Former Megadeth bass guitar player David Ellefson has formed a new band called Dieth.
Comprised of Ellefson, former Entombed A.D. electric guitar player Guilherme Miranda, guitarist Michał Grall and former Decapitated drummer Michal Łysejko, the band are based in Gdańsk, Poland, and have premiered their first single, In the Hall of the Hanging Serpents.
You can hear the thrash-y song, and watch its appropriately bloody music video, below.
“The three of us have all been recognized in our respective bands and careers but at some point, we had to close the door on those exploits to let something new begin and now we have found it in Dieth," Ellefson said of the new band in a statement.
"In fact, the name itself is about dying to one’s past so that something new can spring forth to create the next chapter of life. And, that is a connection the three of us hold in common.”
"Personally, it was a matter of life or death to come back playing music," added Miranda. "To do something truly meaningful and finally cope with the anger and grief. (Lars-Göran Petrov, the singer of Miranda's band, Entombed A.D., died in March 2021 after battling bile duct cancer).
"Sometimes you have to die inside to be reborn. This is what Dieth represents, a new sonic driving force that leaves the past behind.”
Ellefson was fired from Megadeth in May 2021 after a series of intimate videos and conversations featuring Ellefson and a teenaged fan were leaked on Twitter.
Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine recently commented on the decision to part ways with Ellefson – who played with the legendary thrash outfit from 1983 to 2002, and then again from 2010 up until his firing – saying it was “a hard decision that had to be made.”
“I have made mistakes myself and so I know what it feels like to have people gunning for you,” Mustaine told Metal Hammer. “But what we had to remember is that Megadeth has a lot of moving parts to it. There are four band members, you’ve got their families, their management companies, the agencies, all of their technicians and on and on and on.”
“All I wanted to do was make a clean break, and not hurt anyone, not hurt the fans and not hurt him. I just wanted to move on, and I hope the gentleman concerned is doing okay. I imagine there was some adjustment that had to take place when it happened.”
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