Dave Mustaine wanted Megadeth to re-record Metallica’s No Life ’Til Leather demo, according to former bassist David Ellefson.
Ellefson, who co-founded Megadeth in 1984 and was dismissed from the thrash metal legends in 2021, makes the claim during a recent episode of his podcast The David Ellefson Show, where he’s joined by Testament and former Death bassist Steve Di Giorgio.
Ellefson tells Di Giorgio that Mustaine approached him with the idea in 2018. Mustaine had played lead guitar for Metallica from 1982 to ’83 and, according to the liner notes of 1983 debut album Kill ’Em All, has writing credits on the following songs from No Life ’Til Leather: The Mechanix (later renamed The Four Horsemen), Phantom Lord, Jump In The Fire and Metal Militia.
“He [Mustaine] came in and he said he wanted to re-record the No Life ’Til Leather demo,” the bassist remembers (via The PRP). “I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me? This is where we’re at? After all this time? We’re supposed to be writing a new album [2022’s The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!] and new songs. And I was just like, ‘I am not down with that.’”
Ellefson adds that he thinks his refusal to go along with the plan drove a wedge between himself and Mustaine, which contributed to his later firing.
“I couldn’t kiss the ring for that one. I was, like, ‘I’m out.’ And so I think our problem started then. So as we went into the record, he knew I wasn’t willing to just fucking say, ‘Yes, Dave,’ and go along with shit. So eventually I’m out of the band.”
Ellefson was let go in May 2021, after explicit videos of him were leaked online. The bass parts he’d tracked for The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! were later re-recorded by Di Giorgio.
Mustaine’s alleged desire to re-record No Life ’Til Leather followed a falling out the singer/guitarist had with his ex-Metallica bandmates over songwriting credits on the demo.
In 2016, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich said that the band had hoped to reissue No Life ’Til Leather, but that they encountered “unexpected difficulties on the legal side”. The next year, Mustaine claimed that he blocked the re-release, alleging via X (formerly Twitter) that “Lars wanted credit on two songs I wrote every note and word to”.
Kill ’Em All was made after Mustaine’s firing from the band, and the inclusion of songs he co-authored on the release has long been a point of contention between the two parties. According to a 2001 episode of VH1’s Behind The Music, Mustaine told the band not to use his songs after his dismissal, while Metallica “maintain Dave said nothing of the kind”.
Megadeth, now with James Lo Menzo on bass, have been working on the follow-up to The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! and are eyeing a 2025 release date.
