This Metal Has Mettle : Most bands stick to hedonistic stuff. Megadeth tackles heavier issues like war and understanding.

Heavy metal. What is it? Not a Chrysler or a Lincoln, we’re talking music here.

Is heavy metal just the teen-agers’ way of giving parents gray hair (and scaring the cat)? Is it merely the soundtrack for D students with active glands who drive fast, party hard and have the warrants to prove it?

Perhaps Deep Purple’s “Machine Head” album from the early ‘70s was the first full-on heavy metal album, perhaps not. In any case, not long after that, critics started predicting the end of metal. Wrong again. Not only has metal not gone away, it’s bigger than ever. Metal has its own magazines dedicated to the deification of the decibel, and even all-metal radio stations where nary an R.E.M. cut is heard.

There’s more to metal than just loudness. There’s all that hair, all that mousse, all that black leather, all that screaming and different types of metal--speed metal, thrash metal, gore metal, death metal, glam metal, corporate metal, and on and on.

Then there’s Megadeth, the L.A. quartet who will play the Ventura Theatre tonight along with Excel. Megadeth, known as “the thinking man’s metal band,” has released four albums since 1985 with titles such as “Killing Is My Business . . . And Business Is Good,” “so far, so good . . . so what!” and “Peace Sells . . . But Who’s Buying?” The new one is “Rust In Peace.”

While most metal bands deal with hedonistic issues where fun is never a four-letter word, Megadeth instead deals with larger issues such as hate, death, war and understanding. It’s a different type of metal band, and lead singer Dave Mustaine--the Megadude--is very different, and certainly not stuck for an answer when asked anything:

What about the current tour?

This will be our first tour since May, 1988. We’ll be playing several dates around California before we get to Ventura. The 13th is my birthday, by the way-- I’ll be 29, gettin’ up there. After that, we’ll be going to Europe for our Clash of the Titans tour along with Judas Priest, Testament and Suicidal Tendencies. Then we’ll return to the states and do an arena tour with Judas Priest.

You guys have recorded four albums that receive little airplay yet still the band seems to be doing fine. Explain.

Well, we don’t conform to anything. . . . We’re not like those glam bands who make music so the girls will like us. We don’t believe in that image stuff; we just get in, play hard and get out, without mascara.

Is there a basic Megadeth fan and is it the stereotypical metal head?

No, our fans are actually well versed in current events. They may have several Megadeth T-shirts in the closets, and they’re probably shunned by their peers and they probably won’t be reading The Times.

Your band has gone through members like the lunch shift at McDonald’s, why?

Musical differences and definite personality clashes, the usual stuff. And one unnamed member decided he wanted to share my girlfriend.

How did Megadeth get started?

I was in Metallica, but I got kicked out because I punched the lead singer in the mouth. He kicked my puppy so I punched him in the mouth. Then things got bad. I’m not going to say I’m sorry, but if I had it to do over again, I’d keep my dog at home. I miss those guys. In 1983, I decided to form the ultra heaviest, ultra furious band around. And I think I did.

Why do critics knock metal?

A lot of people just don’t understand the lyrics and a lot of bands don’t help because the singer is unintelligible and fails to enunciate. There’s also the stereotype that people who listen to metal are underachievers like Bart Simpson, or that they’re just a bunch of longhairs that do dope. Well, I’ve got long hair, don’t party and I’ve been to college.

Why can’t you guys spell “death”?

It’s a phonetic spelling.

In the ‘60s longhairs ostensibly were into peace and love, but today longhair seems to have a different connotation, why?

Most of the longhairs now are children of the longhairs then. Today, the population seems real angry. Everyone wants to do what their parents did, but the parents tell them, “I walked to school five miles through the snow,” and all that. With all the technology today, no one has to be uncomfortable anymore.

Metal is bigger than ever, why?

Genuine metal is having a resurgence; I’m talking about true heavy metal, not the pretending bands. You know, Poison looks like Motley Crue, who looks like Warrant, who looks like Poison. They can’t decide whether they want to look pretty or tough. It’s like: “Make up your mind, bonehead!”

Describe Megadeth music.

It’s P.I.G. music-- P-I-G; that’s personal instant gratification.

How do you feel about the recent Judas Priest verdict?

Some parents should be notified that their upbringing is detrimental to the child’s health. Children learn things outside the home and the old “do as I say, not as I do” philosophy doesn’t work. Parents need to be aware of peer pressure. That’s how I started smoking; I thought it was cool. But I’d be giving my girlfriend this soul kiss and she’d make this face like “yuck.” She’s a total health freak and I’ve since quit smoking.

What do you think of bouncers?

They’re all like you and I. I give them respect; they’re people, too. They may be big, bad and ugly on the outside, but on the inside they’re just like us. They try to gain respect by bulking up. They’re just there to protect us. Sometimes fans get carried away and they want to get up onstage with us; I guess we’re their idols. Usually, they just stay a few seconds then jump off. But if they stay too long, the bouncers are supposed to get them off the stage--gently, without beating anyone.

Describe the new album, “Rust in Peace.”

Well, it’s the first album we’ve done where everyone was there, if you know what I mean. There are no covers this time and we even have a new single, “Holy Wars.” People may think it’s about the Middle East, but it’s not. I wrote it two years ago.

Good album titles.

Thanks.