Two months after lead guitarist Dave Mustaine was fired from Metallica due to drinking, drug use, violent behavior and personality conflicts, Mustaine, bassist David Ellefson, guitarist Greg Handevidt, and drummer Dijon Carruthers formed Megadeth in Los Angeles. Mustaine later said, "After getting fired from Metallica, all I remember is that I wanted blood. Theirs. I wanted to be faster and heavier than them." According to Mustaine, the name "Megadeth represents the annihilation of power. We spell the name phonetically because the meaning to us is the same as you get out of the dictionary; it's hypothetical body count after a nuclear fallout. It's a million deaths, and we want to leave our audience shell-shocked wherever we go." Though Megadeth is the first band to use this name, Pink Floyd in their early years used the name with a variation in the spelling ("The Meggadeaths").
Fueled by the desire for revenge, Mustaine elevated the intensity of Megadeth's music, speeding up existing songs such as "Mechanix", which Metallica's new line-up adapted into the slower paced "The Four Horsemen". After unsuccessfully searching for a vocalist for nearly six months, Mustaine decided to handle lead vocal duties himself, while also serving as the band's primary lyricist, main songwriter, and co-lead and rhythm guitarist.
Early in 1984 Megadeth recorded a three song demo, featuring Mustaine, Ellefson, and Rausch, which contained early versions of "Last Rites/Loved to Death", "Skull Beneath the Skin", and "Mechanix". Kerry King (of Slayer fame), covered a handful of live dates while a permanent replacement was sought. After just a few shows in 1984, Lee Rausch was replaced by fusion drummer Gar Samuelson. On the strength of their three song demo, Megadeth signed with the New York based independent label Combat Records, and in December added second guitarist Chris Poland, a friend of Gar's from the fusion scene.
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