David Ellefson tells a story
Megadeth bassist David Ellefson talked about the band's beginnings, explaining why they increased the speed of their music.
According to the bassist, one of the reasons Megadeth became a Thrash Metal band was a fan letter. Check out Ellefson's comments:
“The first Megadeth songs we wrote were quite slow. The Skull Beneath The Skin, Looking Down The Cross, and The Conjuring were songs that didn't have fast tempos. Kill 'Em All had just come out, and many of its songs were slower than on the demo that Mustaine played, “No Life 'Till Leather,” so a fan wrote to Mustaine saying, 'I really hope your songs are faster than Metallica's.' From there, we got excited, and all the songs became 20, 30, or 40 bpm faster. That letter probably changed the history of Megadeth. It encouraged Mustaine to want to be on top, to be better, and unleashed all the ferocious energy that existed in the band. That's what made Megadeth a true Thrash band.”.