David Ellefson Distances Himself From Early Megadeth vs. Metallica – ‘It Was Not My Feud’

Last week, former Megadeth bassist and current Dieth and Kings of Thrash member David Ellefson drew back from the early heavy metal "feud" between Megadeth and Metallica that Megadeth bandleader Dave Mustaine has again kicked up in recent interviews.

In fact, Ellefson said he was a "huge" Metallica fan.

But the bass player, who parted ways with Megadeth in 2021, also said he had to "toe the company line" while in Megadeth, signaling to the perceived Megadeth grudge toward Metallica.

Watch the video further down this post.

READ MORE: Dave Mustaine Names Only Ex-Megadeth Member Who's 'Ever Done Anything'

As metalheads likely well know, Mustaine, who was Metallica's founding lead guitarist, was kicked out of Metallica before he formed Megadeth back in the '80s.

Ellefson on Megadeth + Metallica

Regarding the "Megadeth–Metallica feud," Ellefson tells Riff Crew's The Realm, "Look, it was not my feud, because I was a huge Metallica fan. … I'm in the band with Dave, so I've gotta toe the company line. It's one of these, 'Hey, man, if you're my friend, you have to love my friends, and you've gotta hate my enemies with me.' You know how that is — 'We like that guy; that chick — fuck her; that sucks.'" (via Blabbermouth)

Ellefson continues, "I love Metallica. I hear the No Life 'Til Leather demo and it's frickin' awesome. And I still love their demo. And then [Metallica's debut] Kill 'Em All comes out. I remember the day we sat there in stone cold silence for like an hour while we listened to the Kill 'Em All album. And God bless Dave for just sort of biting the bullet and just going, 'Okay, I need to listen to this. What did they do to my songs?'"

Ellefson adds, "Obviously the first thing he sees is the writing credits. Stuff that he had written by himself, like 'Mechanix', now had the writing credits of [Metallica's] James [Hetfield] and Lars [Ulrich]. And to their credit, they did rewrite the lyrics — 'The Four Horsemen' is an entirely different lyrical thing."

Ellefson + Megadeth

Ellefson was let go from Megadeth in 2021 amid a sex scandal with a leaked video that seemed to put Ellefson in a compromising position. James LoMenzo replaced him after Testament's Steve Di Giorgio played bass on The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!, Megadeth's 2022 album.

Metallica's latest album is April's 72 Seasons. Metallica, Megadeth and Kings of Thrash are all separately on tour right now.

David Ellefson on The Realm - July 6, 2023