Dave Mustaine, vocalist for the rock band Megadeth, now refuses to play the The Conjuring live. The singer has become a strict Christian and wishes to put his experimental past behind him. Mustaine claims that the song The Conjuring is laden with black magic spells and occult imagery.

Mustaine admits to being fascinated with witchcraft as a young man but now worries that spells he cast back then have come back to haunt him today. The singer says he finds the lyrics in The Conjuring troubling.

In an article in Total Guitar magazine, Mustaine said;

Performance wise, The Conjuring is one of the heaviest songs on the record, but unfortunately it’s got black magic in it and I promised that I wouldn’t play it any more, because there’s a lot of instructions for hexes in that song.

“Although it seems kinda corny, anybody who’s a Wiccan (witch) or a warlock or anything like that will know that all of that stuff is instrumental.

“When I got into black magic I put a couple of spells on people when I was a teenager and it haunted me forever, and I’ve had so much torment. People say, ‘Goddamn, Dave never gets a break, he’s had such a hard life,’ and I just think, ‘No, Dave didn’t – he got into black magic and it ruined his life.’

“Fortunately for me, with all the work and the love of my friends, and not giving up with my guitar playing, I got over it. So I look back now and I think, ‘Hmm, I don’t wanna play The Conjuring’.

The Conjuring is part of Megadeth’s album “Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying” tour album from 1986. The curious can listen to the heavy rock track care of the YouTube embed below.

In Pure Spirit

Did you listen? Which dark magic and occult references did you pick up from the song? Do you think Mustaine is right to turn his back on his own music or is he worried over nothing? Has he found salvation in time?