Recently, WRIF radio station’s Meltdown had an interview with David Ellefson, the former bassist of MEGADETH, and during the interview, David was asked if he had listened to METALLICA‘s latest tracks, “Lux Æterna” and “Screaming Suicide.”
He responded: “I have. I liked it. I think it’s very cool. You know, just as much as everything with those guys, they’re like Apple — when they do a product launch, it usually comes off pretty frickin’ cool. A new METALLICA album is like a new iPhone launch — it’s pretty much awesome. [Laughs]”
Ellefson mentioned that the news about “Lux Æterna” and METALLICA‘s 72 Seasons album announcement as well as the stadium tour was a surprise to him as he was in Poland doing work on his DIETH venture when it was shared.
“And you’re, like, ‘Jeez.’ I mean, this literally just dropped out of the sky; I don’t think any of us saw it coming, which I thought was so cool,” David added.
As what his thoughts are on “Lux Æterna” and “Screaming Suicide”, Ellefson said: “That first single [‘Lux Æterna’] especially I thought was very cool…
“Look, at this point, there’s only 12 notes in the chromatic scale. We’ve played them all in almost every possible combination of how to play ’em. So, it’s like, how do you now, at album — whatever it is for them. And even with MEGADETH, it was like, ‘Jeez, we’re on how many albums now? And how do we not repeat ourselves yet still keep street cred and play to those fans that wanna hear us do that?’
“You’re not the same guy you were when you recorded ‘One’, right? You’re not the 1987 METALLICA; you’re now this,” Ellefson elaborated. “So I think as we age into our career and we age into our artistry, if you will, you’re always looking for how do you scratch the itch and satisfy all parts of your creative thing there.”
