On a recent episode of The David Ellefson Show, former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson opened up about his difficult experience recording the band’s latest album, The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!. Ellefson recorded his bass parts for the album in May 2020 at a Nashville, Tennessee studio. However, in July 2021, Dave Mustaine revealed during an episode of his Gimme Radio show, The Dave Mustaine Show, that Ellefson‘s contributions would not be used.
The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! was officially released in September 2022 via UMe. Prior to its release, Steve DiGiorgio of Testament stepped in to record bass tracks, and by the summer of 2021, James LoMenzo had rejoined Megadeth for the “Metal Tour Of The Year.” LoMenzo was later confirmed as Ellefson‘s permanent replacement.
Speaking about the sessions, Ellefson shared his frustrations, saying (as transcribed by Blabbermouth.net): “That was a brutal record. I’m glad to be away from it, to be honest with you. It was a terrible process. It was five years in the making. Every song I wrote for it got taken off — every riff I added, every lyric I added. It was spiteful, it was vengeful and it was hateful. And it was not my record.”
Ellefson recalled advising Mustaine on a different approach to making the album, suggesting, “Why don’t we go in here? We’re at a phase now, we should go in here like it’s Peace Sells. We [should go in there like we] have no money. We have no time. Write a song, record it, move on. Write a song, record it, move on.” He expressed that fans might prefer more organic-sounding albums over “over-digitized, fucking locked-to-the-grid” productions. “Fans want fucking records — I think — that are more organic. It sounds like a band playing in the room together,” he said.
Ellefson also revisited the Youthanasia era, inspired by former drummer Shawn Drover to listen again. “Shawn Drover got me into that record again. And I hadn’t listened to it in a lot of years, and I listened to it and I go, ‘Fuck, we were good, man.’ That’s us playing together in the room, all four of us, laying down tracks together. And I miss that.”
Reflecting on the tensions that plagued the making of The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!, Ellefson pointed back to 2018, when Mustaine proposed re-recording Metallica‘s No Life ‘Til Leather demo. “We started a tour in Oslo, and he came in and he said he wanted to re-record No Life ‘Til Leather demo. I’m, like, ‘Are you kidding me? This is where we’re at? After all this time? We’re supposed to be writing a new album and new songs.’ And I was just, like, ‘I am not down with that.'”
Although Ellefson acknowledged that playing those early Metallica songs would have been fun — calling No Life ‘Til Leather one of his favorite recordings — he said, “I couldn’t kiss the ring for that one. I was, like, ‘I’m out.’ And so I think our problem started then.” He added, “He knew I wasn’t willing to just fucking say, ‘Yes, Dave,’ and go along with shit. So eventually I’m out of the band. So it goes. Bands are what bands are, and it is what it is.”
Ellefson admitted he hasn’t revisited The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! since its release. “I heard the one video… The record brings up bad feelings for me. And not being thrown out of the band, but just everything about that record.”
Back in 2018, Mustaine addressed the issue of the No Life ‘Til Leather re-release, which had been delayed due to disputes over songwriting credits. He stated he didn’t want to “perpetuate false information” by giving Lars Ulrich co-writing credit. The demo had been released as a limited-edition cassette for Record Store Day in April 2015, complete with artwork and handwriting sourced from Ulrich’s personal copy. Expanded editions were promised but never materialized.
Mustaine revisited the subject in a June 2018 interview with Kerrang!, recounting his last conversation with James Hetfield. “He was trying to get me to give publishing over to Lars, despite James and I being the sole songwriters. Lars wanted a percentage and I just said no. I love James, he’s a terrific guitar player, but yeah, I can’t do that.” Mustaine stood firm, adding, “I’m not going to release something just to have a product to sell — especially if they are perpetuating false information. Lars did not write the songs. It was just me and James. Period.”
