Mustaine reflects on ‘brotherhood’ with Hetfield

Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine says he and James Hetfield were like brothers when they played together in Metallica.

And looking back on his time with the band in the early 80s, he reveals he thinks they had a special chemistry on stage.

Mustaine tells VH1 Classic Rock Icons (via Blabbermouth): “There was a feeling that James and I had when we would stand next to each other and play. I think people saw there was a real brotherhood there. We were a really great guitar duo.”

He was fired from Metallica in 1983 before the release of Kill ‘Em All and says his anger at that decision drove him to make Megadeth the most “ultra-furious metal band” in the world.

Mustaine continues: “Growing up and having all of the defence mechanisms I’d gotten over the years, I was pissed – I was going to fight. When you’re scratching and clawing to have something to eat, someone takes away your livelihood, this means war.

“I don’t really know that when Megadeth started that it was anything other than just pure revenge. It was all about, ‘You know what? You’re not going to make me that kid, the one that’s picked last again.’

“We wanted to be the utmost heaviest, ultra-furious metal band. Period. It doesn’t sound like my last band. I wanted to do it for me – not because of something I lost – it was because of what I still had.”

Megadeth are currently working on the follow-up to 2013’s Super Collider. They’ve yet to announce who will replace guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover in the lineup, but Mustaine recently said fans would be “very happy” with what’s been going on behind the scenes.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.