Dave Mustaine isn’t worried about the future of heavy metal as long as bands keep on making ‘good’ music.
In a new interview with Diario El Salvador, the Megadeth frontman blamed some bands from the ’90s and claimed they ruined the metal community. However, he is hopeful about the future of the genre. He said:
“Well, I think as long as people make good records, there’s nothing to worry about. It went through a period in the ’90s when a lot of musicians tried to jump into the metal community and say they were metal players and they weren’t, really; they were just kind of normal players, and you could tell, and it really hurt our community. But these things correct themselves all the time, and I’m glad to see the community’s looking strong right now.”
Mustaine ‘Laughed At’ Some Bands In The ’90s
The ’90s caused Megadeth to have a shift in their music. The band released their hit album ‘Rust In Peace’ in 1990, and saw some key band members leave later. This shift included their later albums like ‘Cryptic Writings’ in 1997 and ‘Risk’ in 1999. Megadeth’s thrash sound shifted toward alternative metal on these two albums.
Looking back to that era, Mustaine admitted in an earlier interview that it was a rough patch for Megadeth creatively. Mustaine also revealed that back then, they often laughed at many of the nu-metal bands they were ‘forced’ to tour with:
“All these glam bands, and then you think about all the alternative bands — well, what happened to the metal bands that were on the radio at the time? Well, they kind of got swept up into the dark, and only the strong survived. For us, we went through a period where like I said, admittedly so, we were trying to do what we were told. And it backfired. I mean, why would you pay a manager if you’re not going to listen to them?”
He then talked about the bands that ‘couldn’t play solos’:
“And so, there were several situations where we would make decisions [that] were presented to us in a way kind of, like, ‘You got to do this,’ or ‘That’s just how it is.’ I can’t tell you how much we would laugh about the bands that we were forced to take out on tour with us, especially during the nu-metal period that we went through years ago. You know, all these bands that wouldn’t play solos and stuff.”
Though Mustaine didn’t give any names, in that era Megadeth played with many bands like System Of A Down, Korn, and Limp Bizkit.
You can listen to the recent interview below.