On Sunday, Megadeth proved the twelfth time’s a charm, as they picked up the metal Grammy for Dystopia in a ceremony that took place before the actual awards and was streamed online. And as pretty much everyone in the metal community noticed, as Dave Mustaine, David Ellefson, Kiko Loureiro and Dirk Verbeuren walked to the stage, the house band launched into a metal anthem – Metallica’s “Master of Puppets.” Sure, the band probably worked on appropriate music for all of the categories, most likely would’ve launched into the Metallica song regardless of who picked up the Grammy. However, Mustaine’s long and sometimes less-than-great history with his former band, led some to allege a conspiracy. 

For their part, Megadeth kept their cool for the whole time they were up there, and as the metal media went batshit crazy, about it, the band initially had no comment. Finally, Mustaine broke his silence about the perceived snub in probably the best way he could’ve:

Ah, you can’t blame ’em for not being able to play @Megadeth https://t.co/acEyzSQgyT

— Dave Mustaine (@DaveMustaine) February 13, 2017

Well played, Dave.