I was planning to start this post off with a couple of videos from a really great melodic black metal band – steady, boys, they’re actually very good – called BELZEBUBS. Now, I know this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea; they ARE a bunch of corpse-painted LARPers, obviously, and yes, they DO sing about raising demons and howling at the Moon and so on and so forth. But, unlike a lot of other black metal bands, they don’t take themselves at all seriously.
But then I woke up this morning and read the following news:
I’ve been diagnosed with throat cancer. It’s clearly something to be respected and faced head on – but I’ve faced obstacles before. I’m working closely with my doctors, and we’ve mapped out a treatment plan which they feel has a 90% success rate… https://t.co/8FBQUmloSf pic.twitter.com/CPuu2UFPv1
— Dave Mustaine (@DaveMustaine) 17 June 2019
I’ve been diagnosed with throat cancer. It’s clearly something to be respected and faced head on – but I’ve faced obstacles before. I’m working closely with my doctors, and we’ve mapped out a treatment plan which they feel has a 90% success rate. Treatment has already begun.
Unfortunately, this requires that we cancel most shows this year. The 2019 Megacruise will happen, and the band will be a part of it in some form. All up to date information will be at megadeth.com as we get it. Megadeth will be back on the road ASAP.
Meanwhile, Kiko, David, Dirk and I are in the studio, working on the follow up to Dystopia – which I can’t wait for everyone to hear.
I’m so thankful for my whole team – family, doctors, band members, trainers, and more.
I’ll keep everyone posted.
See you soon,
Dave Mustaine
Aw hell…
Believe it or not, Dave Mustaine, and his brother-in-arms in MEGADETH, Dave Ellefson, are devout Christians. Those who know something of MEGADETH’s discography from back in the day will probably find that hard to comprehend, given songs like “Looking Down the Cross” (which is an amazing track, by the way) from Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!, and “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due” from the legendary Rust In Peace.
But actually, it was Dave’s adversities in the early 2000s that turned him into a born-again Christian and changed his life.
And now, one of the greatest musicians and influential guitarists of all time has been struck down with something similar to what afflicted Bruce Dickinson (a.k.a. THE VOICE OF GOD).
Sometimes, life just isn’t bloody fair. At all.
I once saw MEGADETH perform live at Madison Square Garden – not in the big stadium, but in the underground theatre at the venue. VOLBEAT and MOTORHEAD opened for them (!!!!!!!!). This was, I think, back in January 2012 – my memory is a bit fuzzy on the subject. It was a great gig, but the best moment in it occurred when a very young Elektra Mustaine – Dave’s daughter – was invited on-stage, because it was her birthday.
The band struck up a metalised version of “Happy Birthday” while Dave sang in his usual slightly off-key mumble-growl.
It was a really sweet moment for a kid who was maybe 13 years old at the time.
It is bad enough for us as fans of the band that Dave Mustaine has been hit with a cancer diagnosis. I cannot imagine what his family is going through right now.
I’ll be praying for Dave, that’s for sure. He needs all of the love and support that he can get.
In the meantime… here are a few videos, including ones from the original topic of the post, BELZEBUBS:
There is a really funny comment to that second video that says something like, “90% of a Finnish park ranger’s life is spent finding metal bands lost in the woods.” Can’t really argue with it.
Yeah, I know – like I said, not everyone’s cup of tea. What can I say, I like good melodic metal that doesn’t take itself too seriously. And, unlike most black metal bands, you can actually hear what the hell they’re playing and singing.
I’m not joking about that part, by the way. Most “true” black metal fans – bunch of neo-pagan LARPers if there ever was one – insist that real black metal has to sound like it was recorded inside a tin can. Which is to say, it sounds like growling and screaming over ear-melting static.
Anything that has good production values and clean sound is therefore “not TRUE metal”, or some such rubbish.
If anyone wants an idea for a hit black metal single that will be heralded as an instant classic by literally tens of people around the world, just crank up some radio static and gut-scream into your phone’s audio pickup, record that shit, and post it on YouTube with sufficiently disturbing Satanic imagery.
PROTIP: for extra “true cred”, use an accordion during recording. Because:
Y’know, I’m pretty sure that dude is an old friend of mine from Australia…
And now for some good old-fashioned thrash metal, from the best thrash band ever, in support of Dave Mustaine:
1 Comment
I'm a throat cancer survivor. It's got a high cure rate.
But the treatment is brutal – two months of intense chemo, with radiation every day.
I's been five years and I still have collateral damage. He'll be cured. He'll never be right again.
I thought it would be fun to blog about it, but soon found I lacked the energy or motivation. it's here FWIW – noeuphoria4you.blogspot.com/