Duba wurin da ke ƙasa sannan ka amsa tambayar daga baya a cikin harshe ɗaya kamar yadda wurin yake:  Passage: Bayan yawon shakatawa na duniya don tallafawa Youthanasia, Megadeth ya ɗauki lokaci a ƙarshen 1995. Mustaine ya fara aiki a kan MD.45, wani aikin gefe tare da mawaƙa Lee Ving na Tsoro. Duo din ya hayar da drummer Jimmy DeGrasso, wanda ya taka leda tare da Alice Cooper a yawon shakatawa na Amurka ta Kudu na Rock a farkon wannan shekarar. Marty Friedman ya gina ɗakin studio a sabon gidansa a Phoenix kuma ya kammala kundi na hudu, wanda aka saki a watan Afrilu 1996. A watan Satumbar 1996, Megadeth ya tafi London don yin aiki a kan waƙoƙi don kundi na gaba. Sabon manajan Bud Prager ne ya sa ido sosai kan rubuta waƙoƙin, wanda ya ba da gudummawar ra'ayoyin kiɗa da kalmomin; an canza kalmomin da taken waƙoƙi da yawa bisa buƙatunsa. Game da tasirin Prager, Mustaine daga baya ya rubuta: "Na yi tunanin wataƙila wannan mutumin [Prager] zai iya taimaka mini in sami wannan rikodin da ba a taɓa gani ba wanda nake so sosai". Kundin, wanda aka yi rikodin a Nashville, shine haɗin Megadeth na farko tare da mai samar da pop na kasar Dann Huff, wanda ya sadu da Mustaine a 1990. An saki Rubutun Cryptic a watan Yunin 1997. Kundin ya kai matsayi na goma a kan Billboard 200, kuma a ƙarshe an tabbatar da zinare a Amurka. Babban wakokinta, "Trust", ya zama waƙar Megadeth mafi girma a kan Mainstream Rock Tracks a lamba biyar, kuma an zaɓe shi don Mafi kyawun Kayan ƙarfe a Kyautar Grammy ta 1998. Kodayake duk waƙoƙin guda huɗu daga kundin sun shiga cikin manyan 20 a kan Mainstream Rock Tracks na Billboard, amsar manema labarai ga kundin ya haɗu. Kundin ya ƙunshi nau'ikan waƙoƙi daban-daban waɗanda Los Angeles Times ta bayyana a matsayin "daidaitaccen daidaituwa" tsakanin tsofaffin kayan da waƙoƙin gwaji. Lokacin da aka tambaye shi game da eclecticism na kundin, Mustaine ya ce an raba Rubutun Cryptic zuwa kashi uku. Wani ɓangare ya dogara ne akan sauri, kayan da ya fi ƙarfin gaske, wani kuma "waƙa ce ta rediyo kamar Youthanasia", kuma na uku na ƙarshe ya fi sauti.Bayan fiye da shekara guda tun bayan wasan band din na ƙarshe, Megadeth ya dawo a matsayin wasan kwaikwayo na rayuwa a watan Yunin 1997, yana fara yawon shakatawa na duniya tare da Misfits da yawon shakatawa a Amurka tare da Life of Agony da Coal...  Tambaya: Megadeth yana da sabon manajan mai suna me?
Bud Prager