DAVE MUSTAINE

The Rhythm Master HISTORY

Dave Mustaine was a key component in Metallica’s early days – heck, he even did all the between-song banter because James Hetfield was too shy.

When he moved on to Megadeth, he took thrash in a more progressive direction, leading to one of the genre’s undisputed classics with 1990’s Rust

InPeace. Mustaine has kept Megadeth going strong (sans a brief hiatus) ever since with a variety of lineups, and received the ultimate validation with Megadeth’s first Grammy win for their 2016 Dystopia album. GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS

Mustaine’s work with Megadeth alone earns him a key place in thrash history, but we must remember that he was also instrumental in creating Metallica’s guitar sound, teaching James Hetfield the riffs to classics like “The Four Horsemen” and “Jump In The Fire”, and working with Hetfield to fine-tune the palm-muted, aggressively-picked, complex beast that is thrash rhythm guitar.

Without Mustaine’s influence on Hetfield, Metallica would sound very different, and without Megadeth’s influence on thrash, there’s no telling what modern metal would sound like. WHERE TO START Jump In The Fire (Metallica but written by Mustaine) Everything you need to learn about early thrash guitar is in here. BOSS LEVEL Holy Wars . . .The Punishment Due

The time shifts, the complex riffs, the wild soloing… “Holy Wars” still sounds state-of-the-art today.