During a conversation with Jaime Poulos from Metal Express Radio, Jeff Young, the ex-guitarist of MEGADETH, announced the formation of a completely new band. This band includes his former MEGADETH colleague, David Ellefson on bass, and Fred Aching on drums – all three of whom are currently part of the band KINGS OF THRASH.
“Everyone’s saying KINGS OF THRASH is coming out with an original album, and it’s not KINGS OF THRASH,” Jeff said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “Chaz [Leon] is our singer for that, for doing the MEGADETH stuff [with KINGS OF THRASH], but for the original stuff, Ellefson and I have been writing for over a year; we’ve been working on some songs. We’re using this guy from Brazil that’s gonna blow you guys away. He sounds kind of like [Ronnie James] Dio meets Chris Cornell meets Rob Halford. He’s got perfect pitch, so he never hits a bad note. It’s crazy.”
When asked what it’s like to play with Ellefson again after such a long period, Jeff expressed: “It’s super cool. We didn’t really get a chance to know each other back in the day because I think [MEGADETH leader] Dave Mustaine was like the toxic thorn in the middle. But now that that’s out of there, we’re not only seeing… ’cause we probably lived ten different lives since then. We’re different people. We’re more mature and we’re getting to know each in a whole different time and space. So it’s like nostalgia plus it’s brand new.”
During a last month’s conversation with Metal Edge, Young said about KINGS OF THRASH: “Let me put it this way: What’s happening now is a win for all of us — Dave [Mustaine, MEGADETH mainman] included,” Young told Metal Edge. “He gets to make money off the publishing from the MEGADETH songs we play. Dave knows that, so he’s very aware of us.”
“He hates what KINGS OF THRASH is doing. But it doesn’t matter because, eventually, we’ll delete a lot of the MEGADETH from our set, and we’ll keep writing new stuff,” Jeff continued. “But Dave is feeling the heat because we’re getting attention, and the KINGS OF THRASH album will be better than anything MEGADETH has done recently. And we’re playing all the MEGADETH songs better than he has in years. It’s not just me saying that — read the reviews.”
