Megadeth - 'Megadeth'

Rock Metal Machine
2 hours ago
2 min read

Megadeth have done their legacy proud… thanks for the music guys!

Skeleton in a white suit with one side on fire, wearing goggles. Background is white. The word "Megadeth" is at the top.

One of the original “Big Four” Thrash bands from the early eighties, Megadeth was born when guitarist Dave Mustaine parted ways with Metallica in less than amicable circumstances. Since the ear-splitting roar of their incendiary debut, ‘Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good’ back in 1985, the band has established its own unique and instantly identifiable sound within the Thrash subgenre, a lot of that being down to the instantly recognisable tones of Mustaine.

They’ve just completed a rather successful run with Disturbed, and to bring their four-decade tenure to a close, they’re also about to unleash their final (their seventeenth if memory serves) studio album. Simply titled ‘Megadeth’, I’ve had the privilege of spinning it for a few weeks now on and off, and as swansongs go, it ain’t half bad at all!

Mustaine is the last man standing, the lone survivor from a journey that began all those years ago, but, as he is to Megadeth what David Coverdale is to Whitesnake, that’s a badge of honour he should be proud of. Now surrounded by a superb band of hand-picked, post-apocalyptic warriors – Finnish guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari is particularly impressive – he once again raises a middle digit in defiance of convention and the establishment.

Continuing the renaissance started with ‘Dystopia’ back in 2016 (and accelerated somewhat with ‘The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!’ some six years later), ‘Megadeth’ takes you right back to that “golden decade” of the band that ran from ‘Peace Sells…’ to ‘Youthanasia’, a time for me when they barely put a foot wrong.

Kicking off with the eviscerating riff of ‘Tipping Point’ is a masterstroke and by the time the wailing lead guitars kick in, you’re in no doubt this is classic Megadeth with that trademarked undercurrent of foreboding. Next we have ‘I Don’t Care’ with Mustaine’s sung/spoken vocals (Thrash Metal’s answer to Alice Cooper for sure), another expertly crafted slab of controlled rage. ‘Hey God’ which follows drops down a couple of gears and settles into a kind of ‘Symphony Of Destruction’ vibe with yet another eternally cool riff.

Then there’s the frenetic ‘Let There Be Shred’, rumbling ‘I Am War’ and brooding ‘Another Bad Day’ (to name but three), before the prophetic ‘The Last Note’ rounds things out in style.

Megadeth have done their legacy proud… thanks for the music guys!