BLABBERMOUTH.NET
TESTAMENT's longtime bassist
Steve Di Giorgio is rumored to have laid down the bass tracks on the new
MEGADETH album.
The speculation about
Di Giorgio's involvement in the LP is based on a
Cameo video
Dave Mustaine recorded in which he offered the first glimpse of the bassist that re-recorded
David Ellefson's bass tracks on the much-anticipated
MEGADETH effort. In the clip, the
MEGADETH leader could be seen walking around a studio where he showed engineer
Chris Rakestraw sitting behind the studio console as well as the mystery bassist "hiding behind the chair on the floor." Although it was impossible to tell who the bassist was based on the video, the musician appeared to be using the same brand of
Ibanez bass played by
Di Giorgio.
Di Giorgio is widely renowned as a pioneer on the fretless bass in heavy metal music, having played with
TESTAMENT,
DEATH and
SADUS, among others. Within his genre,
Steve is respected for his playing skills, versatility and incredible technique. He has more than 40 studio album recordings and over 20 years of touring the world.
Ellefson laid down his bass tracks on
MEGADETH's sixteenth LP in May 2020 at a studio in Nashville, Tennessee. A short time later, he raved about his performance on the record, telling the
96.7 KCAL-FM radio program
"Wired In The Empire" that his musical chemistry with
MEGADETH drummer
Dirk Verbeuren was comparable to the interplay between
Geddy Lee and
Neil Peart on classic
RUSH albums. "I feel like on the new
MEGADETH record, me and
Dirk have those same moments," he said. "It's
MEGADETH — it's not
RUSH, obviously — but in the field of what we do, there were these moments that I was just going, 'Oh, my God.' This is me as a kid going, 'This is my
Geddy/
Neil moment right here.'"
Last month,
Mustaine announced during an episode of his
Gimme Radio program
"The Dave Mustaine Show" that
Ellefson's bass tracks would not be used on the new
MEGADETH LP.
"I just wanna thank you for all the kinds words and support as we get ready for this next tour and continue to hunt for a new bass player," the
MEGADETH leader said. "We are making progress. The record's being completed, and we're gonna have someone coming in in a couple of weeks to replace the bass tracks that we had. Which should be relatively quick because the person we're talking to is a stellar bass player. And hopefully this will be an ongoing thing after the recording.
Or we will find someone prior to the recording that will be our permanent guy going forward."
Ellefson was dismissed from
MEGADETH in late May, just days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on
Twitter. The longtime
MEGADETH member later released a statement on
Instagram denying all social media chatter that he "groomed" an underage fan. He also filed a report with the police department in Scottsdale, Arizona alleging unlawful distribution of sexually explicit images of
Ellefson by unknown offenders. In the report,
Ellefson admitted that he had been exchanging sexual text messages with a Dutch teenager, who captured a video of several of their virtual "masturbating encounters" without his consent and shared them with friends. (According to
Ellefson, the woman was 19 at the time of their first virtual sexual encounter.) The 56-year-old
Ellefson, who lives in Scottsdale, first became aware of the video on May 9, when the claim "
David Ellefson of
MEGADETH is a pedophile" appeared on
Instagram.
Ellefson told police he was notified on May 14 by
MEGADETH that the band would be parting ways with him. Three days later, he was fired.
On May 24,
Mustaine — who formed
MEGADETH with
Ellefson in 1983 — announced the bassist's departure from the band, saying, "We do not take this decision lightly. While we do not know every detail of what occurred, with an already strained relationship, what has already been revealed now is enough to make working together impossible moving forward,"
Mustaine wrote. Two days later,
Ellefson released a follow-up statement in which he vowed to file a "defamation lawsuit" against the person who "illegally posted a very private video" of the bassist and made "false allegations" against him. He also said he was working with the police in Scottsdale "in their investigation into charges regarding revenge pornography to be filed against the person who posted the video. This person will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,"
Ellefson wrote. He went on to say that he was "taking this time to be with my family" and wished his "bandmates" the best with their upcoming tour.
MEGADETH is currently scheduled to take part in
"The Metal Tour Of The Year" with
LAMB OF GOD, beginning on August 20 in Austin.
MEGADETH is also slated to appear at the
SLIPKNOT-curated
Knotfest in September in Iowa.
Ellefson was in
MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest departure.
David, who studied for a year at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in St. Louis nearly a decade ago, and his wife
Julie Ellefson have been married for 27 years. They have two children.