Megadeth‘s Dave Mustaine has said that he hopes to one day work with Metallica‘s James Hetfield again.

In an interview with Andrew Daly of Vinyl Writer Music, the Megadeth frontman spoke about his approach to songwriting and his longevity in music.

“Well, I have to think that my longevity might just be stubbornness,” he said. “I have been secretly hoping there’d be a day where James [Hetfield] and I can write together again. I think the world really does want us to do that, and I think there is a pretty good possibility of it happening down the line.

“I do think that it’s possible that one day James is going to come around and that he and I are going to be able to do something together again. I guess that’s one of the things that has always kept me pushing forward. I think it’d be good for Megadeth, and it could be great for Metallica too.”

Mustaine played in Metallica for 11 months before being kicked out of the band shortly before they recorded their 1983 debut album, ‘Kill ‘Em All’. Following his departure, Mustaine would go on to form his own thrash metal band, Megadeth.

In an interview from last year, (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), Mustaine said he “probably was destined to leave” Metallica primarily because “there was just so much talent and so much personality between the four of us”.

“I don’t know that we could have survived,” he said. “There was destined to be some kind of an explosion at some point.”

Despite initially feeling sour about his forced departure, Mustaine noted that he has a strong relationship with Metallica in the present day. “I’m glad to say that our friendship today is so much different from that moment, those moments, those days, those times, those people,” he said.

Megadeth’s most recent album ‘The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!’ was released earlier this month, previewed by two singles: ‘We’ll Be Back’ in June and ‘Soldier On!’ in August.

It marks the band’s 16th studio album, and their first since 2016’s ‘Dystopia’. Speaking of the release delays for ‘The Sick’ – which included last year’s firing of bassist David Ellefson amid allegations of online grooming – Mustaine said in June that “everything that we needed on this record is right in its place”.