Megadeth drummer Dirk Verbeuren recently sat down with Brazil’s “TV Braba” to reflect on his decade-long tenure with the thrash metal pioneers. During the conversation, Dirk looked back on the “surreal” experience of joining the band and offered high praise for founder Dave Mustaine, crediting him as the primary architect of the thrash metal genre.
Dirk Verbeuren officially joined Megadeth in May 2016, initially stepping in to fill the vacancy left when Chris Adler (Lamb Of God) could no longer balance the duties of both groups. Looking back at the moment he was asked to join, Dirk admitted he was in a state of disbelief.
I didn’t believe it. My first reaction, of course, was disbelief. But initially I was just filling in, so the initial plan was that I was gonna do about a month of shows, and then…” Dirk explained (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
He recalled how Dave Mustaine eventually made the position permanent in his own signature way: “I’ve told this story a few times, but in typical Dave Mustaine fashion, after a week or so of shows, Dave comes to me on the tour bus and he goes, ‘So when are you telling the guys in Soilwork that you’re my drummer now?’ That was his way of saying to me, like, ‘I want you to play in the band.’ So, of course, it was a very exciting time, and kind of bittersweet at the same time, because I’d been with Soilwork for 12 years and they were good friends of mine, but everybody was, of course, like, ‘Of course you have to do this.’ And yeah, so it was a very special experience. And to this day, it’s been now — actually, this month it’s gonna be 10 years since I played my first show in Megadeth, and it’s still surreal to this day to be part of such an iconic band.”
For Dirk, who first saw Megadeth live as a 15-year-old fan in France during the 1990 “Clash of the Titans” tour, being part of the group’s history remains a career highlight. He noted that the standard set by Mustaine and the band’s previous drummers, including Nick Menza, Gar Samuelson, and Chuck Behler, is among the highest in the industry.
“You have to know that I went to see Megadeth live in 1990, so I was, like, 15 years old at the time. It was one of the first shows I ever saw. I only saw two other shows before that. And then it was ‘Clash Of The Titans‘ with Megadeth, Slayer — I think we had Testament and Suicidal Tendencies [on that tour] in Europe, where I lived in France at the time still. And now to be in the band for 10 years and to kind of continue the legacy with great music — obviously everything Dave has done is iconic, but also the amazing drum work of [former Megadeth drummers] Nick Menza, Gar Samuelson, Chuck Behler, all the guys that have been in the band since then, it’s truly an honor. In metal music, you can’t really go much higher than that legacy. And to me, Dave is the guy who invented thrash metal. He wrote a lot of the iconic early stuff that kind of defined what that genre sounded like, and you can recognize his riffs among a million riffs. He has such a unique style of playing to this day on the guitar that, to me, Dave is the ultimate rock god. Absolutely,” he explained.
When discussing the difficulty of the band’s setlist, Dirk singled out the material from the band’s 1985 debut, Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!. He attributed the challenge to the unique, jazz-influenced style of the late Gar Samuelson.
“I would say that all the songs on the first album, Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!, are quite difficult because not only are they played at breakneck speed, but Gar Samuelson, who was the band’s drummer at that time, had a very improvisational style, and so if you wanna replicate that, it’s quite difficult….” Dirk noted.
He also emphasized that even the mid-tempo hits require significant mental and physical fortitude to perform correctly every night.
“So I think from a technical standpoint, definitely the old stuff is difficult. But this being said, I also wanna say this because people sometimes have the impression, like, ‘Oh, it must be so easy to play ‘Symphony Of Destruction‘ or whatever song, ‘Hangar 18‘ or ‘Trust‘ or whatever, it’s, like, no, they all have their own difficulties. And when you play an hour-and-a-half set like we usually do when we do headlining shows with Megadeth, it’s truly a test of endurance and stamina.”
The drummer’s ten-year milestone arrives as Megadeth continues to promote their new self-titled album, Megadeth, which arrived in January 2026. The record, which serves as the follow-up to 2022’s The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!, was released via Dave Mustaine‘s Tradecraft imprint through the new BLKIIBLK label.
As Megadeth continues its headlining dates, Dirk Verbeuren remains focused on maintaining the high technical standard the band is known for, even under the pressures of a rigorous travel schedule.
“And I also try to put on a show and make it entertaining for people to watch, not just sit and play. So all those things combined make it very intense. And on a night where you’re maybe a little bit tired because maybe you didn’t sleep that well or you had a crazy travel or something like that, it can really kick your a**. So, yeah, they’re all pretty tough in their own way,” he concluded.
In a recent interview with “Drummer’s Review” presenter Ollie Winiberg, Dirk also spoke about him joining to the band a decade ago.
Reflecting on the monumental transition, Verbeuren detailed the mental intensity of stepping into the role, while noting that his previous musical endeavors gave him the tools necessary to succeed.
“Well, I’m not gonna lie — it was intense, as you can imagine, mentally. But at the same time, I would also say that the years leading up to that, all the work I put in, obviously as a member of Soilwork and other bands I was a part of, but also as a studio musician, as sometimes a live session musician, those years prepared me to be in that position at that point. And so I think that’s the biggest thing that I took away from it, is that, at the end of the day, the path leads you where it’s gonna lead you. And I kind of embraced it at that point, and I was, like, I have to trust myself. And I did. So I think that helped. What also helped a lot was Dave [Mustaine] and the guys in the band and the crew were very welcoming to me. They made everything as easy as possible for me and were very forgiving knowing that I had little time to learn the set before the first show. And so then progressively, of course, I had time to get all the details right. So that helped tremendously as well,” he said at the time.
Asked what it has been like playing with an icon like Dave Mustaine, the drummer emphasized the surreal nature of the experience and praised the legendary frontman’s enduring attitude.
“Yeah, it’s pretty surreal. I obviously grew up listening to the ‘Big Four’ [bands of 1980s thrash metal] and to many bands from that sphere of music. And that was everything to me as a teenager. And so to be backing Dave, it’s surreal. There’s really no words for it,” Dirk said.
He continued: “I mean, he is a legend and he is somebody who pretty much invented this style of music. The early things he did, he has such a recognizable style in his riffing and the way he approaches the guitar playing that is just undeniable, how much he was part of making this style of music, giving it birth and then making it what it became over the years. So it’s a tremendous honor, and it’s also super cool because he is also a total bada**, as everybody knows. He likes to think of himself as a skate punk, and he has that spirit. Like the new single on our [latest, self-titled] album, one of the singles, ‘I Don’t Care‘, which that’s Dave — that’s Dave in a nutshell. He’s got that attitude, and he doesn’t give a damn. And it’s great. I love that because I grew up with that. I was also a skater growing up. So, to me, that whole spirit, I understand it and I love it. And I think he’s a true rock star — a true rock star.”
During an earlier conversation on the “Freddy And Friends” podcast, hosted by drummer Freddy Charles, Dirk discussed the realities of collaborating with frontman Dave Mustaine.
According to Dirk, the key to working with Mustaine isn’t navigating an ego, but simply appreciating his blunt honesty.
When asked about the dynamic of creating new music with the band’s founder, Verbeuren described a relationship built on transparency rather than tension.
He said at the time: “It’s like everything. Anybody you work with — I’ve worked with so many different people and continue to do so, and you have to figure out what works for them, what their process is, what they’re looking for and what they’re expecting. And that’s always a bit of a search in the beginning and a bit of a trial and error sometimes. Dave is very straightforward always; he is a very straightforward person. Whatever anybody says about him, with him you get what you see. And he’ll tell you straight to your face if he doesn’t like something or if he’s looking for something or whatever.”
This direct approach simplified the creative process significantly for the Belgian drummer.
“So it was pretty easy, actually, to figure out with him what he wants. He is, like, ‘Hey, guys, I want you all to contribute stuff. I wanna do it this way and this way. Contribute your stuff. Put the rifts here,’ whatever. So, ‘Okay.’ So then you do that, and then we work through it and in the end I have songs on the record. So, clearly it works. And of course, there’s also an understanding that — I grew up with Megadeth, kind of like you, it’s been in my life, and so I understand the band. So that helps. If it was something that I didn’t have an understanding of, I may not be able to contribute much in that regard.”
Verbeuren reflected on his personal evolution since joining the band in 2016. A self-described introvert, he admitted that adapting to the massive scale of Megadeth‘s touring machine required a shift in mindset—especially as the industry has pivoted to rely almost entirely on live performance revenue.
“Well, if you look at it from the aspect of how has the touring become as opposed to when I started, it’s become like the main thing now, with the changes in the music business. Touring is where — it’s our bread and butter. That’s everything. So that’s kind of been a noticeable shift. But, of course, at the level of Megadeth, it’s always been an important thing anyway. For me, on a personal level, it’s been an incredible learning situation. I’ve learned so much just seeing how everything operates, how Dave runs the ship, all the things that are required.”
