Robert DiGiacomo of Atlantic City Insiders recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH drummer Shawn Drover. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

On performing the "Countdown To Extinction" album in its entirety on the current tour:

Drover: "As a fan of MEGADETH, this is one of my favorite records. It's such a cohesive record. It's very solid and to the point — it's a lot of fun to play those songs."

"It's been a lot of fun going back and getting reacquainted with songs I haven't heard in a while."

On MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine's unwillingness to perform the song "The Conjuring" live because it no longer jives with his status as a born-again Christian:

Drover: "The subject matter lyrically is very dark, and he's not comfortable singing it. Ironically, it's one of my favorite tracks. You have to respect that if someone's not comfortable with that. Pretty much everything out of our catalog, we can pull out and play."

On whether he shares Mustaine's outspoken political views, including belief that President Barack Obama was not born in the U.S.:

Drover: "He doesn't speak for the band."

On the progress of the recording sessions for MEGADETH's follow-up to 2011's "TH1RT3EN":

Drover: "If a record comes out in the summer of 2013, it will be a little more than two years. We don't want to wait too long. We try to keep it cranked up pretty good, in terms of releasing new material.

"There are all kinds of ideas bouncing around. We're in the midst of listening to what we have and seeing which riffs and songs to put together. We don't go in with any preconceived notions of how a song is going to sound. We just want to create the best material we can and hope fans love it as much as we do. If you go in with preconceived notions, it's not organic. We never try to copy anything we've done in the past."

On taking part in the worldwide "Big Four" tour with SLAYER, ANTHRAX and METALLICA in 2010 and 2011:

Drover: "The camaraderie was fantastic. We're friends with those guys now. Certainly, with the Big Four, there was a celebration of the bands coming together. The reaction was amazing. The whole vibe was a positive vibe. I would love to do it again. Whether that happens again remains to be seen. Anything is possible at any given time."

Read the entire interview from Atlantic City Insiders.