MEGADETH Bassist Interviewed On 'Severe Auditory Trauma' (Audio)

Tim Shaw of the "Severe Auditory Trauma" metal show, which airs on Bridgewater State University's student-run radio station, 91.5 WBIM, in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, conducted an interview with MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson at the tenth show of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival on July 22 in Mansfield, Massachusetts. You can now listen to the chat in four parts below.

MEGADETH's new album, "TH1RT3EN", is tentatively due in November via Roadrunner Records. The CD was recorded at MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine's Vic's Garage studio in San Marcos, California with producer Johnny K (full name: John Karkazis),who has previously worked with DISTURBED, SEVENDUST, MACHINE HEAD and STAIND, among others. The artwork will once again be created by artist John Lorenzi, who was responsible for the artwork on the last two MEGADETH studio albums, 2007's "United Abominations" and 2009's "Endgame", as well as the band's 2007 box set, "Warchest".

Regarding the recording process for "TH1RT3EN", Ellefson said, "It came together really quickly as we did it in between the 'Big Four' show in Indio [California in late April] and we went right into the studio and had to have it done before the next 'Big Four' show, which was in Germany [in early July]. So we basically had this 10-week window where we had to arrange, finish any writing and basically record a whole album. We knocked out over a dozen songs for the record, which was one every five days, which was a big workload but it was a fun process.

He added, "Every song is really unique and kind of harking back to 'Peace Sells', 'Countdown To Extinction', as every song was a really unique tune and together they encompass an album. I think every MEGADETH album has that, but especially back in those days where there was something really unique about those records that didn't sound like they were all made in one chunk of time. An album from a band like MEGADETH tells a story over a course of time and there's a lot of depth both musically and lyrically to the album and a lot of really cool song titles and storytelling."

On the topic of what fans can expect from MEGADETH's next album, Ellefson said in a separate interview, "It really is a different-sounding record. It's very heavy, it's got great hooks. I think 'Endgame' became one of the most pivotal albums to re-establish the MEGADETH sound in the modern day, but I think where 'TH1RT3EN' goes, it also brings back some of the classic elements of 'Countdown To Extinction' and even, say, 'Cryptic Writings', which, to me, had some fantastic songs on it songs like 'Trust' and things like that. And also, the tones and the sound of the record. It's an organic-sounding record; you can tell it's four human beings playing it. It doesn't sound like four guys played into a computer and it was all hacked up and it's splattered against the wall and it just has this heavy overdrive sound to it. It sounds very much like an organic rock band yet done in a modern-day fashion."

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