Megadeth are "actively working" on their next studio album.
The Thrash metal legends have been busy in the studio making the follow-up to 2022's 'The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!'
Bassist James LoMenzo told Portugal's 'Metal Global': “We’re actively working on music right now.
“We’re talking with Dave [Mustaine, Megadeth’s singer/guitarist] every day. Dave really wants to do another record and just get something fresh out there.”
James didn't appear on the previous outing, with session player Steve Di Giorgio recording the bass parts, as he had only just replaced David Ellefson, who was let go amid a sex scandal.
He said: “The last one I thought was great.
“When I had just joined the band, they just finished recording it. I begged, I pleaded, I said, 'I know, I know, I know, but could I please play bass on this?’ ’Cause there’s a few things I had heard were so great.
“And they were, like, ‘We’ve been doing this for two years. We just have to get on the road. It’s done.’ I was, like, ‘All right.’
“But Steve Di Giorgio did an amazing job. I really love the way he played on this. And I enjoy playing his style.”
Dave was going through treatment for throat cancer in 2019, but still soldiered on with the record.
However, the hardest part of all was dealing with "chemo brain".
He told Total Guitar in 2022: "I think it did (distract him), to a degree.
"The toughest part wasn't the process of going through all the radiation and chemotherapy, a lot of the cancer medication they gave me f***** with my memory really bad.
"They call it chemo brain, so I've been having a hard time staying in the moment, but it's getting better."
And when asked whether he's thinking of retiring, Dave insisted for as long as he can still pick up and play his instrument, he'll keep shredding.
He replied: "When I got sick I had been talking a lot about playing out a little less.
"Now, if anything, I want to tour more and just carry on until the end when I actually can't do it anymore.
"I'm not talking about the time when I don't want to do it anymore.
"I mean when it's not possible for me to do.
"When I can't do it, that's when I'm not gonna want to do it."
