FEAR FACTORY guitarist Dino Cazares has weighed in on David Ellefson‘s dismissal from MEGADETH, saying “some stuff” was likely “going on behind the scenes that we just don’t know about.”
Cazares addressed MEGADETH‘s decision to fire Ellefson while being interviewed by Rocking With Jam Man about FEAR FACTORY‘s upcoming album, “Aggression Continuum”.
When Jam Man opined that it’s “not fair at all” that Ellefson lost his MEGADETH gig over allegations of sexual misconduct, Dino said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, we don’t really know what his relationship is with [MEGADETH leader] Dave Mustaine. I know that there’s been a lot of water under the bridge with those guys; I know they’ve had some turmoil issues that were going on. So, who knows? Who really knows? I don’t know. If it’s just based on what happened, then I would say it’s unfair. But I’m sure there’s stuff behind the scenes that we don’t know that’s going on… As Dave [Mustaine] stated in the press release [announcing Ellefson‘s exit], he said it was a ‘strained relationship,’ so, obviously, some stuff was going on behind the scenes that we just don’t know about.”
Dino also offered his opinion on the so-called cancel culture — where public figures are torn down after publicly judged for transgressions, perceived or real. He said: “We’re in a whole new era now [where] everybody’s ready to destroy you and destroy your career without even giving anybody a second chance or without even actually finding out the truth. So, it’s unfortunate that’s where we’re at these days.”
MEGADETH fired Ellefson two weeks after the leak of the bassist’s messages and videos featuring a woman who is not his wife.
On May 10, several sexually explicit videos of Ellefson were leaked by an anonymous third party on the Internet and shared to Twitter; at least two of the videos revealed him masturbating. The longtime MEGADETH member later released a statement on Instagram denying all social media chatter that he “groomed” an underage fan.
Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band’s inception in 1983 to 2002, when the group briefly broke up because mainman Dave Mustaine suffered severe nerve damage that left him unable to play. After Mustaine reformed MEGADETH with an all-new lineup in 2004, Ellefson sued his former bandmate for $18.5 million, alleging that Mustaine still owed him substantial merchandise and publishing royalties. In January 2005, the case was dismissed in court, and five years later, Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH.
“Aggression Continuum” will be released on June 18 via Nuclear Blast Records. The disc features Cazares; drummer Mike Heller; and former vocalist, lyricist, and co-founder Burton C. Bell. It was produced and engineered by Damien Rainaud (DRAGONFORCE, ONCE HUMAN), with keyboards by Igor Khoroshev (ex-YES), and programming on two songs from longtime collaborator Rhys Fulber (FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY). “Aggression Continuum” was mixed by Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, TRIVIUM), who also mixed FEAR FACTORY‘s previous album, 2015’s “Genexus”.
