Greg Prato of UGO recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

UGO: What can fans expect from the next MEGADETH album?

David Ellefson: We are working on it now so it’s a bit early to encapsulate what the final will ultimately sound like. I think we know the punch and impact we want it to have but also not be afraid to let new ideas develop, too. Just know it will be heavy, hooky, and have the trademarks you’d come to expect from us.

UGO: Any idea when it will be released?

David Ellefson: I know the business side want to lock in schedules for release but sometimes you can’t contain a creative process AND a schedule. It just needs to flow. For us, the scheduling is second to making a great record. It will be done when it’s done.

UGO: Dave [Mustaine] once told me in an interview that he wrote the bass line to “Peace Sells”. Do you agree or disagree?

David Ellefson: He created the riffs and the lyric. It was one of those songs that just fell into place from top to bottom within a couple hours once we were all in the band room together jamming on it. It was the first time that ever happened in MEGADETH up to that point, actually. In fact, most of our “singles” have been like that over the years. I think it says something about the magic of spontaneity when writing. Plus, there is chemistry within every line-up that can never be duplicated either. I think that’s why our fans gravitate toward various albums because there is an identifiable spark with those musicians that created those exact songs together at that specific moment in time.

Read the entire interview from UGO.