Megadeth Share Ferocious New Single ‘Night Stalkers: Chapter II’ Ft. Ice-T
In an exclusive uDiscover Music interview, Dave Mustaine says the new footage directed by Leo Liberti is ‘really full on.‘
Thrash metal pioneers and metal icons Megadeth have premiered “Night Stalkers: Chapter II,” a short film being released alongside the band’s next single, “Night Stalkers” from their new studio album, The Sick, The Dying…And The Dead!, set for release on September 2, 2022 via UMe. Both the video and single for “Night Stalkers” feature a special appearance by the iconic artist Ice-T. You can check the new video out below.
Created by Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine, produced by Rafael Pensado, and directed by Leo Liberti, “Night Stalkers: Chapter II” is the next episode in the multi-chapter saga about the origin of Vic Rattlehead as we continue to follow the tragic events leading to our operative’s complete transformation as he systematically exacts his revenge.
Speaking about “Night Stalkers” in an interview earlier this year with SiriusXM, Mustaine said: “It’s a brutal song. I can’t remember if that was the fastest one [on the new album] or not. But ‘Night Stalkers’ is about the 160th Battalion with the United States Army, and it’s all the black-ops helicopters that go in at night — nobody knows they’re there; they’re in, they’re out. And I had my buddy Ice-T join me on a part in the middle of it, because Ice was a ranger for the army, and he did two tours over in Afghanistan, I think it was.”
The first chapter in Megadeth’s short film, “We’ll Be Back: Chapter I” premiered in June and within the first hour of release, the album’s first track and video were met with overwhelming fan reaction resulting in the band trending on Twitter with the video already having garnered over two million views to date. A quintessential Megadeth track “We’ll Be Back,” was accompanied by the world premiere of “We’ll Be Back: Chapter I,” an epic, action-packed short film chronicling the origins of Vic Rattlehead.
In an exclusive new interview with uDiscover Music, Dave Mustaine reveals much more detail about “Night Stalkers: Chapter II.”
“In the new video, you see our hero grabbing his head and blood’s coming out of his ears,” he says. “All of a sudden, staples burst out of his mouth and his mouth is stapled shut and a visor flies out of nowhere and is stapled to his face and the same thing on his ears.”
“And so Vic [Rattlehead] is born,” Mustaine adds. “The film shows the next stages of him tracking down the people who broke into his house [in Pt.1]. They realize they can’t do anything to Vic and start to panic…it shows one by one, how he starts to pick off these different mercenaries.”
“The first guy, for example, bursts into flames,” he reveals. “They had an actor with a flame suit on and he was burning from head to toe for a good while. It wasn’t like he just had a little bit of some gel on his arm. It was full on!”
Megadeth’s highly anticipated 16th studio album, The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! features 12 new tracks. It will be released on CD, vinyl, and cassette, as well as digitally through all online partners. There will also be a limited deluxe edition 2LP, 12-track album pressed on 180g black vinyl housed in a numbered gatefold jacket with a 12×24 lyrics/credits insert, a lenticular vinyl lithograph and a bonus 7-inch featuring “We’ll Be Back” and the unreleased B-side “The Conjuring (Live).”
The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! consolidates a furious return to form that began with the Grammy winning-Dystopia, while pushing forward musically and marking Mustaine’s recent triumph over throat cancer. Its recording reunited the visionary Megadeth leader and sonic architect with co-producer Chris Rakestraw (Danzig, Parkway Drive), who together helmed 2016’s Dystopia. The album was recorded at Mustaine’s home studio in Nashville, Tennessee.
“The new record’s a fun record, it really is,” Mustaine tells uDiscover. “The songs have beautiful, uplifting solos and lots of great musical passages. There’s some incredibly fast picking and some really dissonant chords that resemble old [Megadeth] songs like ‘Looking Down The Cross’ (from Killing Is My Business…and Business Is Good) but also these really old, really evil medieval songs, like in the Renaissance period where they would do tritones and stuff. There are a couple of songs that had some of those passages put into it.”
He adds: “For the first time in a long time, everything that we needed on this record is right in its place. I can’t wait for the public to get hold of this!”
