MEGADETH frontman Dave Mustaine has once again addressed his decades-long feud with METALLICA — the band he co-founded in 1983 before his abrupt dismissal — insisting the bad blood is ancient history. "I put that to sleep so many years ago," Mustaine told Brazil's Ibagenscast.
The statement comes as MEGADETH's farewell tour reaches South America, where the band has been debuting "Ride The Lightning" live — the METALLICA title track Mustaine co-wrote alongside James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and the late Cliff Burton. MEGADETH performed it for the first and second time on April 26-27 at Movistar Arena in Bogota, Colombia.
Mustaine explained placing the song on MEGADETH's final studio album as a deliberate full-circle gesture. "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," he said. "And love me or hate me, they'll never be able to erase me."
He struck a conciliatory tone overall: "When people can look with acceptance and fondness at the two bands and what those people have done in the world of music, that's where real peace is."
MEGADETH sped up the song slightly and gave it the full heavy metal treatment to stand alongside the METALLICA original — a bold move that has divided fans but undeniably made headlines. The South American farewell leg continues through May, winding down what has been a defining 40-year career in thrash metal.