Serpent From Eden
Nick Menza
Serpent From Eden (feat. Nick Menza) is a posthumous tribute album released on May 21–22, 2026 via Cleopatra Records / Deadline Music, built around previously unreleased drum recordings by the late Megadeth drummer Nick Menza, who passed away on May 21, 2016 — making the release date a deliberate and poignant tribute, arriving exactly on the tenth anniversary of his death. The project came about when California metal band Serpent From Eden's guitarist John "Gumby" Goodwin — a longtime friend of Menza's who has also worked with Ozzy Osbourne, Ringo Starr, and George Clinton — began searching through old session tapes and discovered enough archived Menza drum tracks from various recording sessions to form the backbone of an entirely new album. Producer Max Norman, who previously produced Megadeth's Rust in Peace and Youthanasia, was brought in to help shape and assemble the recordings into a cohesive 11-track, 50-minute collection.
The result is a powerful and varied hard rock and heavy metal record that functions simultaneously as a tribute and as a showcase of what Menza was still capable of as a drummer in his later years. Joining Goodwin and the Serpent From Eden lineup — vocalist Pauli Infantino, bassist James Yokoi, and drummer Chris Tracy — are two other former Megadeth alumni: guitarist Chris Poland and bassist David Ellefson, both of whom contribute to multiple tracks, lending the album an unmistakable Megadeth DNA without being a straightforward imitation. The tracklist ranges from the opening single "Promises, Conspiracies, and Lies" — whose lyrics touch on Menza's fraught departure from Megadeth — through tracks like "The Atomic Disintegrator," "America Is a Gun," the atmospheric "Cydonia" and "Atlantis," and a closing cover of The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows," creating a wide-ranging final statement in honour of one of thrash metal's most beloved drummers.
Serpent From Eden
Nick Menza
Serpent From Eden (feat. Nick Menza) is a posthumous tribute album released on May 21–22, 2026 via Cleopatra Records / Deadline Music, built around previously unreleased drum recordings by the late Megadeth drummer Nick Menza, who passed away on May 21, 2016 — making the release date a deliberate and poignant tribute, arriving exactly on the tenth anniversary of his death. The project came about when California metal band Serpent From Eden's guitarist John "Gumby" Goodwin — a longtime friend of Menza's who has also worked with Ozzy Osbourne, Ringo Starr, and George Clinton — began searching through old session tapes and discovered enough archived Menza drum tracks from various recording sessions to form the backbone of an entirely new album. Producer Max Norman, who previously produced Megadeth's Rust in Peace and Youthanasia, was brought in to help shape and assemble the recordings into a cohesive 11-track, 50-minute collection.
The result is a powerful and varied hard rock and heavy metal record that functions simultaneously as a tribute and as a showcase of what Menza was still capable of as a drummer in his later years. Joining Goodwin and the Serpent From Eden lineup — vocalist Pauli Infantino, bassist James Yokoi, and drummer Chris Tracy — are two other former Megadeth alumni: guitarist Chris Poland and bassist David Ellefson, both of whom contribute to multiple tracks, lending the album an unmistakable Megadeth DNA without being a straightforward imitation. The tracklist ranges from the opening single "Promises, Conspiracies, and Lies" — whose lyrics touch on Menza's fraught departure from Megadeth — through tracks like "The Atomic Disintegrator," "America Is a Gun," the atmospheric "Cydonia" and "Atlantis," and a closing cover of The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows," creating a wide-ranging final statement in honour of one of thrash metal's most beloved drummers.