Megadeth bassist and his Anthrax counterpart Frank Bello are putting the finishing touches on their collaboration project Altitudes & Attitude, it’s been confirmed.
The pair have been working on a full-length album for the last six months and Ellefson says they’ve recorded “some great tunes.”
He tells White Line Fever: “We are finalising, probably in the next two weeks, getting the vocals and final bits done on it. I’m excited about it. There are some great tunes.”
The project was devised when the pair were doing bass clinics together and rather than just play Megadeth and Anthrax material, they decided to write fresh music instead.
Ellefson continues: “This other spirit soars when the two of us get together, get in a room and start writing songs together. They just fall off our guitar necks. And it’s a beautiful thing.
“What’s cool about it is we haven’t left our bands. And that’s the beauty of it because we have this whole other side of us that gets to be exposed. So it’s very genuine, very pure, and I think that really comes through with the music.”
But Ellefson, who is working with Dave Mustaine, Chris Adler and Kiko Loureiro on Megadeth’s follow-up to 2013’s Super Collider, is quick to distance Altitudes & Attitude from the supergroup tag.
He adds: “Lots of times, when these supergroups get together it’s based on, ‘How is this gonna sell?’
“Rather than making legitimate music you really like, you’re just kind of going, ‘I wanna make some new songs in a new setting’ or ‘I hate my band’ or ‘They kicked me out of my band and I still enjoy being famous. How can I still stay famous?’ To me, it’s the cart before the horse.
“Any time the joy comes out of music, you’d better just stop because it really kills the whole thing.”
Anthrax are working on the follow-up to 2011’s Worship Music although mainman Scott Ian recently said they wouldn’t be rushed into completing the album.
