Songfacts®:

• This was the lead single from thrash metal act Megadeth's twelfth studio album, EP Endgame.
• The band debuted this on June 24, 2009 at the General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
• Frontman Dave Mustaine told Jam! Music that this song is "about a medieval torture device." He added: "It's straightforward, no-nonsense Megadeth thrash metal."
• This was the first Megadeth release to feature guitarist Chris Broderick after Glen Drover's departure in 2008.
• Endgame was recorded at the band's new, self-built studio in San Marcos, California - Vic's Garage. The studio was named after Megadeth's iconic mascot character, Vic Rattlehead, whose image appears on several of their albums.
• The song was originally submitted as a musical idea by Megadeth guitarist Shawn Drover. Dave Mustaine started listening to the beginning of the song and just hated it. He recalled to Noisecreep: "I'm thinking to myself, 'Why don't I like this thing?' He kept on pushing me to listen to it more so I finally decided to learn it on guitar. Once I started figuring it out on guitar I go to Shawn, 'Dude, no wonder I don't like it, it's the beginning of (1990 Rust in Peace track) 'Take No Prisoners,' I asked him how was I supposed to use the riff again."
  
  Mustaine did collaborate with Drover on the rest of his idea. "Yeah, I listened to the rest of the song idea he had," he said, "and it was great music. So sometimes you just have to go through crap like that to get to the good stuff."