David Ellefson Says Megadeth’s Final Album ‘Doesn’t Sound Like Megadeth’

Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has weighed in on the band’s newly released final studio album, offering a blunt take that will probably land like a brick with diehard fans.

The self titled Megadeth album arrived on January 23rd, has already made history, becoming the first Megadeth album to hit number one on the Billboard 200, but according to Ellefson, the sound doesn’t feel like the band he spent decades helping build (per The PRP).

Speaking on the latest episode of ‘The David Ellefson Show’, the longtime Megadeth member (until his exit in 2021) said the album comes across more like a Dave Mustaine solo project than a true Megadeth record.

Ellefson stated:

“I hear it and I go, ‘Okay this is a Dave solo record.’ This is Dave and his new band, Dave and his new guys. It says Megadeth, so obviously it gets all the attention, but realistically I hear it, and to me it just doesn’t sound like Megadeth. And that’s just me, period. You know? It’s like Dave, doing what Dave does, but with a different set of guys in a new day. And this is Dave‘s retirement, you know? So that’s my view on it.”

Ellefson and Mustaine’s relationship has been icy since 2021, when Ellefson was removed from the band following a sex scandal, with both parties exchanging sharp comments publicly in the years since.

He also addressed one of the album’s most talked about moments, Megadeth covering Metallica’s ‘Ride The Lightning’, Mustaine is credited as a co-writer on the original song, which has long been part of the complicated history between Mustaine and his former band.

Ellefson said:

“the funny thing is [Mustaine] was mad at Kirk Hammett [Metallica guitarist] for playing his [Mustaine‘s] solos and now here’s Dave playing Kirk‘s solo, unless that’s Teemu.”

In the episode, Ellefson also revisited early memories of hearing Metallica’s ‘Ride The Lightning’, claiming Mustaine reacted strongly to riffs he believed were originally his.

Ellefson added:

“They f*cking stole my riff.’ That’ dah-dah-dah-du-dah-dah-dah’ right? Because we had that.”

Megadeth may have finally taken the top spot on the charts, but the old Metallica shadow is clearly still hanging around.

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