Guys, back cover text below, but just a few opening words. This was going to be two separate books, but at the last minute, I just rolled a fattie: 152,180 words of Mega-metal.

Basically, it’s the story in detail of ever accursed Megadeth opus, featuring a ton of fresh interview footage, my usual track-by-track analysis, talk of all the tours, the hirings, the firings, the chemicals, but mostly the metal.

It’s 340 pages and more text than usual (but still lot of pictures), in my usual style, namely live shots mixed with all manner of memorabilia.

It’s a tiny bit more expensive because of increased layout and printing and costs, more postage at this weight, plus the months and months of writing that almost killed me. I actually started this thing almost two years ago and it’s got stuff from 32 of my own interviews plus the usual smattering of archival. It’s an epic, and I’m sure even the most dedicated Mega-fan will learn a bunch of stuff. Seriously, it’s the material of two standard books for sorta $4 more than one. And as the back sez:

My Darkest Hour...

Megadeth’s run of thrash classics from the mid ‘80s and up through the ‘90s continue to be celebrated in the metal community long after Dave Mustaine’s band mates have been discarded to the sands of time—save one, Dave “Jr.” Ellefson.

Along the way, there’s Mustaine’s pathology with his ex-friends in Metallica but also a helluva lot of killer metal, as the band works its way up through Peace Sells and So Far, through to the pair of superlative American metal classics, namely Rust In Peace and Countdown To Extinction.

Later came Cryptic Writings and Risk, which threatened to kill the band dead. And yet... the reconstitution of Megadeth after their demoralizing decline and then deflating dispersal at the destructive hand of its leader Dave Mustaine is a story not told ‘til now. But it is a tale worth telling for many reasons, perhaps starting with: a) its instructiveness on how to rebuild and maintain a career in metal and b) the revelations of so much good music to be discovered by metal fans the world over. Quite simply, the recent half of the Megadeth story, spanning the records The World Needs A Hero through Super Collider, includes some of the best and heaviest Megadeth music ever committed to shiny silver, with this author’s personal favourites arriving all over the Endgame album of 2009 and the Thirteen album of 2013.

Come celebrate Mustaine’s vision, track-by-track, as Martin applies his tried and tested methodology to a head-crunching canon of work that is truly as strong at the recent end of the spectrum as it is with the classics you all know and love.

Prices for Sweating Bullets including shipping (the book will be signed, by me, to you, unless otherwise requested):

PayPal happily accepted! Ask me if you'd like a PayPal invoice (please indicate what country you are in), or just do yer usual and direct funds to [email protected].

Sweet postage savings to be had for multiple orders (or two of pretty much anything—long story, ask me!). Given new mailing system, works best for US orders.