Dave Mustaine says he and Metallica are “better off now than we’ve been for a long time”

Megadeth‘s Dave Mustaine has given a positive update on his ever-shifting relationship with his former Metallica bandmates.

Mustaine, of course, was Metallica’s original lead guitarist before he was infamously fired from the band in 1983. Frontman James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich then replaced him with Kirk Hammett, who’s remained in Metallica ever since.

“It took a while for James and Lars and I to kind of come around and become friends again,” Mustaine tells Consequence. “But I would say we’re probably better off now than we’ve been for a long time.”

Mustaine’s comments may be surprising, at it seemed that he was reigniting the rivalry in recent months. In a February Guitar World interview, Mustaine suggested that Metallica was “afraid” of playing shows with Megadeth.

“It comes and goes,” Mustaine says of the relationship. “I think the emotions between all of us, it’s probably understandable for a lot of people who break up with someone, it’s like a marriage and you part ways and sometimes you try and justify in your head the decision that you make. And sometimes the facts are all you need, and other times you feel compelled to kinda tell the story and you don’t really need to.” 

“I just look at that whole period with Metallica as something that was really great for me,” he adds. “And I wish them the best.”