The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!

Megadeth is a band that has, before the release of this album, arguably already released three different “comeback” albums. The World Needs a Hero could be seen as their first comeback album, transitioning from an era of radio-friendly rock to a heavier metal sound more reminiscent of their earlier records. United Abominations saw the band reforming as a band again as the previous album was entirely recorded by session musicians (outside of Mustaine of course). Dystopia could be seen as yet another comeback, returning yet again to a thrash-oriented sound after Super Collider.

And now we come to this record, a “comeback” from the longest gap by far between Megadeth albums that has now come to an end - 6 years, 7 months, 11 days. Was it worth the wait? Perhaps. Even though “We’ll Be Back” is the final song, the band immediately tells the listener they’re “back” right from the get-go in the opening title track, with an ominous intro amidst cries of “bring out your dead” leading into some intense thrash and sinister lyrics inspired by the Black Death. After having a fun thrashing time in “Life in Hell”, we’re blessed with two of Megadeth’s signature “epics” - “Night Stalker” (a rare occurrence of Megadeth featuring another artist) and “Dogs of Chernobyl”. We’re given a couple of shorter numbers before arriving at the third single, “Soldier On!”, and another pair of tracks before closing the album with “We’ll Be Back”, which I honestly find (maybe a little too) interesting that it happened to be the very song that Megadeth used to tell the world that they were “back”.

Right off the bat, I can say for sure that in terms of average beats per minute, this is by far one of Megadeth’s fastest albums. This may be the fastest album since Killing Is My Business itself! Not only can I not recall any slow songs, but I can also barely even recall any slow moments in general. The only ones I can think of that might even remotely count are either incredibly short-lived or few and far between. Even the interlude “Psychopathy” is pretty speedy. To my knowledge, all of Megadeth’s other highly acclaimed thrash albums have way more slow parts. As someone who loves listening to and creating fast-as-hell thrashing metal, I love the sheer abundance of speed, but I do wonder if it may have been a bit too much. All that speed does start to blend in just a little bit after a while, particularly with the songs between Dogs and Soldier and the two following tracks.

I know I’m hammering on this pun a lot, but I can’t resist another reason to use it with the following sentence. The insane technicality of the instrumentation on this album once again proves that Megadeth is really “back”. Kiko Loureiro shines on this record, arguably way more than he does on Dystopia, and he lets you know on this album about his colossal arsenal of guitar techniques that he’s mastered. His solos speak (or should I say shred) for themselves. Dirk Verbeuren also makes his presence well-known on this album, delivering in my opinion a far more chaotic and energetic performance than Adler or Drover did. Even Steve Di Giorgio delivers some fantastic basslines (gotta love that riff after the acoustic interlude in Night Stalker), and I have to say that this album might just have, in my opinion, Megadeth’s best bass tone.

So, where does this album stand against previous Megadeth albums? Well, I think that this is one of, if not, their best albums released this century. It has pretty much everything a fan of “thrash metal Megadeth” (as opposed to “chasing radio Megadeth”) would want in a Megadeth album, even with the lack of slow moments and the sudden firing of David Ellefson. This album is nowhere near as groundbreaking or revolutionary as some of their previous albums, and it never will be now that thrash metal has long returned to the underground. I suspect that, as time goes on, its legacy will be one that more so stands in the crowd than rises above and delivers an extraordinarily unique experience. Nonetheless, I have no doubt it will at the very least stand the test of time.

Welcome “back”, Megadeth. We missed you.