Dave Mustaine (Megadeth) explains which death metal bands he likes

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has shared his thoughts on death metal vocals, explaining that he tends to prefer bands whose singers use a wider range of vocal techniques. His comments came during a November 2026 interview with New Zealand’s Mammoth Metal TV.

Asked whether he enjoys any death metal bands despite the genre’s frequently harsh vocal approach, Mustaine replied that he appreciates the physical effort required to perform extreme vocals but favors musicians who also explore conventional singing.

Mustaine discusses vocal versatility

Well, see, here’s the thing. I like bands that have a singer. But I can appreciate the effort that the singers in these death metal bands go to because it is an instrument and you have to take really good care of it. I think when the guys put a little bit more effort forward and they sing a little bit more, it gives them more colors in their palette wheel for them to sing with. An example would be [Pantera’s] ‘Cemetery Gates’, where Phil [Anselmo] sings one way and he sings another way, and they all work together. But some other singers, because they sing in that growl, going into a singing voice would turn off a lot of their fans.

I think from the very beginning you should explore — whatever you can do with your gifts, try it. Because on our first album, we had a song with two different vocal tracks. I had a high-pitched vocal track and a low-pitched vocal track right under it. The same exact track as the high one was in ‘Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!’. And then ‘Appetite [For Destruction’]’ came out, and I heard ‘Mr. Brownstone’ was the same thing with a low voice and a high voice. ‘Cause we were hanging out with Slash all the time, and he almost joined Megadeth at one point. So, we did a lot of guitar playing together. Great guitar player. I thought he was really good. Not a metal guy, but…

Upcoming Megadeth shows

Upcoming shows:

• Saturday, November 07, 2026 – Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand
• Sunday, November 08, 2026 – Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand
• Wednesday, November 11, 2026 – Entertainment Centre, Adelaide, Australia
• Friday, November 13, 2026 – AAMI Park, Melbourne, Australia
• Sunday, November 15, 2026 – Allianz Stadium, Sydney, Australia
• Wednesday, November 18, 2026 – Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Australia
• Thursday, November 19, 2026 – Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Australia
• Monday, February 22, 2027 – Grand Cube, Osaka, Japan
• Wednesday, February 24, 2027 – Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan
• Thursday, February 25, 2027 – Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan
• Tuesday, March 09, 2027 – The SSE Arena, Belfast, United Kingdom
• Thursday, March 11, 2027 – OVO Arena Wembley, London, United Kingdom
• Friday, March 12, 2027 – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, United Kingdom
• Saturday, March 13, 2027 – Co-op Live, Manchester, United Kingdom
• Monday, March 15, 2027 – Utilita Arena, Cardiff, United Kingdom
• Tuesday, March 16, 2027 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow, United Kingdom
• Thursday, March 18, 2027 – bp pulse LIVE, Birmingham, United Kingdom
• Friday, March 19, 2027 – First Direct Arena, Leeds, United Kingdom
• Sunday, March 21, 2027 – Zénith Paris – La Villette, Paris, France
• Tuesday, March 23, 2027 – Forest National, Brussels, Belgium
• Wednesday, March 24, 2027 – AFAS Live, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Thursday, March 25, 2027 – Mitsubishi Electric HALLE, Düsseldorf, Germany
• Saturday, March 27, 2027 – K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Sunday, March 28, 2027 – Oslo Spektrum, Oslo, Norway
• Tuesday, March 30, 2027 – Sporthalle, Hamburg, Germany
• Thursday, April 01, 2027 – Velodrom, Berlin, Germany
• Friday, April 02, 2027 – Tauron Arena, Krakow, Poland
• Sunday, April 04, 2027 – Zenith, Munich, Germany
• Monday, April 05, 2027 – Festhalle Bern, Bern, Switzerland
• Tuesday, April 06, 2027 – Unipol Forum, Milan, Italy
• Thursday, April 08, 2027 – Halle Tony Garnier, Lyon, France
• Saturday, April 10, 2027 – Olimpic Arena, Barcelona, Spain
• Monday, April 12, 2027 – Movistar Arena, Madrid, Spain
• Tuesday, April 13, 2027 – Sagres Campo Pequeno, Lisbon, Portugal

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