In a new interview with Greg Prato for Heavy Consequence, Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine, who was fired from Metallica in April 1983 due to substance abuse and personal conflicts with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, reveals that he has yet to hear his former band's new studio album, 72 Seasons. In the following excerpt from the chat, Mustaine says things are pretty simpatico between him and the Metallica fellas nowadays.

“It took a while for James and Lars and I to kind of come around and become friends again,” says Mustaine. “But I would say we’re probably better off now than we’ve been for a long time. And it comes and goes. I think the emotions between all of us, it’s probably understandable for a lot of people who break up with someone, it’s like a marriage and you part ways and sometimes you try and justify in your head the decision that you make. And sometimes the facts are all you need, and other times you feel compelled to kinda tell the story and you don’t really need to. And then there are people who tell the story and then add little salacious facts – like a tape recorder that has a feature to add stuff that never happened. So, I just look at that whole period with Metallica as something that was really great for me. And I wish them the best.”

Mustaine also commented on the criticism Kirk Hammett received over the solo on Metallica’s recent single, “Lux Æterna”, saying, “I heard that people are taking the piss out of Kirk. But Kirk’s a really good guitar player and I think that people forget real quickly he was winning every single guitar contest there was for 30 or 40 years … I have not heard their new album, but I’m sure it’s great.”

Read more at Heavy Consequence.

On July 16, 2023, Megadeth participated in a ghost hunt at Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio prior to their performance at the Inkcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival.

Video of the walking tour, uploaded by Professor Reggie Almeida of the Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu School in Spring Hill, Tennessee, who's on the road with Megadeth, can be enjoyed below.

Almeida posted the following comment about the video: "Yes !!! They offered us a 'Ghost Hunt' tour while we were at InkCarceration 2023. Why play with Ghosts??? I Said, 'Because we f can', they replied. hahahaha .. and by the way most of it, Shawshank redemption (um sonho de liberdade) was filmed there."