Former Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler played on Megadeth's last studio album, Dystopia, as well as playing a few months of live shows with the band. In a new interview, he revealed it changed his life.
Speaking to Saint Vitus Bar, Adler was asked about how he got the Megadeth call, and he went through the entire anecdote.
"I'm in L.A. I'm recording drums for [Lamb of God's 'VII: Sturm Und Drang' album]. We had been on tour in 2005 with Megadeth. And I get a call really early in the morning — like, six in the morning. And it is Dave Mustaine's guitar tech, a guy named Willie G who I became good friends with along the tour; a great guy. And Willie's, like, 'Hey, your phone's gonna ring in about five minutes, and you should answer it.' I'm, like, 'Okay. Sure.'
"And the phone rings in five minutes, and it's Dave. And Dave's, like, 'Hey, I enjoyed touring with you. Good chat now and then.' He's not a particularly social guy on tour, but we did hang out a couple of times for breakfast or whatever. And he's, like, 'There's a lot of people that I really trust that tell me you're somebody that I think I should be talking to right now. I'd really like to go back and make a pretty sick thrash record, and I'm interested in having you be a part of that, if you'd like to be.'
"And it was a 'Candid Camera' kind of moment. 'Is something happening?' It really was the band that changed my life, and now I'm on a phone call that's about to change my life again."
Mustaine would ultimately go on to say Adler was just a session member. Adler recommended his replacement, Dirk Verbeuren, who Adler called one of the top three drummers in the world.
