A live performance from Megadeth, which is preparing to release a new album with Frontiers Label Group imprint BLKIIBLK Records. Photo Credit: Kreepin Deth
Three albums later, Megadeth and founder Dave Mustaine have departed Universal Music Group (UMG) – with plans to drop a new project via Frontiers Label Group imprint BLKIIBLK Records.
The thrash metal group took to social media to unveil the news, which the just-minted BLKIIBLK elaborated upon in a formal announcement. After parting ways with Roadrunner, Megadeth released three studio albums with UMG and Mustaine’s Tradecraft between 2013 and 2022.
Now, Tradecraft and BLKIIBLK are set to put out the 42-year-old band’s as-yet-unnamed 17th album. Though the involved parties stopped short of nailing down a precise release date, they did confirm that the work is expected to debut sometime during the fall or winter of 2025.
(Besides being booked for Bonnaroo and Norway’s Tons of Rock in June, Megadeth has a number of European performances lined up for October. In an early February fan newsletter, Mustaine said Megadeth was about 90 days into creating the forthcoming album.)
Meanwhile, BLKIIBLK, which says it’s “dedicated to pushing the boundaries of heavy music,” also serves as the professional home of Sick N’ Beautiful and Biohazard.
“With a mission to support and elevate the genre,” BLKIIBLK spelled out of its strategy here, “the imprint strives to showcase talent that is both pioneering and influential.”
This past May, the overarching Naples-headquartered Frontiers, which Serafino Perugino founded nearly 30 years ago, added Tom Lipsky as A&R head for North America.
And in a statement, Mustaine acknowledged the reunion with Lipsky, who led Sanctuary Records when Megadeth released The World Needs a Hero (2001) and The System Has Failed (2004) under the label.
“When I first met Tom Lipsky and [Concrete Marketing head] Bob Chiappardi back in the day I had no idea we would be working together again so many years in the future,” 63-year-old Mustaine said. “I look forward to working with Serafino and the team in Italy and I can’t wait for the fans to hear the songs from our new record.”
In remarks of his own, Lipsky touted the signing and the progress of Megadeth’s upcoming album.
“When BLKIIBLK Records was formed,” Lipsky added, “the very first artist we agreed was ideal to define the creative mission of the label was Megadeth. Now, it is a reality. The band is crushing it in the studio.
“[CTK Management owner] Danny Nozell, Justis Mustaine, Steve Ross and the team at CTK are developing an incredible global plan, and our team is thrilled, primed and ready to shake up the world of hard rock and metal!” he concluded.
Earlier in March, Frontiers quietly signed the Eagles’ Don Felder, who’s preparing to release a solo album later in 2025.
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