Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine discussed Metallica ‘poaching’ Cliff Burton in a new Trunk Nation interview.
“I don’t really think there was a decision to be made. Chris is a part of Lamb of God and that was his first love.
“We would have liked to have had him in Megadeth, but he was a member of Lamb of God. I’m not a homewrecker; I don’t like to break bands up.
“I know when Cliff left Trauma to join Metallica, that really bothered me ’cause of some of the stuff people said that were Trauma fans – they said some nasty stuff about us.
“I remember that, and I promised myself I’m never gonna poach people from other people’s bands. If there’s somebody I wanna play with, I’m gonna make sure that they’re not in a band with someone else at the time.”
He later discussed working on new Megadeth music with Kiko Loureiro and Dirk Verbeuren:
“[I started working on new Megadeth music] a little bit. I’m being particular, because I figured if I can at least do as good as [latest Megadeth album, 2016’s] ‘Dystopia,’ then we’re great. And I believe I can do that.
“Going into the studio now, I’m gonna have Kiko and Dirk come out, and we’re gonna start writing. It’s gonna be exciting for me, because Kiko’s just a wealth of talent as far as guitar playing is concerned.
“And after Chris got into the studio and inspired me with his modern drumming, Dirk was the drummer that Chris actually recommended for us.
“Knowing how much Chris is a fan of Megadeth and how much he wanted to play with us, he knew he couldn’t and said that Dirk was the guy. And Dirk definitely is the guy – he’s got some talent that I can’t wait to unleash in the studio.”
