hennemusic

Megadeth are drawing near the end of their world tour in support of their 2011 release, “Thirteen,” and are headed back to the studio to begin work on their next album.

"[Producer] Johnny K. is arriving tomorrow to start pre-production on our new record,” tweeted Dave Mustaine on Wednesday. “This should be a very interesting record."

Johnny K. worked on “Thirteen,” which debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 album chart with sales of 42,000 in its first week.

"[Thirteen] is the culmination of my work over the 13 records I recorded,” said Mustaine last fall, prior to the album’s release. “There are moments on ‘Thirteen’ that capture my every emotion, and other moments where I am releasing feelings I never knew existed! My proudest moments of my musical career are captured on 'Thirteen.'”

The album's title had several layers of meaning, which Mustaine, who first picked up an axe at the age of 13, revealed in a 2011 chat with RollingStone.com, saying, "I was born on September 13th; this is my thirteenth record. It just seemed like it was the right thing to do to call it ‘Thirteen.’"

The album marked the recorded return of bassist Dave Ellefson, who was part of the band's classic lineup from 1983 to 2002. Ellefson returned to performing live with the band in early 2010, and “Thirteen” was the first time the bassist had played on a Megadeth record since 2002's “Rude Awakening.”

Megadeth begin a series of South American dates in Bogota, Columbia on September 2.