Megadeth’s Highly Anticipated “The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!” Now Available
It’s been a wild ride for Megadeth over the last few years. Between Dave Mustaine dealing with throat cancer and David Ellefson’s dismissal from the band, the tension has led to huge anticipation of their new album, The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! Now it seems the wait was worth it.
The album was originally recorded in 2019 with Ellefson on bass. After his removal from the group, Mustaine had the tracks re-recorded by a mystery bassist, who was later revealed to be metal icon Steve Di Giorgio. His CV includes work with Sadus, Death, Testament, Autopsy, and many more.
While he played on the album, former Megadeth member James LoMenzo ultimately rejoined the fold as their official bassist. Mustaine weighed in on why it unfolded that way, citing a page from his history with Metallica.
“As great as Steve is, I remember what it felt like when we [METALLICA] went up and poached Cliff [Burton] from Trauma,” he told Full Metal Jackie (via Loudwire). “Granted the band Trauma wasn’t that good, there were still guys in the band, and their lives were changed when that happened. You’ve got to ask yourself, ‘Did he jump or was he pushed?’ I wanted to make sure if I was going to hire somebody that I wasn’t stealing him from anybody.”
In any case, Di Giorgio’s lines fit in perfectly with the group. His monstrous tone comes into full focus in a few moments on the album, including the intro to “Mission to Mars” and nearing the end of “Night Stalkers”, featuring Ice-T.
In addition to the album, Megadeth has released a three-part video trilogy for the songs “We’ll Be Back,” “Night Stalkers,” and “The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!”. The music videos tell the saga of a war hero who “exacts revenge and punishment on those who betrayed him and destroyed his loved ones and life.”
Check out chapter two, in which the hero transforms into the band’s mascot Vic Rattlehead.
The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! is available now on CD, vinyl, cassette, and as a digital download (iTunes and Amazon MP3).
The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! Track List:
- The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!
- Life In Hell
- Night Stalkers (feat. Ice-T)
- Dogs Of Chernobyl
- Sacrifice
- Junkie
- Psychopathy
- Killing Time
- Soldier On!
- Célebutante
- Mission To Mars
- We’ll Be Back
