"It's the way the riffs are picked that makes them exciting"

MEGADETH LEADER DAVE MUSTAINE SHAPED THE SOUND OF THRASH METAL WITH HIS FAST RIGHT HAND. AND NOW, HAVING SURVIVED CANCER, HE'S IN NO MOOD TO SLOW DOWN...

- Jon Wiederhorn

He is one of the most influential guitar players in the entire history of heavy metal, and he's still H pushing himself hard. It was all of 39 years ago that Dave Mustaine created Megadeth as the self-proclaimed 'state of the art speed metal band', but on their new album - The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead! - there's a song called Night Stalkers that represents a personal best for Mustaine in terms of pure velocity. "I think that's the fastest song we've ever done," he says. "190 bpm. It needed that frantic pace because the song is about a secret helicopter division of the military. But it took a while to get working up to that speed."

Playing hard and fast is how Mustaine made his name in the early 80s as one of the pioneers of thrash metal - first as lead guitarist in Metallica, then as the undisputed leader of Megadeth on seminal albums such as Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good! and Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? In the following decade, with shred king Marty Friedman in the band, a more technical approach was adopted on multi-platinum classics Rust In Peace and Countdown To Extinction. And after Mustaine recovered from an arm injury that threatened to end his guitar-playing career, he bounced back with a string of records that showcased his exceptional syncopated riffing and rapid-fire lead guitar work. He thinks about this for a moment. "Sometimes," he smiles, "the best things for me come after I'm told I can't do something. I'm like, 'Oh, yeah? Watch me!""