David Ellefson feels the quality of Megadeth has diminished over the last five years

David Ellefson feels the quality of Megadeth has diminished over the last five years

Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson was recently interviewed by Andrew Daly for Metal Edge Mag. It’s been two years now since Ellefson was fired from Megadeth. Back in May 2021, it was revealed that Ellefson had some contacts over social media with a young woman who is currently 19 years old and for a period of about two years. Apparently some private video clips between Ellefson and the young woman were shared publicly by a third party without authorization that have embarrassed Ellefson. Later on that month, Megadeth decided to part ways with Ellefson citing that it was “impossible” to work together moving forward. Megadeth went on to release their critically acclaimed studio album The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! on September 2, 2022 (which was voted to #15 on the Sleaze Roxx Readers’ Top 20 Albums of 2022).

Ellefson was asked by Daly whether he found the way he was treated to be insulting to which he replied: “I think it was unnecessary. And it was undoubtedly done with spite and bitterness, which I did not deserve. Considering all that I’ve done for Megadeth and all that I’ve tolerated over the years, I’d say the whole thing was uncalled for. And it certainly was not what we discussed regarding how the transition would happen. What went down came blindly out of nowhere. So, I basically had the option to take it or retaliate, which I was given free license to do. My team said, “Hey, if you want to go at this guy, go for it. We’ve never seen something so unethical on every level. Do what you need to do.” But I said, “No. I’ll just sit back, let it sort itself out, and let the music do the talking.””

On whether Dave Mustaine is intimidated about Ellefson‘s work with Dieth and Kings of Thrash, the bassist opined: “I do. I also think he hates the idea of me succeeding outside that arena. Because now, I get to be the one who helps create the music, make the decisions, and basically, be in charge. It wasn’t that way in Megadeth, which I think many people know by now. But people love that band because of the music we created together. Those songs will stand forever despite all the stuff that happened behind the scene. So, when all that went down, I just said, “We have a great legacy, but it’s over now. Do you want to have a shootout or let the music speak for itself?” I chose to let the music I make speak for itself. And I think it speaks volumes. I’m pretty convinced that the stuff I’ve put out since leaving Megadeth is as good or better than anything they’ve done.”

Ellefson was also asked whether he thinks Mustaine is taking shots at him and Jeff Young via the media due to this intimidation factor, to which he replied: “It’s 100% why that’s been happening. I’ve watched the quality of Megadeth diminish over the last five years, which was very frustrating. I’d bring ideas to the table and try to help the situation, but those ideas would be either shut down or removed after the fact. It was very aggressive and frustrating to be intentionally diminished or removed from the process. So, I said, “Okay, I see what’s going on here.” An old saying goes, “Kids that don’t share their toys don’t have friends.” So, I just said, “I’ll take my toys and play with someone else.” This is simple shit you learn in kindergarten, but not so much in that band.”

You can read the rest of the interview with David Ellefson via Metal Edge Mag‘s website.

Dieth‘s “To Hell And Back” video:

Megadeth‘s “Soldier On!” visualizer video (from The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! album):