Daniel Boczarski / Getty Images Dave Mustaine of Megadeth performs at the Aragon Ballroom on February 10, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois.

Update, 2/16 11:06 AM: Mustaine sent out a press release noting that although he supports Santorum, the endorsement isn’t official. “What I did say was that I hope to see a Republican in the White House. I’ve seen good qualities in all the candidates but by no means have made my choice yet.” See the original report below.

Conservative presidential candidate Rick Santorum has received an endorsement from an unlikely source: Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine.

A pioneer of the American thrash metal, Mustaine was famously expelled from Metallica in 1983. He went on to form Megadeth, which rose to international fame along with Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax in the “Big Four of Thrash.” While many wouldn’t equate thrash metal with politics, from music censorship (“Hook In Mouth”) to the environment (“Countdown to Extinction”) to the effectiveness of the United Nations (“United Abominations”), Mustaine has always injected political themes into his songs.

(MORE: Dress Like Rick Santorum, for Just $100)

In an interview with Music Radar, Mustaine, who was a correspondent for MTV during the 1992 presidential election, was asked for his thoughts on the 2012 political field. After comparing candidate Ron Paul to insecticide (“98 percent of it’s inert gases, but it’s the two percent that’s left that will kill you”), Mustaine said:

Earlier in the election, I was completely oblivious as to who Rick Santorum was, but when the dude went home to be with his daughter when she was sick, that was very commendable. Also, just watching how he hasn’t gotten into doing these horrible, horrible attack ads like Mitt Romney’s done against Newt Gingrich, and then the volume at which Newt has gone back at Romney… You know, I think Santorum has some presidential qualities, and I’m hoping that if it does come down to it, we’ll see a Republican in the White House… and that it’s Rick Santorum.

(MORE: The Passion of Rick Santorum)

While it’s unclear how many voters will be swayed by the Megadeth frontman’s endorsement, perhaps the buzz surrounding the backing will inspire Santorum to discover a new theme song for his campaign in Megadeth’s discography. Perhaps “Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good!” or “Peace Sells” whose lyrics include, “What do you mean/ I couldn’t be president of the U.S.A.? /Tell me something, it’s still/ We the people,right?” What could be more stirring for a presidential candidate than that sentiment?

[youtube=http://youtu.be/rdEupVsL07E]