The feud between Metallica and Megadeth‘s Dave Mustaine has long been declared over, but we may now be entering something of a cold war period between the two.
You may recall when Mustaine wondered what Metallica was “afraid of” in apparently refusing to play shows with Megadeth in a February Guitar World interview. Speaking with Guitar World again in a new interview posted Monday, June 19, Mustaine gave what might be considered a backhanded compliment to ‘Tallica guitarist Kirk Hammett.
Mustaine, of course, was Metallica’s original lead guitarist before he was fired and replaced by Hammett. In the new Guitar World interview, Mustaine comments on Hammett’s take on solos he played with Metallica before his departure.
“The truth is Kirk did me an honor by trying to play my solos on those early songs the way he did,” Mustaine says.
“I think that some people would have just started over again,” Mustaine continues. “So, I thought it was honorable that Kirk took my solos and did his best to play them as I did. That couldn’t have been easy.”
As “honorable” as Hammett playing his solos might be, one might interpret Mustaine’s comments as implying that Hammett didn’t play them as well as him.
Either way, Mustaine says Hammett’s “always been really good.”
“He’s been steady the entire time he’s been in Metallica,” Mustaine says. “But does that mean Kirk Hammett is Dave Mustaine? No. And is Dave Mustaine Kirk Hammett? Also, no.”
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