Mustaine: the path from Metallica to Megadeth

The fact that Mustaine is complex in nature has become clear long before serious intra-metal quarrels. And his strife within the group and the subsequent exclusion from its ranks was in fact only a matter of time. Having an explosive nature, aggravated by addiction to drugs and alcohol, Mustaine was not really a gift.

Mustaine: the path from Metallica to Megadeth

There are people without appearances who, in this or that musical movement, it is possible that its development would have been completely different. These innovators of style can safely be attributed - Dave Mustaine, a man who had a significant influence on the formation and development of the style of thrash metal.

We all come from childhood

Dave Mustaine, as well as the frontman of Metallica Hetfled, hails from the sunny state of California. Born in September 1961 in the small town of La Mesa.

Dave hardly knew his father, John Mustaine, since his parents divorced when the boy was only four years old. Subsequently, David, along with his mother (Emily) and three sisters all the time moved from place to place, hiding from his father, who was famous for his tough character.

In 1969, little Dave received, as a gift from his mother, his first guitar, but he soon gave up trying to make music, throwing an unyielding instrument for a while. He became interested in baseball and became a catcher (catcher) in the youth team. In the winter of 1975, Emily Mustaine with the children, once again, changed her place of residence, moved to her older sister, whose husband, by the way, disliked young Mustaine because of his passion for heavy music.

At the age of 15, Dave tries to escape from his family and rents an apartment, which he pays by trading in drugs. One of his regular drug clients “paid” with records of popular at the time groups such as Motörhead and Judas Priest, AC / DC and Iron Maiden, which greatly expanded Mustaine’s musical horizons. Three years later, Dave finally dropped out of school and devoted himself entirely to music and playing electric guitar, not forgetting to regularly use drugs and alcohol. And if his passion for the guitar brought him worldwide fame, then drugs and alcohol very often interfered with his life and work. Later on, Mustaine underwent fifteen drug addiction treatment courses, but all the same he returned to bad habits every time and was on the verge of life and death.

Talented "not a gift"

Panic is Mustaine's first group, which did not bring him any bonuses in the form of success. However, three compositions written by David for his group, with some changes, were included in the demo disc of Metallica, in the recordings of which he, however, did not take part, as he was expelled due to his disgusting behavior towards the rest of the band. Having joined Metallica in 1981, he could not hold on there for a year.

The fact that Mustaine is complex in nature has become clear long before serious intra-metal quarrels. And his strife within the group and the subsequent exclusion from its ranks was in fact only a matter of time. Having an explosive nature, aggravated by addiction to drugs and alcohol, Mustaine was not really a gift.

One of the members of Metallica in an interview recalled the case when it was decided to permanently exclude Dave from the group. This happened after an unsuccessful trip, which could end in a serious accident, as the drunk Mustaine was driving the car. But at that time the musicians were lucky and in order not to tempt fate again, they unanimously decided to get rid of Dave. Since, despite the talent, because of which he was long forgiven for many antics, he was a weak link in the group.

However, Mustaine proved that he can play metal well outside Metallica. And in fact, some believe that his departure from the team was only on the hands of thrash metal, since the birth of Megadeth was predetermined and, perhaps, within the group of Jason and Lars his talent would not be fully revealed.

After leaving Metallica, Mustaine organized the group again, calling it Fallen Angel. For six months, the musical group did not achieve anything and successfully collapsed at the end of 1983.

Megadeath Birth

Megadeath was for Mustaine the meaning of his life. The desire to prove that he can play as well as Metallica, and the spirit of rivalry always moved him forward. At first, not finding a decent vocalist, Dave himself became the microphone, and also wrote songs and performed solo and rhythm guitar parts. He also comes up with a memorable group mascot - Vic Rattlehead. Anger on the former comrades from Metallica translates into songs, they become even faster, tougher and more trash. And although the group has changed several times and often concerts and tours took place in a narcotic and alcoholic frenzy Megadeath quickly gained popularity and became the second most successful group playing in the style of thrash metal, which their albums, which have sold fifty million copies worldwide, speak about. Eight albums Megadeath in different years hit the charts 40 best albums in the United States. The group became a Grammy nominee twelve times and received it for the composition Dystopia.

Nevertheless, there was always a cool relationship between Megadeth and Metallica, Dave avoided joint performances in every way and did not want to cross with Metallica, but in 2010 at the festival in Bulgaria they still performed on the same stage.

Personal life

Because of his addiction, Mustaine’s health has been severely tested from time to time. He repeatedly tried to quit drugs and spent a lot of time in rehab clinics.

So in 2002, Dave was diagnosed with radial neuropathy. He earned damage to the nerve endings of his left hand and forearm, which is why he could not play. Also did not add joy and kidney stones found. In 2011, Mustaine underwent a major neck surgery.

In addition, Mustaine has a black belt in taekwondo and sekotan karate and is the Goodwill Ambassador for Taekwondo. No less interesting is the book he wrote - Autobiography in the style of heavy metal.

Since 1991, he is happily married to Pamela Ann Casselberry, has a son, Judith, and a daughter, Electra. It is likely that Pamela is the only one who can understand Dave and calm down Mustaine’s exuberant temper, a big fan of fussing and making enemies. Who, tied up with drugs, is now trying to be a caring husband and a good father.