I have to admit I’ve never been a big Megadeth fan.  I like metal, always have.  But something about Megadeth never really did anything for me.  I have always been a fan of bands like Iron Maiden and Slayer, and while not a Megadeth fan, I always appreciated the fact that Dave Mustaine and the band are one of the most crucial bands in the history of metal.  So since I don’t follow Mustaine and I don’t follow Megadeth I wasn’t aware that he had become a born-again Christian about 10 years ago.   But he’s talking about it a lot right now because the band is heading out on a big tour with the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Tour this summer and it’s the 25th anniversary of their classic album “Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?” Mustaine has been asked if they’ll be playing tracks off the album on the tour.  And it looks like that will be a no because there’s “black magic” in there.

To back track just a little and put this all in perspective, Mustaine is known for having battled drugs and alcohol for years and having even been kicked out of Metalica for his drinking back in the day. One way the story goes is that while in Alcoholics Anonymous Mustaine felt that AA wasn’t really meeting his needs and instead decided to turn to Christianity to help see him through his recovery.  This is where he explains that he’s been a believer in God for most of his life and it was these events that sort of “woke him up.”

In another story in an interview with Alex Jones on YouTube Mustaine explains the timeline of his spirituality.  He said that he was baptized at 4 as a Lutheran but at age 7 his mother became a Jehovah Witness which he says “ruined his life.”  When he was 15 he began getting involved in the occult and says he was largely an atheist during this time and felt he was very “spiritually abused” by then and just didn’t want to believe anymore.  In 2002 he had experienced serious problems with his left had making guitar playing difficult and he feared he’d no longer be able to play.  While thinking about his life and his situation he was out walking and found himself on a hill where he saw a cross and he thought to himself “what do I have to lose” and says that he just said a few words, prayed, and from there turned to Christianity and became reborn.

Since becoming born-again there are occasions where Megadeth has declined to perform shows and festivals where other bands that Mustaine feels are Satanic or that could be labled as “black metal” are performing.  Specifically other metal bands like Rotting Christ and Dissection, who he called his “confused enemies”, have caused some scheduling problems for them in the past.  Often venues are more interested in having Megadeth perform and the smaller bands either get bumped from the event or moved to a different night in the case of festivals.

Frankly I find that all quite interesting since one of the bands on the lineup for the Rockstar tour is Godsmack, a band that is certainly not quite about it’s Wiccan and Pagan ties.  I’d be curious to know his feelings on playing that bill.

Mustaine says he doesn’t push his faith on others instead calling those that do “hyper-Christians”.  In an 2009 interview he said “what they’re pushing…it ain’t what Jesus taught.”  He is often surprised that people assume that he and Megadeth are a Satanic band often telling people to listen to the very first line of the song “Peace Sells” off their classic album “Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?”  The line says “Whaddaya mean I don’t believe in God?  I talk to him every day.”  But other songs on this album are songs that Mustaine now wont play saying they are “evil” and contain instructions for working “black magic”.

Specifically songs like “Bad Omen” and “Black Friday” are off limits but the one that he mostly is pointing to in a recent interview in Total Guitar magazint is the song “The Conjouring”.   In regard to that song Mustaine says:

Although it seems corny, anybody who’s a Wiccan or a warlock or anything like that will know that all of this stuff is instrumental.

Mustaine says it’s this involvement with the occult in his past that has “ruined” him.  “People say, ‘Goddamn, Dave never get’s a break, he’s had such a hard life,’ and I just think, ‘No, Dave didn’t – he got into black magic and it ruined his life.'”

So I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the lyrics for “The Conjouring” and see what everyone can pull as far as magickal instruction from the words.

Welcome to our sanguinary sect of worship.
Feel at home in our black conventicle,
As we anathematise
All of those who oppose us.
Don’t summon the devil,
Don’t call the priests,
If you need the strength
The conjuring. Obey!!!

Behold the flames rise
From the compass’ cardinal points.
Burn the sacred oil,
And, with the ashes you’ll anoint.

Arrange the symbols,
Of the wizard, and, magician.
Light the candles,
Place the parchment paper in position.
Between its leaves place
The lash from a black cat’s eye,
A straw of a broom,
Fold, and, burn, and, centralize.

Don’t summon the devil,
Don’t call the priests,
If you need the strength,
The conjuring.

I am the devil’s advocate,
A salesman, if you will
You know my name. [You know my name]

I met your father years ago,
Gave him what he’d please.
He called my name, you’ll do the same.

I’m claiming what is mine by right,
It’s time to close the deal.
You’re bought and sold, bought and sold.

Come join me in my infernal depths,
Mephisto’s hall of fame.
I’ve got your soul, I’ve got your soul.
The conjuring. Obey!!!

So what do you think? What hexes or magickal information have you pulled from this? Honestly I just always thought it was one of Megadeth’s better songs…I never even in my brief exploration of Satanism when I was like 15 thought of this as a song of magickal instruction. What do you think?

And I have to say, on a bit of a side note, that I find it interesting that here we see the same story we see from a lot of people.  “I was a drug addict and and alcoholic but it was my involvement in the occult that really screwed me.”  Interesting either way…