Megadeth return in glorious form with new thrasher, We’ll Be Back

(from left to right) James LoMenzo, Dave Mustaine and Kiko Loureiro from the band Megadeth perform on stage at the Sentrum Scene on June 05, 2022 in Oslo, Norway
(Image credit: Per Ole Hagen/Redferns)

It's been a big week for Dave Mustaine. A couple days ago, he teamed up with Gibson to unveil his latest signature guitar, the Flying V EXP “Rust in Peace” model.

Today though, Mustaine's band, Megadeth, finally returned with a new song, their first new material in six years. Titled We’ll Be Back, it's pure adrenaline from the word go.

There's a relentless opening riff to get the blood pumping, followed by a dizzying flurry of blow-for-blow electric guitar solos from both Mustaine and Kiko Loureiro. 

As scenes of wanton destruction and violence in the song's music video – which you can see below – play around them, both guitarists tap, bend and all-around shred with breathtaking speed and precision the hardened soldiers of the onscreen military would be hard-pressed to match.

The thrasher is the first single from the band's long-awaited 16th studio effort, The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! Originally slated for release in early 2022, but pushed back due to distribution issues, the album is now set to be released on September 2 via UMe. It's the band's first album since 2016's Dystopia, and comes after an eventful few years for the group.  

In June 2019, Dave Mustaine was diagnosed with throat cancer. He subsequently underwent more than 50 radiation and nine chemo treatments that, according to Mustaine, were completely successful in subduing the disease. 

The new album was delayed further when, in May 2021, the band fired their longtime bassist, David Ellefson, after a series of intimate videos and conversations featuring Ellefson and a teenaged fan were leaked on Twitter.

Mustaine went on to recruit Testament's Steve Di Giorgio to re-record the album's bass parts, and James LoMenzo to serve as the group's touring bassist.

Intriguingly, The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! features not one, but two covers – a version of the Dead Kennedys’ Police Truck and Sammy Hagar’s This Planet’s On Fire, with the latter featuring a cameo from Hagar himself. 

You can check out the album's just-released cover and tracklist below.

To preorder The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!, visit Megadeth's website.

The cover of Megadeth's forthcoming album, The Sick, The Dying and the Dead

(Image credit: UMe)

Megadeth – The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!:

1. The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead
2. Life In Hell
3. Night Stalker (feat. Ice T)
4. Dogs Of Chernobyl
5. Sacrifice
6. Junkie
7. Psychopathy
8. Killing Time
9. Soldier On!
10. Celebutante
11. Mission To Mars
12. We'll Be Back
13. Police Truck
14. This Planet's on Fire (Burn in Hell) (feat. Sammy Hagar)

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Jackson Maxwell

Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.