Megadeth mastermind Dave Mustaine is currently making the rounds promoting his band’s forthcoming and final self-titled album, due out January 23rd. Just don’t ask him to hype up anybody else’s recent releases.
In remarks from a new interview with Kerrang!, the pioneering thrash metaller was less than enthusiastic about the state of modern rock and metal music — particularly (what he deems to be) a lack of classic albums that have been made over the past three decades, even by his own band and the other legendary metal act he helped start, Metallica.
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When asked if he’s leaving metal in good hands when Megadeth finally hangs it up, Mustaine took a pessimistic tone.
“How long has it been since you heard an album like Nevermind or Appetite for Destruction or Rust in Peace or Master of Puppets?” he pondered. “You just don’t hear records like that anymore. You get maybe one good song on a record now, and people are so used to skipping tracks. That saddens me, because there are a lot of our songs where, if you listen to them multiple times, you’ll hear there’s a lot more to them.”
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However, Mustaine did add that he feels the upcoming 17th and final album is Megadeth’s best work in decades and a throwback to their formative era.
“We’ve got the best record, I think, that we’ve made in decades,” Mustaine said. “We feel like things did back when it was organic in the beginning, in the days when metal fans used to trade fanzines.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Mustaine said that Megadeth’s farewell tour could last three to five years, meaning that Mustaine will likely wind up the outing around the time he turns 70 years old.
As of now, the band will launch its farewell tour with a Spring 2026 Latin American outing, followed by a European festival run in June, and a month-long stint supporting Iron Maiden’s North American tour beginning in late August. Get tickets here.