THEY’RE one of the most legendary heavy metal bands of all time.

Hailed as one of metal’s Big Four, Megadeth released era-defining albums like Peace Sells … But Who’s Buying? and Rust In Peace.

But the thrash giants have a Scottish secret - they can’t get enough of TV show Outlander.

And singer Dave Mustaine would love to meet the stars of the show when he’s in Glasgow to play at the Braehead Arena on November 11.

“We’re huge fans of Outlander and my wife and daughter have fallen in love with it,,” says Dave

“I randomly struck up a conversation with Sam (Heughan, the star of Outlander) and we’re hoping to maybe meet some of those guys when we’re out here, if they’re filming.

“There’s something that my family loves about Scotland - when my wife Pam’s mom was alive we even took her there on holiday, so it’s one of her favourite places to go. I’m just hoping I can deliver the best Megadeth show that I can to the good people of Glasgow.”

That show, a co-headline affair with fellow metal heavyweights Lamb of God, might include a few tasters of Megadeth’s forthcoming 15th album, Dystopia. After a mixed reaction to 2013’s Super Collider record, which saw the band go towards a hard rock direction, the band have gone heavier.

The only track released so far, Fatal Illusion, is a return to thrash. And Dave admits that the anger which fuelled some of the group’s greatest records is still there.

“If you like the stuff I wrote in the past when I was mad, there’s a lot of that on this record,” he says.

“There’s still tyranny and corruption in the world, and nice guys are still out there fighting the good fight and trying to get people to show some human kindness.

“There’s still stuff that makes me angry in the world. We were talking in the band about religious freedom the other day - I think that you should be able to believe in whatever you want, but being executed for not believing in what someone else wants you to believe?

“Then you look at all the brilliant young minds in the world right now that could change things and be rewarded for their efforts, but they’re not being encouraged to. Look at how quickly young minds can figure out an iPad - they can surely figure out a better fuel system but they‘re not getting the chances to.”

A happier note on the new record, due out in January, came from Dave’s own family ties. Dystopia was recorded in Nashville, where he now lives, and he was often joined in the studio by his son Justis, who also plays guitar.

“The coolest thing about the record was the relationship between my son and I during it, says Dave.

“He’d say ’Dad, you got to play the heavy songs again! You’ve got to do stuff like Peace Sells… and Countdown To Extinction again’ and I’d mess with him and say ’what do you mean I’ve got to,’ and we ended up spending a lot of time in the studio having fun.”

The image of Dave as a relaxed family man is some way from his earlier days, when he battled numerous drink and drug issues, not to mention a long-running feud with Metallica, where he’d been their original lead guitarist.

Things haven’t totally settled down, though - Megadeth went through yet more line-up changes before recording on Dystopia started, with both guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover departing and being replaced by Kiko Loureiro and Chris Adler (ironically of touring partners Lamb of God).

“I was friendly enough with the last guys, mostly with Shawn, but Kiko, Chris and I have such a great relationship,” says Dave.

“We’re friends and you can tell when we play together that we like being together. The music is as exciting as it ever was, and it’s really easy for me to say what great players they are, because everybody knows that. But there’s some other stuff going on - Chris is a huge Megadeth fan, and that makes it convenient for me because he already knows all the songs from all the records.

“Kiko is so talented that I can say let’s have a gypsy sound or a Middle Eastern or a tribal sound and everything I say he figures it out straight away.”

Megadeth and Lamb of God, Braehead Arena, November 11, £28.50, 5.30pm