Grammy-winning, multiplatinum heavy metal band MEGADETH has announced an agreement for founder and frontman Dave Mustaine's Tradecraft imprint with the Frontiers Label Group's new imprint BLKIIBLK. In this new arrangement, BKLIIBLK — which is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of heavy music — will exclusively release the iconic band’s forthcoming album globally.
"When I first met Tom Lipsky and Bob Chiappardi back in the day, I had no idea we would be working together again so many years in the future," Dave Mustaine says. "I look forward to working with Serafino and the team in Italy and I can't wait for the fans to hear the songs from our new record."
This new and exciting collaboration with one of the most influential and groundbreaking bands in heavy metal history marks a significant moment for both the label and metal fans worldwide. BLKIIBLK aims to bring a fresh perspective by focusing on innovative and boundary-pushing artists. With a mission to support and elevate the genre, the imprint strives to showcase talent that is both pioneering and influential.
"As the owner of Frontiers, I am honored to be working with MEGADETH, a band that has shaped the sound of metal for decades. This collaboration reflects our dedication to bringing the best in rock and metal to our audience," says Serafino Perugino, president and CEO of Frontiers Label Group.
"Myself, Justis Mustaine and Steve Ross at CTK Enterprises are extremely excited for the partnership with Dave Mustaine's Tradecraft Records and BLKIIBLK," says Danny Nozell, CEO, CTK. "Looking forward to getting this new album out to the world and combining teams with Serafino and Tom for the global attack."
Tom Lipsky, head of A&R of North America for Frontiers Label Group, commented: "When BLKIIBLK Records was formed, the very first artist we agreed was ideal to define the creative mission of the label was MEGADETH. Now, it is a reality. The band is crushing it in the studio. Danny Nozell, Justis Mustaine, Steve Ross and the team at CTK are developing an incredible global plan, and our team is thrilled, primed and ready to shake up the world of hard rock and metal!"
MEGADETH is once again working with Chris Rakestraw, a producer, mixer and engineer who previously worked on MEGADETH's last two albums, 2022's "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" and 2016's "Dystopia".
Last September, MEGADETH guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari, who joined the band a year and a half ago as the replacement for Kiko Loureiro, was asked by Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station about the progress of the songwriting sessions for MEGADETH's next LP. He said: "Yeah, actually, already a while back Dave started talking about making the next album and kind of starting to do pre-production. And as soon as he mentioned that, and kind of before that already, once it was clear that I'm gonna be staying with the band, then I kind of started putting my ideas down and just recording any riff ideas that I feel like could be something that could be used in MEGADETH. And by now I have a bunch of riffs and ideas that I've gathered. And then Dave told me that he likes to work the way that everybody does their riffs and then at some point we're gonna get together and then review things and see which riffs are gonna work together and then work out the parts between the riffs to kind of connect things and then that way come up with the skeletons for the songs. And I'm really looking forward to doing that and hearing how he feels about my ideas as well. But what I've done so far is whenever I have a moment to sit down, I usually just record a little video of myself playing a riff idea and then when we have a day off at the hotel, then I would record that properly and then just like have this folder of riffs that we can look into at some point. So, [I'm] really looking forward to that. And Dave has been really supportive and sounds like he wants to have all the guys' input on the next album, which is really exciting."
(Source: www.blabbermouth.net)