The members of the band Megadeth-Courtesy: www.megadeth.com

The last time American thrash metal giants Megadeth visited these shores (with Machine Head), the idea of international metal artistes touring India was still a little alien. Sure, international performers had toured India, but very few of them were members of that heavier, louder, brasher spectrum of music.

Now, four years on, Megadeth is set to return to India, which has grown exponentially as a viable tour date (or set of tour dates) on the calendar of many an international metal act including but not limited to Slayer, Lamb of God and Korn. The band will be headlining the Delhi NCR instalment of the Bacardi NH7 Weekender on October 14. There’s another major difference. Original bassist and the band’s co-founder Dave Ellefson is back in the fold — or has been since 2010 — replacing James LoMenzo, who performed in Bengaluru in 2008.
“The rest of the band told me the crowd was amazing, the accommodations were very comfortable and it was a terrific experience last time,” says the four-stringer, who had left the band in 2002, ahead of his first trip to the country, and adds, “I’m looking forward to experiencing Indian culture. There are probably some myths about it where I live in the US, so it will be great to experience it for myself.”
Since the band’s last visit to India, the Megadeth stock has risen exponentially, both in terms of creative output (putting out two of the best albums of the band’s career), as well as the band’s “stature” (for want of a better word) that has seen it play some of the biggest shows in its career. Not least of these were the Big 4 shows in the august company of Slayer, Anthrax and of course, the band’s long time bête noire Metallica. The gigs were designed to showcase the four most influential (arguably) thrash metal bands. While acknowledging that most of the rivalry between the Metallica and Megadeth camps “wasn’t even real but rather the media, and even fans, feeling like they had to decide one band over the other”, Ellefson says, “I agree that the Big 4 was a public reconciliation. I think it is now safe to say that you can be both a Megadeth and a Metallica fan, because our bands are quite different from each other.”
He goes on to add, “To me, the Big 4 shows really showed our growth and maturity as bands, musicians, song writers and as gentlemen.” And it’s in the song writing department that Megadeth really scores big points these days, with its last two releases — Endgame and TH1RT3EN — gaining rave reviews from critics and fans alike. It’s interesting to note that aside from Megadeth, only one other band from the Big 4 has truly blown critics and fans away with its latest release — Anthrax with the 2011 release Worship Music. Additionally, as of October 20 (when Slayer will take the stage in Bengaluru), this will be the only member of the Big 4 to not have performed on Indian soil.
According to Ellefson, the renaissance, if you will, of both bands can be linked to similar factors. “Anthrax made a really strong album and we have done the same,” he says and continues, “I think both of our bands reignited a passion for our music and that is fuelled by our fans. So, I think the fans get most of the credit for giving us the creative fire, which ins-pired such strong albums from us recently.” Of course, it’s not just the fans; guitarist Chris Broderick must be accredited with major kudos for the way he and frontman Dave Must-aine have gelled together over the last two extraordinary releases.
Keeping in mind that Ellefson had been away for eight years, returning to the fold was always going to be a little out of the ordinary. This is especially so given the fractious history between the two Daves that founded Megadeth. But it’s safe to say that right now, the Megadeth camp is happier than it’s been for a while. “It has been a lot of fun these days and we are enjoying the success from seeds Dave and I planted so many years ago. Megadeth is lucky to be able to release new material, but also to have so many fans endeared to our past work from 20 and 25 years ago,” says Ellefson, somewhat diplomatically, masking any possible lingering resentment as he adds, “It is the ideal scenario.”
It’s worth noting that before Ellefson returned to this ideal scenario, he spent eight years collaborating with all sorts of bands and artistes ranging from Soulfly and Ministry to Tim “Ripper” Owens of Judas Priest, Iced Earth and Dio Disciples fame. And a break from Megadeth gave him the space and time to spread his creative wings. The versatile bassist
says, “That was a season of
my life where I was able to step outside of just the thrash metal genre and allow myself some creative room to work with many varied artistes. The truth is, I’m a very well rounded musician and bassist, so those projects were fun for me to do at that time,” says Ellefson and adds, “In a lot of ways, those experiences helped me become a better bassist upon my return back to Megadeth, which I think you can hear on the TH1RT3EN album.”
In his time away from the band, the bass player came across very little musically that he truly enjoyed. He elaborates, “I like Lamb Of God as the ones carrying the banner for really heavy music. My only complaint about metal from 2002 to 2009 was that it was all just metalcore and didn’t have much melody to it. I understand the aggression, but without melody songs really don’t have much staying power. I’m glad to see that has evolved since those times.” And evolution of sound is something with which the Delhi NCR audiences will come face-to-face in 10 days, as the back catalogue of Megadeth is unfurled and aired out for exhibition.
Aside from the battery of tracks like Public Enemy No. 1, Sudden Death and Whose Life (Is it Anyways?), this correspondent tried to find out what else the Delhi NCR crowd can look forward to on the setlist, considering the band is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Countdown to Extinction record with a special tour in its honour.
Unfortunately, this will be Megadeth’s only show in India and there’s been fewer better opportunities to catch the thrash metal act live, so don’t miss it. Before he signs off, Ellefson has one last thing to say, “We are preparing a new studio album in the coming months and that will most likely trigger another world tour.” Consider yourself warned.

Megadeth plays the Black Rock Arena stage at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender in Delhi NCR on October 14.