In a recent chat on Steve-O’s Wild Ride!, MEGADETH’s Dave Mustaine opened up about his on-and-off relationship with the song “The Conjuring,” citing his spiritual concerns over its dark lyrics. Mustaine, who once “put brakes” on performing the track due to its black magic references, finally caved and played it live again in 2018 after, as he puts it, “navel gazing and prayer” convinced him it was safe for fans. Still, he remains firm on banning “Anarchy in the UK” because of the line “I’m an anti-Christ,” since apparently, there’s a line to his newfound values—dark magic hexes are now fine, but punk nihilism is still a step too far.
Mustaine, whose memoir recounts his early dabblings in black magic, admitted he cast spells with mixed success and regretted how that “ruined his life.” Reflecting on his spiritual journey, he says he’s since learned to be less preachy, although he still raises an eyebrow at others who “don’t know what they’re doing.”
Here’s a video of Megadeth preforming “Anarchy in the UK” live with Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue from 2016:
