Mystery Bassist Done Recording Parts on New Megadeth Album
Dave Mustaine has confirmed that the bass parts on Megadeth's forthcoming album are done after the band brought in a new bassist to replace David Ellefson's recordings following his termination earlier this year.
There is still no confirmation on who the studio successor is nor whether or not this person will also be a part of Megadeth's live or permanent lineup. But Mustaine did acknowledge the thrash icons are getting closer to the eventual release of the followup to 2016's Dystopia in a Cameo video message sent to a fan named Tina.
Despite only joining Cameo, a celebrity-based video platform where fans can pay for personalized messages, less than a week ago, Mustaine has already begun to use the popular service to slyly eke out band updates.
In the video response (seen here), Mustaine addresses fans Tina and David, who informed him they will both be in attendance at this summer's co-headlining summer tour with Megadeth and Lamb of God.
The Megadeth frontman later took note of one Dystopia song Tina and David presumably professed to be big fans of and shared some insight regarding the long-awaited new album.
THRASH PLAYLISTS: Follow Loudwire's 'Early Thrash: The Beginning + The '90s' and '21st Century Thrash' playlists to hear the best from Megadeth and a lot more.
"I hear you're a big pretty fan of 'Fatal Illusion' right now. That's cool. Actually, we've got one song on the new album — it's called 'The Dogs Of Chernobyl' — which is very similar to 'Fatal Illusion' in aggression. So I hope you like that song when you get the new record. It won't be long," said Mustaine, who added, "It's a matter of finishing the parts when I get home today and tomorrow. Our bass parts are all done. And it won't be long, so I'm looking forward to seeing you at the meet-and-greet. Until then, take care and stay metal."
In mid-June, three weeks after the band officially parted ways with David Ellefson in the wake of a leak of graphic, sexual videos featuring the longtime Megadeth bassist, Mustaine suggested a "stellar" bass player would soon be entering the studio to record new bass tracks for the yet-to-be-named record.
He did, however, leave it open as to whether this bassist would remain with the band in any capacity, but expressed hope that they had secured their newest member on a long-term basis.
On May 24, Ellefson was formally let go from the group. In weeks prior, videos surfaced showing Ellefson masturbating in an online video conversation and it was alleged that he had groomed this fan prior to the sexual encounter. Ellefson denied these allegations, but did admit it was him in the video and he indeed was engaged in a sexualized video chat with the now 19-year-old fan in question.
Ellefson has since filed "revenge porn" charges in his home state of Arizona and said his lawyers were also preparing to file a defamation lawsuit against the unnamed person who leaked the video clips. A police report later brought new details regarding the situation to light.
Megadeth's co-headlining North American tour with Lamb of God and special guests Trivium and In Flames kicks off on Aug. 20 and the full list of stops can be seen here.