“Where would I be right now if I didn’t have one of the biggest bands in the world spending their time trying to hold me back?” Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine claims Metallica and others held him back during early career

Megadeth singer/guitarist Dave Mustaine has accused his former bandmates in Metallica of “holding him back” at the start of his career.

The musician, who played in Metallica from 1982 to ’83 before being dismissed due to how he behaved while intoxicated, says that the biggest band in heavy metal were one of several parties who previously attempted to sabotage him.

In a new interview with The Los Angeles Times, Mustaine doesn’t specify how Metallica and others tried to stop him from reaching success, but he says that what they did “made me shake my head”.

“Think about it. Where would I be right now if I didn’t have one of the biggest bands in the world spending their time trying to hold me back?” Mustaine asks. “They don’t do it anymore, but most of the time when they did, it just made me shake my head. And it wasn’t just Metallica, it was everybody. For a long time, it very much was me against the world. It was like, OK, if you’re not with me, you’re against me.”

Mustaine founded Megadeth shortly after he was let go from Metallica, wanting his new band to be faster, heavier and more dangerous than his old one. He claims that he asked Metallica to stop playing songs he wrote upon his firing, which the band deny.

The rivalry continued on-and-off for years, mostly on Mustaine’s end. In 2017, he blocked the reissue of Metallica’s demo tape, No Life ’Til Leather, due to a disagreement over songwriting credits. But, he says in the new interview that he hopes to be friends with his ex-cohorts.

“You know, I had a great time when I was in Metallica, and we did something tremendous,” he says. “It’s a shame what the booze did, but we were all kids and, aside from Lars [Ulrich, drums], we came from pretty broken families. Lots of stuff has happened over the years, but I felt like it would be great to make everything good with them before we stop. We should be friends. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be friends.”

Megadeth released their self-titled final album in January, and the record includes a take on Metallica’s 1984 track Ride The Lightning, on which Mustaine has a co-writing credit. Talking to Metal Hammer last year, Mustaine said that he included the rendition to “close the circle” on his career and express his respect for Ulrich and singer/guitarist James Hetfield.

“I’ve always respected James’ playing,” he said, “and so this is a tip of a hat to him and to Metallica for everything that they’ve done, and everything that we’ve done. That legacy that really happened in that teeny little garage in Norwalk, California.”

Megadeth announced back in August that they’ll retire at the end of the Megadeth touring cycle. Mustaine attributed the decision to end the band – rounded out by lead guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari, drummer Dirk Verbeuren and bassist James LoMenzo – to a desire to go out on top. He later revealed that he’d been diagnosed with a condition called Dupuytren’s contracture, which makes it painful for him to play guitar.

Megadeth’s farewell tour kicked off on February 15, with a headline show at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria, British Columbia. The run continues on Tuesday (March 3) at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a host of Central and South American, Australian and European shows have also been confirmed. Some of these dates will see the band support Iron Maiden. Get details via their website.