Megadeth

Megadeth biography

Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums. A pioneer of the American thrash metal movement, Megadeth rose to international fame in the 1980s and was ranked as one of the "Big Four of Thrash" along with Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax, who were responsible for creating, developing and popularizing the thrash metal sub-genre.

Over the band's 28 active years, over 20 different people have officially performed as part of the group, with Mustaine being the only constant member. Megadeth is known for its distinctive, technical instrumental style that often features dense, intricate passages and trade-off guitar solos. Megadeth is also known for recurring lyrical themes including politics, war, addiction, personal relationships, and religion. Megadeth has sold over 30 million albums worldwide with five consecutive albums being certified platinum or multi-platinum in the US. As of 2012, Megadeth has received ten Grammy nominations.

Dave Mustaine was originally a member of Metallica upon their formation in 1981, but was fired from the band due to drinking, drug use, violent behavior and personality conflicts with James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and original Metallica bassist Ron McGovney. Two months after being fired, Mustaine and bassist Dave Ellefson formed Megadeth in Los Angeles. Mustaine later said, "After getting fired from Metallica, all I remember is that I wanted blood. Theirs. I wanted to be faster and heavier than them."

According to Mustaine, the name Megadeth represents the annihilation of power, while in itself is a corruption of the term megadeath. In order to upstage his former band, Dave Mustaine wrote more aggressive compositions, increasing tempos and altered aspects of songs such as "Mechanix", which Metallica's new line-up adapted into the slower-paced "The Four Horsemen". After unsuccessfully searching for a vocalist for nearly six months, Mustaine was convinced by bassist David Ellefson to handle lead vocal duties himself, while also serving as the band's primary lyricist, songwriter, co-lead and rhythm guitarists.

In 1984, Megadeth recorded a three song demo tape, referred to as the 1984 Demo, featuring Mustaine, Ellefson and drummer Lee Rausch. The demo contained early versions of "Last Rites/Loved to Death", "Skull Beneath the Skin", and "Mechanix". The band did a few live performances in 1984, before replacing Lee Rausch with fusion drummer Gar Samuelson. Megadeth signed with the New York based independent label Combat Records. In December of that year, they added Chris Poland as a second guitarist.

Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! (1985-1986)

In 1985, the band was given $8,000 by Combat Records to record and produce their debut album.

Biography from , the free encyclopedia.
It may not have been reviewed by a professional editor, and recent changes may not show up straight away. See the latest version of this article. Used under licence. Subject to disclaimers.