New Megadeth guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari recently opened up about replacing Kiko Loureiro.
In a new interview with Guitar World, Mäntysaari discussed collaborating extensively with both Loureiro and Mustaine in an examination of the musical components. In fact, he believes there is detective work involved in the process of creating songs. The guitarist explained:
“[We’d] look at the small details of how they groove, the moods, and the technical side. We talked a lot about what Dave wants to project, picking directions, being very aware of down-picking, alternate picking, and, in many of the songs, being aware of both.”
He then went on to explain the ‘detective work’:
“We also talked about things like dampening, the flow of songs, creating contrast, hand positions, and trying to get things right fingering-wise, all of which I enjoy doing. There’s a bit of detective work involved, and to get that information from the source in Dave was amazing.”
Loureiro’s Suggestion Was Another Guitarist
Last year, Teemu Mäntysaari joined the band as a last-minute substitute for Loureiro, who had to leave to be with his family.
When Loureiro initially took a break from Megadeth, Teemu Mäntysaari from Wintersun filled in for him for the remaining shows of the 2023 tour. In a later update, Mustaine confirmed that Mäntysaari would still be part of the band for their upcoming tour dates in 2024.
On November 19, 2023, Loureiro revealed he would be extending the break into 2024. After Mäntysaari was selected as the new guitarist for their 2024 concerts, Loureiro suggested to the management and Mustaine that bringing back Marty Friedman would be a better option although he suggested Mäntysaari as a possible guitarist.
Mustaine Thinks Mäntysaari Plays Like Marty Friedman
Megadeth’s frontman discussed the inclusion of guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari in an interview with Wes Styles in September. When questioned about the performance of the new guitarist so far, Mustaine responded:
“He’s really great. And I’m super excited with what Teemu has brought. And it’s uncanny because he plays a lot like Marty. And it’s really exciting. At certain times I just close my eyes during the set, and I just hear these songs played, whether like Kiko in the past or Teemu now, it just sounds really magic because these guys have learned these songs, and they’re not just going out there and just banging their guitar around; they actually learned the solos from some of the virtuosos that I’ve played with over my career.”
