal context, Mustaine doesn’t care. “Heavy metal doesn’t have to be all grunting and winking,” he says. “You gotta be open to a good chorus.”
This isn’t new for him. Even back in ’97, “Trust” wrapped a catchy melody around a brick wall of guitars. And newer tracks like “Delivering the Goods” follow suit—melodic, crunchy, almost dangerous in their accessibility. “That one’s heavy and catchy, which is not always easy,” Mustaine nods. “You gotta work hard to be timely and timeless.”
He brings up “Mission to Mars,” another standout from the new record. It’s campy, weird, dramatic—and weirdly prophetic. “We’d heard Elon Musk was sending his car up into space, and that got me really interested,” Mustaine says. “In fact, we’ve got something we’re announcing soon that has to do with that car… and space travel.”
Hold up. Is Megadeth going to space?
“We’re not gonna be the first band to play up there,” he says. “That’s not what I’m looking at. But it’s neat to be involved in songs that predict the future.” The child who signed up for astronomy and oceanography summer school is still alive and riffing. “I guess I always wanted to be in another world. Underwater, outer space… anywhere but here.”
That wanderlust makes the band’s final track on the deluxe edition feel oddly perfect: a cover of Sammy Hagar’s 1979 scorcher “This Planet’s On Fire.” It’s loud, it’s loaded, and it features Hagar himself, who recorded his vocals and guitar separately from Mustaine, then promptly told him to toss the guitar part. “He said, ‘Don’t use mine, you guys are smoking,’” Mustaine grins. “I was honored. Sammy’s a great guitar player, even if people don’t talk about it enough.”
But the connection goes back even further. “That was a cover I did with Panic,” Mustaine reveals, name-dropping his pre-Metallica band. “I played that song back in ’76 when it came out. A lot of the early stuff I brought to Metallica started in that band.”
So it wasn’t just nostalgia or climate commentary—it was muscle memory.
Whatever Megadeth does next, don’t expect it to be dull. Don’t expect it to be predictable. And definitely don’t expect it to skip the hook.
“I’ve always looked to the stars,” Mustaine says. “And the stars are still looking pretty good to me.”
Watch the interview above and then check out the video below.
