Aside from kicking major ass on drums, Megadeth drummer Dirk Verbeuren is also pretty great at guitar. Look no further than Verbeuren's project Bent Sea for proof of that. Now in an interview with VW Music Rocks, Verbeuren reveals that he contributed riffs and songwriting ideas to two songs on the new Megadeth record The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! Verbeuren said the song "Life In Hell" is based on a demo he put together at home, while "Night Stalker" has one of the first riffs he wrote while visiting Dave Mustaine shortly after joining the band.
"Yeah, so when it comes to "Life in Hell," that's roughly based on a demo that I wrote at home. I just picked up the guitar, put something together, and added some drums and bass to that. Then I took that to Dave, and he reworked it together with me and with other guys, and it eventually turned into the song that's on the record.
"When it comes to "Night Stalker," that's a song that I had a riff laying around, and it just fit the song. It's funny because the story behind that riff is that I was at Dave's house, I think it was during one of the very first times I went there to go work with him on some ideas one evening. So, I just picked up his guitar and this riff just kind of came to me, and that's the riff that ended up in the song. Everybody in the band thought it was a good riff, and that we had to use it.
For me, that's exciting, because both of those songs are very much connected style-wise to the older Megadeth. It's cool because that's the stuff that I grew up with, and for me to be a part of bringing that element back to the album full-on, that's something I'm very excited about. This being said, I don't think that we were looking backward, and I think this sounds very much like a modern album. But, you know, we're kind of just embracing the whole history of the band, I would say."
Megadeth recently released their new single "We'll Be Back" alongside an official announcement of their new record The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! on September 2. Pre-orders for The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! are available here.
