Metal pioneers: Thrash icons Megadeth brings its 'Destroy All Enemies Tour' to ABQ

Life is good for Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine.

“I’m pretty happy with the way things are going in life,” he said. “Been married for a long time, got great kids, got a really cool job, got a great band, love my management. My career is wide open right now.”

Mustaine said after finishing the album “The Sick, the Dying ... and the Dead!” that was released in 2022 the band became a free agent after completing its record/publishing deal with Universal Music Group.

“We became free agents at that time,” Mustaine said of his band Megadeth. “So if you can imagine us at that moment, as successful as we are, as big as we’re perceived by the world, to go out and get a new lease on life is pretty exciting.”

Mustaine said the band is liking not having a label to answer to. However, emphasized the band had a great relationship with UMG and that the label was very supportive of the band. It was not always the case with other labels.

“There were some other labels we were with over the years that were just a little bit less creative and didn’t really have a lot of skills to go to take us to where we wanted to go,” he explained.

Becoming a free agent did not mean the band was ready to run to another label.

“When we turned the record in, there was a period that we had to wait until it was clear, and then we were able to go to wherever we wanted to go to,” Mustaine said. “But, I haven’t felt the need to go anywhere. I love my relationship with Universal right now, and when the time comes that we need to start a new record, we’ll obviously cross that bridge when we get there and decide, do we want to stay with Universal? Do we want to go someplace else? So we’re sitting in a really great position right now.”

Mustaine started Megadeth in 1983 after parting ways with Metallica. Megadeth is referred to as one of the “big four” of American thrash metal bands, along with Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer.

“It’s obviously flattering,” Mustaine said, of being recognized as a pioneer of thrash metal music. “I’m not sure that I’m worthy of some of these accolades, but I’ll take them.”

Being in the industry so long has allowed Mustaine to introduce Megadeth and thrash metal to new generations. Megadeth brings its “Destroy All Enemies Tour” with Mudvayne and All That Remains to Isleta Amphitheater, 5601 University Blvd. SE, on Monday, Aug. 5.

“That’s always fun,” he said. “You look in the audience and you see the different groups of people hanging out together. That’s always fun. But, I think it’s been like that from the beginning with us having different fans in the audience.

“I remember playing back in ’80s, back in Long Beach (California) at a place called the Handlebar Saloon. There were a bunch of punkers at our show. And, it wasn’t so much that punk rockers showing up at our show was not normal. It’s just that there was a lot of punks that were there, which was really great, and we kind of made that crossover. I was a big punk fan in the beginning myself. I still am. I still dig punk rock a lot.”

Mustaine said his punk influences include the Dead Kennedys, Sex Pistols, Fear, 999, The Exploited, Dead Boys and The Clash.

“The Ramones were kind of a popular punk band too, but I just was not a super Ramones punk,” he said. “And it was weird, one time I had heard this comparison between me and my old band (Metallica) to the Clash and the Ramones. They had said The Clash is to the Ramones as Megadeth is to Metallica. And I thought that’s kind of a cool thing.”

Following the release of “The Sick, the Dying ... and the Dead!” Mustaine predicted a renaissance of metal.

“I was joking around because I didn’t want to say anything that precocious, but I really do believe that metal’s on its way back up in a very strong and bold way right now where it’s going to be going back up the charts,” he said. “I believe that. I believe that when there’s (stuff) going on in the world, in the government, in politics, in the military, like what’s going on right now, people of the world can’t help but to want to fight. And metal music is music that’s the soundtrack of fighting for a lot of people.”