Another chapter has been added to the long-running feud between Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine and Metallica. For those unaware, Dave Mustaine was originally one of the founding members of Metallica but left the band shortly before the recording of their demo No Life ‘Til Leather. Being kicked out of the biggest metal band in history immediately before their first big break must weigh heavy on Dave Mustaine because Megadeath’s former bassist Dave Ellefson has stated that the rift between him and Mustaine also surrounded a recording of No Life ‘Til Leather. 

It might sound strange that a forty year old demo which never saw a wide public release led to the deterioration of one of the world’s biggest thrash metal acts but it seems that’s exactly what happened. According to Metalinjection, this sordid tale begins around 2015 when Metallica planned to officially release No Life ‘Til Leather. However, these plans were scrapped because Mustaine demanded songwriting credits and royalties for several of the tracks. Metallica (no strangers to obstinate positions surrounding intellectual property claims) were so incensed by this request that they shelved the release altogether. 

Apparently, in direct response to this saga, Mustaine approached Ellefson with the idea of a rerecording of No Life ‘Til Leather entirely performed by Megadeth. This idea was summarily rejected by Ellefson. To hear Ellefson tell it, it was this refusal to go along with Mustaine’s ideas which led to his ouster from the band. This is a dramatically different tale than the previously accepted version which involved well substantiated allegations of child grooming and sexual predation leveled against Ellefson. Mustaine has not released any comment in response to Ellefson’s claims and the actual truth of Mustaine and Ellefson’s relationship is unknown beyond the fact that they are no longer on good terms after a forty year long working relationship. As with so many things of this nature, it seems that it ultimately boils down to a case of he said, she said.