Dave Mustaine has shared some more choice words about Metallica. In a new interview with Guitar World, the Megadeth bandleader talked about the way his old bandmates supposedly characterized him in the years following his dismissal from Metallica, which incentivized him to go ahead and kickstart Megadeth.
At one point, the interviewer asked Mustaine how he perceives the competition between Metallica and Megadeth, and after stating that "there is no competition," Mustaine expressed his frustrations with the way his old band allegedly regards his contributions to their music.
"Remember, Metallica got a big head start, and they did so on the back of what I helped create," Mustaine said. "They became one of the biggest bands in the world, and here's one of the biggest bands wasting their breath trying to discredit me by saying, 'Dave's not a good guitar player.'
"Excuse me, what the fuck did you say? I think I wrote many of the songs that made you famous, so you probably should recheck that bullshit statement. But this is the shit those guys say, and you've got the sheep who follow them around believing it."
Elsewhere in the interview, Mustaine was asked directly to share how he feels he's influenced Metallica over the years.
"In the early days, I was the only guitar player in the band and wrote some of the songs that ended up on their earlier records," Mustaine explained. "So for a guy who 'couldn't play guitar,' I sure did fucking influence things. The only reason James [Hetfield] even played guitar early on was that we couldn't find anyone else."
"Also, early on, James was terrified to talk to the crowd, and I would look at him and say, "Talk, man. Get up there and fucking talk," but James didn't do it. He stayed in the background, and he's the fucking singer ... That's how it was until I left, James only started talking to the audience after I left; he had no choice.
"And most of what I said on stage was things James would then copy after I left. So how do I view my influence on Metallica? It's pretty fucking deep."
Despite all of his qualms with Metallica, Mustaine once again reiterated that he'd love for them and Megadeth play together again one day, but claimed that Metallica are too "afraid" to make that happen for some reason.
"I wanted things to be reconciled and to be friends," Mustaine said of the bad blood with his old band. "But for whatever reason, they didn't. And Metallica is represented by the same agent as Megadeth, and I've asked our agent, "You're Metallica's agent, too; why won't those guys play with us? What are they afraid of?"
"The fact is simple," Mustaine added. "The world wants to see Megadeth and Metallica play together ... Does Megadeth need Metallica? No. But Metallica talks about their fans, but they don't give them what they've been asking for. What are they afraid of? I don't know. It's not me; it's them."
