Megadeth are heading toward the finale: a final album, a final tour, and no grand comebacks

The metal world was shaken last year when Dave Mustaine officially confirmed that the upcoming, eponymous album Megadeth will be the definitive final studio chapter of one of the greatest thrash metal legends.
The seventeenth album is set to be released later this year and will close a career spanning more than four decades, during which the band helped shape the sound and direction of extreme metal.

The new record will be exceptional for several reasons. It will be the only Megadeth studio album featuring guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari, who replaced Kiko Loureiro in 2023, and it will also include a striking nod to the past – a cover version of Metallica's "Ride The Lightning." Mustaine was still involved as a songwriter on that track in the early 1980s, before the paths of the two bands dramatically diverged.

The album's release will be followed by an extensive world tour, serving not only as promotion for the new material but also as a major celebration of Megadeth's entire history. Fans will thus get one last chance to see Mustaine and company live. One thing, however, is already clear: there will be no parade of former members.

In interviews with Guitar World and Guitar.com, Mustaine once again confirmed that he does not plan to bring back ex-members during the farewell tour. The only exception remains Marty Friedman, who already joined the band on stage in 2023.
"When you look at all the people we've ever played with, there are a lot of them," Mustaine explains. "It would be a huge thing, and honestly – I don't feel the need to do it. I want fans to simply enjoy Megadeth's music. I don't want to turn it into some kind of Megadeth puppet show."

Mustaine also touched on more personal matters in the interviews. Reflecting on the late drummer Gar Samuelson, he admitted that such losses make him think about his own fortune and the fragility of life.
"On one hand, I'm grateful that I'm still here. On the other, sometimes I think: damn… that could just as easily have been me."

According to Mustaine, the decision to end things now is tied to his desire to leave on his own terms.
"A lot of musicians end up stopping by accident or because they have to. Very few get the chance to walk away on their own terms and on top. And that's exactly where I am right now."

The end of Megadeth, then, will not be a sentimental reunion, but a consciously closed chapter. One last album, one last tour, and a clear full stop to the story of a band that has left an indelible mark on metal history.