MetalInsider.net recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

MetalInsider.net: So I'm going to start with the elephant in the room that I'm sure you're getting asked at every single interview lately. The "Big Four" tour with MEGADETH, SLAYER, METALLICA and ANTHRAX — any truth to that rumor?

Mustaine: You know, there's no way to answer any questions about METALLICA for me. If I answer them politely, I get reamed. If I answer them funny, I get reamed. If I say something like when I said I believed my record was better than theirs, and even in that comment I said that they've got plenty of records that are better than anything that I've done, except this one… And for once it's nice to be on the opposite side. That was taken apart. "I think my record's better than theirs." Well, you didnt finish the sentence, you twat. I have no desire to answer any questions, at all, about METALLICA. If something comes up, you'll know, but as far as I'm concerned, I can't say anything about those guys, and I won't.

MetalInsider.net: Fair enough, I'm definitely not trying to draw you into controversy.

Mustaine: It's not you my friend, it's the readers and the listeners. And then it's the tabloid-rag-sensationalism writers that don't really deserve a place in the metal community because one of the things that was really great about the metal community is we weren't these back-biting bottom-feeders that we've become right now. In the beginning, it was all about a sense of community. The writers and the bands were friends of one another. They had the right and they had the respect of the bands even to give their opinion about the music. While you might not have gotten a great review, it wasn't one of these reviews where you walk away feeling like youre subhuman, and "God, what a dumbass I am to have written such a stupid record." When you walk away feeling like that and you're the artist and they're not, it just makes you feel kind of dirty. There's some magazines that I can't even read anymore. Magazines in the beginning that were the only credible source of heavy metal, and now they don't even cover heavy metal, now it's like alternative music and stuff. How can you cover alternative music if you were built on metal?

MetalInsider.net: I told a co-worker that I was interviewing you, and he said, "Does he have any idea how 'Holy Wars…The Punishment Due' holds up today stronger than it even has?" Do you think about that, or is it just another song from your body of work that happens to line up with current events?

Mustaine: I think it would be absolutely disrespectful to say that "Holy Wars" was just another song. It would be disrespectful to myself to even say that. It's an anthem. It's a song that speaks the truth of every man that is walking the face of the earth right now. We don't know why we kill one another, but we do it. We go and we blindly follow our leaders and we don't even know what were doing. I just did an interview with [syndicated radio host] Alex Jones the other day and it is so frightening what is going on in politics right now with Obama becoming the president of the UN and the president to the U.S. He is the single most powerful man in the world right now. You can hear the bells of the new world order ringing itself into power.

MetalInsider.net: What do you think of the current regime?

Mustaine: He's my president. I'm a patriot. All I'm talking about is events and stuff like this. As far as taking any credibility shots at our president, I would never do that. I think that looking back when they're out of office, you can look at an administration's work and you can certainly have your opinion, but for me, I really try to not be disrespectful to our incumbent president. It's real easy to make fun of Bush, because he was just such a clod and he couldn't help it for himself. I wouldn't have the song "Endgame" if it werent for him. And thank god for Lou Dobbs, because if it wasn't for him, he would have never brought to the light this whole thing with NAFTA and with New World Order. George H. W. Bush said from the podium in the House of Representatives (that) he welcomed in the New World Order. You don't say stuff like that. "New world" and "order" in a sentence being uttered by a president with no words or pauses in between, that's scary. The other thing, too, is that when you look at one currency, well, we have the euro that's already established in Europe and they're trying to develop the amero right now, and once that's done, you've got world currencies narrowed down now to two huge territories that use a single currency for each one. That stuff is frightening. Now do I believe that Jesus was an alien? Do I believe in Hanger 18? Do I believe that Obama shook hands with a Martian? No, but do I believe that there's higher life forms than us? It's funny when you think about dudes that sit around and eat LSD and they just trip out on the world. When you really think about what that is, your mind is just being opened up to the splendor of the universe and things are so magnificently made. When you get to a point in your life where you get grateful, you really start to appreciate stuff. Sometimes you wonder how come people, when they get older, get kind of mellow in their old age. Well, I dont know that it's mellow, they kind of stop being a prick because they get grateful and some point. Some people learn really early on to be grateful. I've been grateful my entire career. In my personal life, there's been times where I've been an ingrate, but that's part of learning and growing and I made a huge change in my life back in 2002. And, you know, it's a daily walk every day.

MetalInsider.net: SLAYER obviously isnt too keen on Christianity or religion in general, do you have any qualms about playing with a band like that?

Mustaine: I don't really know where you're getting that from, because we hear conflicting stories. Tom [Araya; SLAYER bassist/vocalist] is supposed to be a Christian or a Catholic, I believe, and I believe Dave Lombardo [SLAYER drummer is] a Christian too, but it's none of my business. I know Kerry's [King, SLAYER guitarist] a good guy deep down inside. People don't really understand him. I remember him back from when he was really young and we were friends back then. Does me praying for Kerry make his butt itch at night? But if he knew what I was praying for, he'd probably smile, because I'm personally praying that we'll be friends again. Praying that we'll have a great tour and that it will be fun for them to be out with us because three of the guys from MEGADETH weren't even in the band when this happened. It's not their fight. What I said was 19 years ago and it was regrettable, but it certainly wasnt unprovoked. We were all just high octane at that time, Mike Muir [SUICIDAL TENDENCIES vocalist] was out on that tour too, and Muir wanted to fight me, if you remember. I had to go up to him and say, "Look, dude, if we're going to fight, let's fight after the tour like gentleman. Fortunately for me, he respected that because he was a big guy and he probably would have stamped me pretty good. I doubt that I would have lost. I don't know that anybody doesn't lose. When you get in a fight, there's never a winner. And the thing is I totally respect Mike, always have, but we had this difference; it was so bad. The problem was I said something and it was taken out of context again by a journalist.

Read the entire interview at MetalInsider.net.