David Ellefson Names the ‘Greatest Heavy Metal Band Ever’

During an interview with WSOU, former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson named who he believes is the “greatest heavy metal band ever.”

Before you even think about getting snarky, no, he didn’t choose Metallica! Nor did he single out the band many believe to be the godfathers of metal, Black Sabbath. Ellefson did, however, pick another band from Sabbath’s home town of Birmingham, England — Judas Priest.

The bassist brought it upon himself to recognize the veteran band with this distinction when discussing new music. WSOU asked Ellefson what up-and-coming bands he’s into right now, which yielded a wide-ranging reply.

While Ellefson didn’t name any bands that quite fit the bill of a hot up-and-comer, he pointed to three others that rose to prominence after his own ascent in Megadeth.

He calls Rammstein’s music and show both “fantastic,” reaffirms his love of Ghost, shouts out Judas Priest’s new album Invincible Shield (more on them in a moment) and recalls touring with Static-X on Megadeth’s tour supporting Risk in 1999.

“I know these aren’t new bands, so to speak, but I guess it kind of shows you my appreciation of industrial music,” Ellefson notes, crediting Ministry’s Al Jourgensen with pioneering that movement. He fondly remembers how “cool” it was to hear Static-X covering Ministry’s “Burning Inside” on that ’99 tour as well.

Circling back to Judas Priest for a moment, Ellefson, who currently plays in Kings of Thrash, Dieth and The Lucid, declares, “[Judas] Priest are just, to me, the ultimate, greatest heavy metal band ever. And when I hear anything new from Judas Priest, I immediately buy it. I deep dive it, I listen to it and I see them whenever they come around.”

Watch the full interview with WSOU below.

David Ellefson, Interview With WSOU

READ MORE: Who Is the First ‘Definitive’ Heavy Metal Band? Judas Priest’s Rob Halford Answers

Back in March, Ellefson shared a photo from a Judas Priest concert he attended.

The bassist exclaimed, “The metal god! So great to catch Uriah Heep, Saxon and Judas Priest in Frankfurt, Germany last night after we wrapped up the Bass Warrior tour in Reichenbach. Pound for pound, these bands still bring it and back to the origin of all things metal out of Britain!”