Forty years after Megadeth burst onto the scene with Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!, the landmark debut is getting the deluxe treatment it arguably always deserved. The band has announced an ultra-limited 40th-anniversary box set, arriving October 17, with only 350 copies available worldwide.
Packaged in a deluxe custom box topped with a resin-molded lid, the collector’s set goes all-in on nostalgia and memorabilia. Inside, fans will find a metallic gold 12″ vinyl LP, a 12″ x 12″ lithograph hand-signed by the band, a zoetrope slipmat, a laser-engraved metal business card, a 4″ embroidered patch, a 3′ x 5′ flag replica of the original tour backdrop, a double-sided challenge coin with carrier sleeve, and a 20-page zine dedicated to Killing Is My Business….
Originally released on June 12, 1985, through the New York-based indie label Combat Records, the album was recorded by the early lineup of Dave Mustaine (vocals and guitar), David Ellefson (bass), Chris Poland (guitar), and Gar Samuelson (drums). Over the years, Killing Is My Business… has earned its place in metal history, even being hailed by VH1 as “The Best Thrash Metal Debut Album All Time.”
Reflecting on the era, Mustaine told Guitar World: “When our record and [Metallica‘s] Ride The Lightning and the Slayer record and the Anthrax record were all out, that was one of the coolest times to be alive. Metal was huge, and we were having so much fun. For Megadeth, that was kind of like our senior year. And Killing Is My Business was kind of like a summing up of everything about growing up for us.”
But the album’s creation wasn’t without its turbulence. The recording sessions, held at Indigo Ranch Studios in Malibu, were marred by financial mismanagement and personal tensions.
“Going into Indigo Ranch, I was really excited,” Mustaine said. “But we get there and [early Megadeth associate] Jay Jones and Chris Poland roll in, and half the recording budget has been spent on food and drugs. It’s very well-chronicled, and it’s been talked about for more than 35 years. Everybody knows what happened.”
“We had an $8,000 budget and we commenced making a $4,000 record. I was pissed. I was absolutely pissed. Any hope of us having a relationship was shattered. From that point forward, Chris Poland was just a player in a band. And Jay Jones‘s time was marked.”
In true thrash metal fashion, the result was a raw, furious debut that captured not just a sound but a moment. As the box set suggests, there’s still plenty of reverence for that volatile origin story—warts and all.
