Pioneering heavy metal band Megadeth has announced that its fifteenth studio album Dystopia will arrive on January 22, 2016. The album will be the first to feature the band’s new lineup, which includes Chris Adler (who is also in Lamb of God) on drums and former Angra guitarist Kiko Loureiro. Former members guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover left the band earlier this year to form the new unit Act of Defiance.

Along with the album announcement comes the premiere of Dystopia’s first single, “Fatal Illusion,” which you can listen to here below.

As many of you know if you’ve been reading my columns here for a while, my son Jesse Bergen has been a student at School of Rock here in Los Angeles, CA, for almost 5 years now. He’s primarily a guitar player, but is also proficient at bass, vocals, and drums. We’re very fortunate to live in L.A. where celebrities often stop by to support the school and mentor the kids.

Mine is a family of metalheads, so you can imagine our excitement when we heard that on Friday, August 21, 2015, David Ellefson, bass player and founding member of Megadeth, would be dropping by for a Q&A and jamming with the kids. So my son and his fellow house band members set about learning two Megadeth classics.

Check out my videos of the performances here below, along with my firsthand account of the event.

This week’s edition of Thrashback Thursday examines one of the genre’s pioneering bands. After Dave Mustaine was booted from Metallica for his drug and alcohol abuse, he roared back with the unrelenting thrash assault that is Megadeth.

From their 1990 juggernaut album Rust in Peace, this is “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due.” Watch it below.