DAVID ELLEFSON Says KINGS OF THRASH Tour Will Highlight ‘Finer Details’ Of MEGADETH’s Early Songs

Former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson has launched “The Killing Chronicles”, a series of online recollections about the band’s early days, including MEGADETH‘s first gigs and the making of the group’s classic debut album, “Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!”.

The online series comes a week after it was announced that Ellefson and former MEGADETH guitarist Jeff Young will embark the KINGS OF THRASH “The MEGA Years” tour. They will be joined at the dates by another former MEGADETH member, Chris Poland (guitar).

KINGS OF THRASH, which also includes drummer Fred Aching as well as guitarist/vocalist Chaz Leon, will perform MEGADETH‘s classic albums “Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!” and “So Far, So Good… So What!” in their entirety.

In episode three of “The Killing Chronicles”, Ellefson writes: “It’s widely known that the KIMB album is one of the fastest Thrash albums ever to descend upon mankind. However, rapid fire tempos in the band was not always the case. When we formed the group and first batch of songs were being composed in mid to late 1983, the tempos were much, much slower. In fact, almost at a BLACK SABBATH tempo. I recall ‘The Skull Beneath the Skin’ being almost half the tempo as it was finally recorded, which gave it this monstrous groove and weight. The same was true with ‘Chosen Ones’ which allowed me to play the bass lines with my fingers in a more Geezer-esque manner.

“However, one day a fan letter showed up to our mailbox addressed to Dave [Mustaine] which pleaded, ‘I hope your new band is faster than METALLICA‘ and BOOM that was it…game over! That night at rehearsal, all the tempos were increased dramatically (20-40 beats per minute minimum!) and thus the KIMB LP represents a true turning point in the trajectory of speed being the primary calling card of cool factor with the founding fathers of the Thrash genre. EXODUS was already fast as hell and once Kerry King had seen them live, SLAYER would follow suit.

“On the Kings of Thrash tour we’re excited to highlight these finer details of the songs without losing any of the ‘teeth’ which made the album a staple in Thrash metal all these years later.”

KINGS OF THRASH tour dates:

Oct. 12 – San Diego, CA – Brick By Brick
Oct. 13 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
Oct. 14 – Las Vegas, NV – The Space
Oct. 15 – West Hollywood, CA – Whisky A Go Go

VIP packages will be available for all shows.

As previously reported, Ellefson and Young reunited on stage on May 10 at Ultimate Jam Night, the long-running community-oriented show in residency at the famed Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California, as part of a special tribute to the so-called “Big Four” of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX. The event marked the first time David and Jeff had played MEGADETH songs together on stage since the U.K.’s Monsters Of Rock festival on August 20, 1988.

The Whisky A Go Go concert came four months after Ellefson and Young reunited in Los Angeles for interviews to be included in the upcoming feature-length documentary “This Was My Life: The Story Of Nick Menza”. Ellefson has signed on as a co-producer of the film, and also will provide narration to guide the viewer through the exploration of the late MEGADETH drummer’s life.

In June, Ellefson told The Neurotic Guitarist that he and Young “have been working on a couple of new songs.”

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH more than a year ago after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

David was in MEGADETH from the band’s inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest exit.

In 2004, Ellefson filed an $18.5-million lawsuit against Dave Mustaine, alleging the MEGADETH leader shortchanged him on profits and backed out of a deal to turn Megadeth Inc. over to him when the band broke up in 2002. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed and Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH in 2010.

Young‘s entire career with MEGADETH was spent recording and touring in support of the band’s 1988 platinum-selling album “So Far, So Good…So What!”

Jeff made headlines in December 2009 for accusing Mustaine of, among other things, “dissing, exaggerating and just plain lying on some level about nearly every talented musician that has passed through his dysfunctional little ensemble.” He also disputed Mustaine‘s claim in an interview that Young‘s drug problem led to MEGADETH‘s 1988 Australian tour being called off and the group being “banned” from performing in the country.

Poland was a member of MEGADETH from 1984 to 1987, during which time he performed on the band’s classic albums “Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!” and “Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?” He is also a featured soloist on the group’s 2004 album, “The System Has Failed”.

Back in 2004, Poland and/or his management and attorney filed a lawsuit against Mustaine regarding the use of the three “Rust In Peace” demos on the album’s reissue without Chris‘s permission. Chris eventually settled for $9,500 and thereby ended a professional relationship with Dave and MEGADETH.

For the past couple of decades, Poland‘s main musical focus has been the fusion band OHM:, which has released several full-length studio albums to date.