Megadeth drummer, Dirk Verbeuren has posted a playthrough of The Conjuring from the band's album Peace Sells…But Who's Buying?, originally released in 1986 and tracked by then-Megadeth drummer, Gar Samuelson.
The song - written from Mustaine's experiences of dabbling in black magic - was a long-time omission from Megadeth's live sets, with Mustaine refusing to play it live between 2001 and 2018 due to his change in beliefs.
During an interview with our sister title, Total Guitar in 2011, Mustaine explained his reasoning for not wanting to play the song live. "Performance-wise, 'The Conjuring' is one of the heaviest songs on ['Peace Sells… But Who's Buying?'], but, unfortunately, it's got black magic in it and I promised that I wouldn't play it anymore, because there's a lot of instructions for hexes in that song. Although it seems kinda corny, anybody who's a Wiccan 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.' It wasn't that I was a bad guy or that I had a big mouth, it was that I got into witchcraft and black magic and it ruined my 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'."
However, since then The Conjuring has been revived in Megadeth live sets, starting with a 2018 performance of the song at the Home Monitoring Arena, Czech Republic and frequently appearing on Megadeth set-lists since.
Dirk Verbeuren uses: Tama drums, hardware and sticks, Meinl cymbals, Evans heads.
