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

It’s come to the point that I actually have to look up the line-up of Megadeth before I write this review. Obviously, I know that Dave Mustaine remains in the band, and it’s mostly the people who recorded Dystopia, though all I can remember is the Ellefson crisis, not the fact that I’ve technically appeared on 2 of the same releases as drummer Dirk Verbeuren. (Very much technically, since both of us were guests and I just wrote the lyrics from my bedroom). However, instead of discussing how that almost defeats the purpose of Megadeth as a band, I’m just going to say that I don’t care anymore. I accept the party line, that it’s Mustaine’s band and that “No One Else Matters” (his version of the Metallica hit). And, regardless of all the stuff I could say about Mustaine, his music still entertains me. The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! may show a little more tendency towards falling apart than the previous release, it may have a title that makes me hate typing it, it may play off all the old Megadeth tropes…but goddamn if it isn’t fun to listen to.

I drive my shitty, trash-filled, engine-check-light-on car to a part-time job once a week - a commute of over half an hour each way that is filled with endless traffic lights and ill-kept road rules - and this album has been an excellent soundtrack. It’s road rage Megadeth, cut into your lane Megadeth, shoot ‘em up Megadeth. That’s why I’m happy to rule out any conversation about The Sick… being serious thrash metal: it doesn’t matter, because Dave and the boys are just having fun with it. The brace of songs at the front of the album, not to mention the ‘Black Friday’-aping closer ‘We’ll Be Back’, revel in snappier versions of late ‘80s riffs, dressed up in modern snarl and production, as ‘Night Stalkers’ is so keen to prove. Those who thought Dystopia was lame and sterile will still think it here, but I’m of the opinion that Mustaine carries off the attitude with sufficient conviction. And yes, I do use the horn more often during the Ice Cube cameo. No matter how technical the solos from Kiko Loureiro get or how many movements ‘Night Stalkers’ moves through, it all feels like video game fun.

You can load up on the catchy fun songs too, since the middle and back stretch of the album opts for a slightly different tactic to the hard-nosed opening. Sure, we’ve heard about death, war, and nuclear disaster up to ‘Dogs of Chernobyl’, but it’s songs like ‘Junkie’, ‘Killing Time’, ‘Célebutante’, and ‘Mission to Mars’ that really reveal an essential part of Mustaine’s personality. If we’re still comparing Metallica to Megadeth, the former group have always wanted the world to sing all their lyrics back to them and thus aim to unite, while Mustaine doesn’t care if you disagree with him, he just wants to prove that he’s right. The songs I’ve listed above all poke malicious fun at very particular groups of people, maybe even specific individuals in some cases, like the heavy Elon Musk vibes I get from the earlier part of the latter song. And the awkward fact is that no matter how much you may despise his views, Dave will get you to sing many of the lyrics to those diatribes, not least the relentlessly catchy choruses of ‘Junkie’ and ‘Killing Time’. Granted, some of the verses feel clunky by comparison, although the band power through with some concise hooks too.

Don’t misconstrue this praise as me losing my head over The Sick…. I recognize clearly enough that it has its drawbacks, one among which is a mediocre vocal performance from Mustaine. He retains the attitude yet not the exactitude of tone or pitch that would allow me to put full confidence in his next move, whether on a given song from this release or looking ahead to future Megadeth albums. The band could be called a little mechanical too, in part due to that modern production, although the song structures offer a lot more twists and turns than you’d expect going into this, attaining a degree of complexity during the title track, the loaded up ‘Night Stalkers’, and extremely narrative ’Mission to Mars’, which makes excellent use of samples and its shifts in direction. Indeed, that last song not only excites me more than anything else here, but practically combines all the entertaining features of Megadeth into something kind of new for the band. Relative duds show up, like the kind of forgettable ’Sacrifice’, mediocre ‘Soldier On!’ and badly overlong ‘Killing Time’. Shedding a couple of these would keep the album in the 45 minute window, just like Dystopia, which for me is the main distinction between the pair.

If you’ll allow me to explain The Sick… in my own way, I’d call it a blockbuster sequel that turns out to be surprisingly good. You don’t go into it with particularly high expectations, because you know it will rehash some old ideas, cash in on familiar plot tricks, and be too long and patchy; however, in the end it hangs together pretty well. The actors have aged and are beginning to show it, yet someone on the writing team has pulled out the stops and given this sequel teasing glimpses of originality. Some of the scenes excite beyond others, so abandoning your disbelief will help to no end, and so will watching it on the big screen (i.e. loud speakers). Undoubtedly, if you hated the original and can’t stand the lead man, you’ll hate this twice as much. Then again, do you really think Dave gives a shit about the likes of you? You’ll be a song on his next album most probably.