When metal fans are asked which band would be the most “qualified” to be a part of an “expanded” Big 4, it ultimately comes down to either Exodus or Testament. Now Exodus has another big name supporter in the debate: Dave Mustaine.
During an interview with Radio.com, the Megadeth frontman was asked which band he’d include in the “Big 5.” Here was his response:
“You know, people will say there’s a whole another generation, like the ‘Medium Four’ [laughs], and I think there’s a lot of great bands that fit that bill, too. But I think probably Exodus, because there was nobody else at the time that had that kind of pull or that kind of importance in the metal community. Granted, it was with [late Exodus singer Paul] Baloff, and Baloff had a voice that you had to have an acquired taste for, but you know, I liked him.”
Late last year, Anthrax’s Scott Ian also placed his vote for Exodus. It’s also rather fitting that Mustaine would pick Exodus since they were extremely close to replacing Megadeth at the Big 4’s date at Yankee Stadium in 2011. It’s also a slightly safe bet that Exodus would have Slayer’s vote as well, given that Gary Holt has been filling in on guitar for Jeff Hanneman for over two years now (a role he’ll unfortunately play for a while now). Check out Mustaine’s entire interview with Radio.com below [with his comments regarding Exodus made at the 2:46 mark].
Meanwhile, Mustaine has also taken to his Twitter account to invite some big names out to Gigantour. “Mark Wahlberg, come to #Gigantour @ DTE tonight. Me & Zakk are here. It’ll be like when we did ‘Rockstar’. @mark_wahlberg @ZakkWyldeBLS,” Mustaine tweeted today. What Mustaine is referring to is the 2001 film Rockstar, starring Mark Wahlberg in a somewhat inspired story about how Tim “Ripper” Owens went from fronting a Judas Priest tribute band to becoming Rob Halford’s replacement. Also featured in the film is the Black Label Society leader as Ghode, the guitarist of the fictional band Steel Dragon. But how does Megadeth fit in to this? Well, many of the crowd and concert shots of Steel Dragon filmed for the movie took place during a charity concert in L.A., which also featured Megadeth. In other words, Mustaine and Marky Mark have actually performed on the same stage together once. Whether Wahlberg will take up Mustaine’s invite has yet to be seen.
