All images courtesy of Dirk Verbeuren/5Bam Management


By Andrew Daly
andrew@vinylwriter.com

For veteran drummer Dirk Verbeuren, the torrid process of promoting his first full-length record with Megadeth has been a labor of love years in the making.

Cherry-picked from Swedish death metal outfit Soilwork in 2016, Verbeuren was bandleader Dave Mustaine’s first choice and one which proved immediate dividends. Soon, the double bass pounding drummer’s tsunami-like pedigree washed over Megadeth, resulting in immediate chemistry.

To say Verbeuren provided the Bay Area legends a quick shot in the arm would be an understatement. Verbeuren’s veritable personality and inherent focus would prove salient as Mustaine’s cancer diagnosis left Megadeth’s future in doubt.

In perhaps the most uncertain time in Megadeth’s history, Dave Mustaine, Kiko Loureiro, James LoMenzo, and Dirk Verbeuren forged a bonded brotherhood. A brotherhood cast through days, weeks, and months on the road, and one which has buoyed Megadeth’s fortunes, seeing them rise to the top again in the wake of the recent studio effort, The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! (2022).

During a break from the road, Verbeuren dialed in via phone to discuss the sizzling pace Megadeth has set in promoting its latest release and the events that have seen the band through to calmer waters ahead.

Andrew:
Having been here, there, and everywhere, give me the rundown
of the promotional cycle for The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!, Dirk.

Dirk:
Yeah, man, it’s been great. We’ve been on tour here throughout the States with Five Finger Death Punch; it’s been a really good tour. We’re playing our set to a lot of people every night, and a lot of the shows have been sold out or close to it. As for the record, I don’t know if you saw it, but it’s hit quite a few charts, it hit No.3 on the Billboard charts, and it’s No.1 in Finland as well. It’s ranked really high overall; I guess it’s the highest charting album Megadeth has ever had worldwide, so that’s pretty exciting.

Andrew:
To that end, what has the audience response been like to the new material?

Dirk:
Honestly, it’s been really, really good. So far, we’ve been playing the first single, “We’ll Be Back,” and it’s been going over well every night. We’re working on including some more songs in the set, though, and that’s going to happen soon. But we weren’t quite sure what to expect with this tour since it’s a Five Finger Death Punch headlining tour and Megadeth is the direct support. But even on a few of the nights, where maybe there’s more of their fans in the audience, or it appears that way, at least, after a few songs, we got them on board. So much so that they’re going wild by the end of the show. So, I think that’s a good sign.

Andrew:
Can you divulge which new tracks you plan to insert into the set?

Dirk:
Yeah, for sure. I can tell you that we’ve been practicing “Soldier On!” quite a bit. I think that will be one of the next ones for sure. And then there are a few others where we have music videos being made, so I guess the logical thing would be to focus on those songs next. However, that’s just my intuition, I’m not sure, and in the end, it’s down to Dave, what he feels comfortable playing, and what he thinks would fit in the set. We look at our live setlist the same way as an album tracklist in that the songs need to work together. So, on this tour, we play for about 55 minutes to an hour, and as a whole, it needs to make sense, which can also determine which songs we decide to play.

Andrew:
Give me a snapshot of the preparation it takes for Megadeth to embark on a tour like this.

Dirk:
Well, of course, we rehearse. We did a couple of days of rehearsal in Nashville prior to the tour and went mostly through some new material. And we actually also took the time to shoot some footage at the same time for the upcoming videos I mentioned. So, that time was mostly focused on songs from the new record. But it’s also a daily thing; whenever we soundcheck, we’re practicing new stuff, and then we have our jam room, a setup we have with a little electronic kit and portable amps. The jam room allows us to work together on stuff whenever we feel like it or whenever we need to go over some riffs or review a song. So, it’s pretty much a continuous daily thing. And before the tour, I spent quite a lot of time learning the songs listed as possibilities to be played. So, I did a lot of homework before even going to rehearsals because getting familiar with new material always takes a while before it becomes automatic and committed to muscle memory.

Andrew:
How have you gone about locking in with bassist James LoMenzo?

Dirk:
Oh, man, I mean, we locked in with James pretty much instantly. I have to say, James’ first tour with us was The Metal Tour of the Year in the Summer of 2021. And in the first rehearsal, we had a little bit of time before the rest of the guys arrived, and it was just James and me, so we just decided to run through a bunch of songs, and we got to know each other. All I can say is James is a pro, man; he’s got so much experience, and it was pretty much instantly like, “Okay, this works. It feels great.” Playing live together was immediately amazing, and it’s only gotten better since then. James also has a great stage presence, is energetic, and is a great vocalist. We have backing vocals on quite a few of the songs, and they’re all done live, so Kiko and James do the actual singing; we don’t use vocals on tape or anything like that. So, having that with James is a really good thing that’s a strong asset for us.

All images courtesy of Dirk Verbeuren/5Bam Management

Andrew:
With the bass position being in flux for a while, would you say that James – especially having been in Megadeth before – has been a stabilizing force?

Dirk:
Well, I think it was definitely an advantage to be able to reach out to him in the sense that he kind of knows how things work on the road with the band. Many bands will tell you that the most important thing is getting along and ensuring things flow well. During these tours, for example, the current tour we’re on is eight and a half weeks. So, we spend most of that time in each other’s space, working together, doing VIP meet and greets, rehearsing, playing the shows, and sitting on the bus talking about band-related stuff.

So, it’s essential that there’s a good spirit, and I think James brings that. I think he has a very calming presence and, at the same time, good energy. And that’s beneficial because things get rough on the road no matter how well you get along. It’s tough to be gone this long, to stay focused at all times, and to deliver night after night. Some nights are better than others, regardless, but it’s really good to have his presence and his energy. I’m really grateful for it; we get along extremely well, and so, in that sense, I think it’s been important that he was available. But James has also spent time in Megadeth before, and I believe that while it’s different with James in the band, it’s also as good as ever, if not better, in my opinion.

Andrew:
Give me your perspective on the interplay between David and Kiko in the live setting.

Dirk:
Well, they have the toughest role in a sense because when you have two instruments that a lot of time throughout a song will play the exact same part, there’s a high amount of precision that is required. And then, for Dave, it’s extra difficult because he also has to sing simultaneously, so he does a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to the overall interpretation. And so, for Kiko, I think it’s been a journey of learning exactly how Dave plays because he has a very particular way of attacking the strings. The sounds that he gets out of the guitar are very identifiable and very dangerous.

So, again, I think for Kiko, it’s been a journey to learn all those little details, get used to them, and allow them to enter his muscle memory. And then, of course, there’s the stage presence, like all the different spots they go to; we have a kind of choreography for each song we work on, and that’s put together. Of course, I’m a little bit more in my own corner for that since I’m behind the kit, and I can’t really go anywhere else. [Laughs]. But Dave, Kiko, and James always have to go over those things together and agree on where they will be and what they will do. They have to know which mic Dave is gonna sing on, which mic the other guys are gonna sing on, and all that stuff. So, it becomes a pretty technical endeavor and requires a lot of attention to detail.

Andrew:
Can you recount the origins of “We’ll Be Back?”

Dirk:
So, there were several of Dave’s riffs that we initially had set aside with our co-producer Chris Rakestraw. We had set them aside as one’s that potentially fit well together out of the ones we had from Dave’s riff vault. And so, I believe at one point, Kiko wrote another riff, and with that, we found that we had the skeleton of the song started. It always felt like it had nice energy and a real Megadeth sort of identity with all the different sections in the song. And with the second half of the song being different from the first half, that’s something you’ll find in many of the classic Megadeth tracks like “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due” or “Hangar 18.” They are the types of things that don’t necessarily repeat themselves over and over but rather have an evolving structure. So, that’s one of those, and I was really happy when it was picked as the first single because I think it has a really good punch and a classic thrash feel that I personally love. And it seems like many people do, too, because the single did really well.

Andrew:
To me, “Soldier On!” seems to be an ethos for what Dave and Megadeth have been through in recent years. Would you agree?

Dirk:
Absolutely. I think it’s definitely a metaphor for that. Dave will tell you it’s about a relationship and how sometimes, when you love somebody, it’s best to move on from them if it’s not a good relationship. And sometimes, you have to carry on after that and forge your path, even though those times can be difficult. But I also see it as a metaphor for what Dave has been through. He went through a cancer diagnosis and treatment while we were writing The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! And then, after that, the pandemic slowed everything down for everyone, including us, so it was a lot to overcome. And in that sense, we all had to soldier on, just to use the title of a song. I think it also has a driving feel, and that really fits that title and the lyrics.

All images courtesy of Dirk Verbeuren/5Bam Management

Andrew:
The most recent single is “The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!,” which is a very Megadeth title. Can you recall its genesis?

Dirk:
Dave had this idea to write something about the Black Plague, which was actually in early 2019, before the pandemic, because some people have wondered if it was about that. But it was a completely separate idea from COVID before any of us knew that COVID would even happen. It’s one of the earlier ones we worked on, and it’s one of those songs that started with a simple riff – the main riff – and from there, it evolved in different directions through us trying out different things. As we were working on it, we kept trying out new ideas, and there was an excellent interplay between Kiko, Dave, and myself as far as putting that song together. I thought it was exciting and fun to be in the same room, jam on these riffs, record them, and then come back the next day and listen and be like, “How about we try this?” So, there was a lot of that going on, and that’s mainly how that song came to be.

Andrew:
Being that this is your first official studio record with Megadeth, how gratifying is it for you to have “Night Stalkers,” a track that you played an integral role in, end up as one of the lead singles?

Dirk:
Oh, man, it’s very exciting. I’m happy about the record in general, but I will say that my being able to contribute some music to the band has been extremely fun. I didn’t anticipate that happening, given how good Dave is at what he does and Kiko, too, of course. They’re stellar guitar players, both of them, and both great songwriters who have many years of combined experience and talent in that domain. So, to be able to submit the riffs that I had for “Night Stalkers” and “Life in Hell,” which is based on a demo I brought in, it’s incredibly gratifying to see those tracks on the album.

It just makes me happy that we were able to find common ground because when you’re looking at over 35 years of musical history, it’s not always evident to be able to fit into that, and I wouldn’t have been completely shocked if I wasn’t able to. For example, in my previous band Soilwork, I had tried to submit some songs, and generally, they ended up as bonus tracks or b-sides because they just didn’t fit in with the other material. So, it’s hard – especially since I wouldn’t consider myself a guitar player nearly at the level of Kiko and Dave – so I just very humbly submitted some stuff. I’m happy to see it on the album, and I’m happy to see people embracing it.

Andrew:
While you didn’t play on Dystopia, you’ve had plenty of time with the songs in the live setting. How would you describe the progression from Dystopia to The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!?

Dirk:
Well, in my eyes, this record is more of a return to Megadeth’s roots. Some songs like “Night Stalkers” and “We’ll Be Back” have a distinct early thrash, New Wave of British Heavy Metal vibe. In many ways, this record is kind of like the early Megadeth records, like the first three or four albums, and that’s something that I didn’t hear that much in Dystopia. I think Dystopia was more modeled after Countdown to Extinction, with a bit of Rust in Peace in there, too. We do have that on this record, too, in some of the other songs, though, so I would say that this record, in my mind, covers a bit more ground and is a bit more diverse.

Other than that, I don’t know; I just tried to inject the music with as much feel as I could. I have to credit Dave for letting me express myself and giving me all the freedom he gave me to try some crazy drum ideas, a lot of which made it onto the record. And that makes me happy because I spent all these years playing songs off of Dystopia and off the older records on the road, giving me a chance to absorb what Megadeth drums are supposed to be. And I tried to express that and regurgitate that in my own way on The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!.

Andrew:
Do you feel beholden to the drum stylings of Megadeth’s past?

Dirk:
To an extent, I do feel like I want to honor the legacy. And I feel like that’s what I did on the album because I’m also a fan of the band, and that’s always what I’ll go back to when I want to refer to that. When I listen to the albums that Nick [Menza], Chuck [Behler], or Gar [Samuelson] played on, they have a certain feel to them on the drums, and so I got to absorb that in my years touring with the band. And even before that, since I listened to Megadeth for many years, I came to know the style well, so I wanted to have those kinds of elements in my playing in some way, shape, or form. But in doing that, my style always comes out and is a part of that too.

It’s always gonna be there no matter what because it’s not something I can take out of myself. It would be difficult not to sound like me because I attack the drums a certain way. No matter what, I’m gonna play in a certain way, so it’s about finding the right balance. For example, some people said, “Oh, Dirk, you should play blast beats on this record.” At one point in the studio, I did try to put an old-school blast beat over one of the tracks, but Dave and I both agreed that it didn’t sound right. It felt shoehorned in more than anything else, so we cut it out. But that’s an instance where some experimentation was done, and something was tried, but we didn’t feel like it sounded like Megadeth. That said, I do have a few of my trademark Dirk blasts on the album, so it worked for some spots.

All images courtesy of Dirk Verbeuren/5Bam Management

Andrew:
Given what Megadeth has been through recently, how meaningful is this album’s early success?

Dirk:
Well, I’m still kind of taking all that in, so it’s a bit early for me to judge totally. But so far, people who hear it are mostly embracing it. Of course, a few people don’t like it, and that’s normal; that’s fine. I get it; I’m the same way; I don’t always like everything new from a band I’ve been listening to for a long time. But honestly, we gave it a real shot to try and make a strong album and diverse album. I think Dave, in particular, put a lot of work into the arrangements, the vocals, all the little ear candy, as he calls it, that permeates through the songs. And in the end, every song hits you in the heart when you listen to it, and I think the album has a lot to offer. A couple of albums in Megadeth’s career were personal highlights for me before being in the band. I feel Rust in Peace is one of them; I think it’s a very rich album. But I think this album, in a different way, has that same wealth of riffs, ideas, and just fun things happening.

Andrew:
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention your former bandmate in Soilwork, David Andersson, who recently passed. What are your thoughts and memories, Dirk?

Dirk:
David was a brilliant player and composer; he wrote so many great tunes during his time with Soilwork; it’s hard to fathom that he’s gone because he genuinely was a very gifted person. He had his issues, as we all do, but with him, unfortunately, things took a dark turn towards the end. And sadly, it got to a point where there was no way out. I just spoke to Björn [Strid] to comfort him because I know he and David have been very close over the years, but it’s tough, man; at 47 years old and with children, it’s hard to find words. With people, sometimes still waters run deep, right? David was a very exuberant, funny guy who could make us all crack up, and he regularly did that almost every day.

There was this surface of a jolly, jovial dude who was always having a blast and enjoying himself. Still, underneath, sometimes there’s personal darkness that you’re not necessarily fully aware of. And people like David can sometimes keep that hidden from the world because they don’t want to burden anybody with it or for whatever other personal reasons they have, and this is one of those unfortunate cases. I know that Björn and many other people around David tried to help him these past few years to get better and find a way out, and it seemed like for a bit like he did. Björn told me that David had gotten help and had cleaned up some of his bad habits, but unfortunately, it ended tragically. It’s very sad. I hope the guys in Soilwork carry on and keep David’s spirit alive in the music.

Andrew:
After years of adversity, Megadeth has once again come out on top. Would you say that Megadeth is bulletproof?

Dirk:
I think it’s all about perseverance. Something I tell my students a lot is, “The key to success is that with whatever adversity you face, figure out a way to go through it and carry on.” Sometimes it takes a break; sometimes, it takes changing paths; sometimes, it takes a lot of reflection, figuring out, and just getting through whatever challenge is in front of you. I mean, there was a point where we thought maybe Dave was not gonna be here and that this album would never be completed. But as Dave says, he kicked cancer’s ass, and he was able to come out on the other side of that, but that was not a given.

I remember when we went on tour in 2020, just before the pandemic hit, Dave started singing again for the first time in a long time after his treatment. It was a very special moment when we did that first show, and we were on stage, and we all looked at each other and realized, “Wow, this could have been the end. Dave might have never been here. He might not have gotten through this had his treatment not been successful.”

So, bulletproof? I don’t know. I do know that Dave has definitely taken some bullets over the history of Megadeth. I mean, there was the other time when he hurt his arm back in the early 2000s, and it could have been over, but he’s always managed to persevere and to keep doing what he loves. I honestly think that Megadeth is everything to Dave; I know it is. So, Kiko, James, and I are doing our best to be great wingmen for him, and hopefully, we can continue for many more years.

All images courtesy of Dirk Verbeuren/5Bam Management

Andrew Daly (@vwmusicrocks) is the Editor-in-Chief for www.vwmusicrocks.com and may be reached at andrew@vinylwriter.com

One response to “An Interview with Dirk Verbeuren of Megadeth”

  1. […] Dirk’s latest interview with VWMusic about Megadeth’s new album, The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!, the current tour, and more. Check it out here: vwmusicrocks.com […]

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