Megadeth’s latest hotshot shredder, Teemu Mäntysaari, has taken to the ice for a ‘skate through’ of the band’s guitar solo-rich single, Let There Be Shred, and it’s seriously impressive.
The young Fin is the successor to Brazilian guitarist Kiko Loureiro, who left the band after two albums in 2023. He’s been sworn in for Megadeth’s final album, and his virtuosic fingerprints are all over a record that, somewhat bizarrely, ends with a cover of Metallica’s Ride the Lightning.
“Teemu is a monster,” bandleader Dave Mustaine said in 2024. “He is the guy I've been looking for for a very long time.”
He’s proven to be a powerhouse on what is to be his only studio album with the thrash metal giants, and his ice skating and guitar-playing shenanigans are certainly a unique take on the playthrough concept.
As time goes on, it looks like 2026 is becoming the unlikely year of shredding on ice. Nuno Bettencourt played a guitar solo while ice skating during a recent Extreme music video, and Canadian band Brass Camel's new video for Ice Cold is, quite possibly, the first time a 1963 Stratocaster has gone for a powerslide on ice.
Granted, Teemu’s playthrough is also pre-recorded; we don’t get new, raw audio from the guitar for the sake of the video, but it’s impressive nevertheless because it looks like his playing is pretty much spot on.
“This was so much fun,” Teemu says, commenting on the video. “[I’m] combining two of my favourite things, guitar and ice hockey!”
Teemu has told Guitar World that the band was 10 months into the album writing process before Mustaine dropped the bombshell that it would be the band’s last. Mustaine has since explained that his retirement decision was forced upon him as he struggles with a rare hand condition that has seen his hands “betray him.”
In 2002, he suffered severe nerve damage in his arm, and also underwent spinal surgery in 2014. Both instances heavily impacted his playing abilities.
