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

Is there some Secret Society of Highly Skilled Metal Musicians somewhere with the express purpose of joining Megadeth? I understand the band's a huge draw with a strong discography behind it, but it just seems like there's this endless carousel spinning around where Dave can summon up the most qualified candidates. This time it's Belgian dynamo Dirk Verbeuren joining on the drums, and though something like this thrash band must seem like a cakewalk for his capabilities, he's yet another guarantee, along with Kiko Loureiro, that Mustaine wants the very best for his recordings and for his fans. Oh yeah, toss in Steve DiGiorgio on bass for this album just for safety's sake, and you know it's all in good hands.

Now, none of these guys are exactly busting the seams on their individual instrumental prowess here, but instead playing to the level of the material, and that's once again competent and wholly aware of the past strengths that got them this far. Like Dystopia before it, The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! feels like it treads on a sideways path from a Rust in Peace or Countdown to Extinction, not exactly surpassing those recording in songwriting quality, but doing some justice to the speed and finesse the band possessed when breaking those new grounds 30+ years ago. There are riffs flying all over the place, a lot of them (as in "Night Stralkers" or "Killing Time") feeling just a whiff familiar, but putting their own permutations on the pre-existing patterns, spinning them off into a few new melodic hooks here, a decent lead there, and just enough memorable writing to compel a fan to repeated listens without any stinkers to sift through.

Like Dystopia, it's very consistent, with a good degree of variation, a band seemingly still in the prime of their youth. Dave's vocals might not have the exact melodic potential that he used to, but I think he covers that up more here than on the previous album, and if you told me this was him in 1994-1995 I'd buy that. Kiko's beautiful shredding pokes through in places, but never shifting Megadeth back towards his alma mater Angra, while Verbeuren and DiGiorgio make the rest sound easy. The production here is super clean and effective, with a little less punch to the rhythm guitars than some past efforts, but it's all so meticulously balanced, between everything from the cascading leads to an Ice T guest vocal. There's also just so much speed here, I don't know if I can scientifically calculate it across all their albums, but they're performing on average at the most agile clip since those early 90s, and the mainstream slowdown years now just seem like a memory.

At the same time, the songs here don't individually stand out for me as much as albums like Endgame or even Dystopia, so this whole album just feels like checking the stew to see if it's still boiling up correctly, and on target for a fabulous meal. If Megadeth is capable of this in 2022, there's really no limit going forward until Dave is literally having to put together albums from a hospital bed or beneath a headstone. There's a version of this with a cover of Sammy Hagar's "This Planet's On Fire (Burn in Hell)", and they even manage to give that number a swift kick in the ass and make it sound as fiery and thriving as ever. There is nothing sick, dying nor dead about The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!, and if nothing else, if not a standout against all the hits the band has generated, it's a veritable Fountain of Youth, Vic striding through its dystopian cover landscape as confident as ever, much like the performances here.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Having lost track of—and, frankly, interest in—Megadeth for many years, I rediscovered the band when I bought 2009’s Endgame more than ten years after its original release. Since at that time the release of The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! was right around the corner and there was a lot to like about Endgame, not to mention the generally very positive reviews for 2016’s Dystopia, giving The Sick… a try seemed like a logical decision. As it turned out, it was also a very smart decision. Megadeth may have put out some underwhelming releases starting with the overly streamlined Youthanasia and especially thereafter, leaving their thrash roots behind whilst heading in a more mainstream-friendly and somewhat experimental direction, but they somehow managed to right the ship and put out some quality latter-day material, 2022’s The Sick… being no exception.

First and foremost, The Sick… is a rather diverse album, with songs varying from hard-rocking to all-out thrashing, mirroring many different phases of the band’s long and storied career. The opening title track, recounting the story of how the Black Death came to and ravaged Europe, sets the first exclamation point. It kicks off with an atmospheric intro (“Bring out your deeeaaad …”) and has a nice drive to it, a clear sense of urgency coupled with nifty guitar work and Dave Mustaine’s trademark snarl. Following his unfortunate bout with cancer it was fair to wonder whether his singing voice might have suffered in any way, but he pretty much sounds as he always has. That’s not to say Dave sounds great by any means, but then again, when has he ever been known for his vocal skills? The thing with Dave is he doesn’t have to have a particularly commanding voice or be a technically sound singer in order to be just the right singer for Megadeth. Dave simply needs to be Dave, because more so than most other bands, Megadeth are almost inconceivable without their front man’s idiosyncratic voice. Love him or hate him, but Megadeth certainly wouldn’t be Megadeth without Dave’s sometimes angry, sometimes sardonic snarl.

Following the brilliant title track, what ensues is a nice and highly entertaining blend of fast-paced technical thrash/speed and melodically charged yet still decidedly heavy (!) metal. Even the somewhat chaotic vibes known from the band’s very early albums are occasionally reintroduced, such as on the closing sledge hammer of a song named “We'll Be Back”, which deliberately recycles some riffs from 1986’s classic tune “Black Friday”. Considering how eminently enjoyable The Sick… turns out to be, Dave’s proclamation that he intends to be back sounds more like a promise than a threat, and how could it not when you’re still capable of delivering a bunch of barn burners and high-octane highlights such as the viciously shredding “Night Stalkers”, where guitarist Kiko Loureiro is given ample room to churn out some truly scorching leads and solos and where hip-hop legend Ice-T makes a brief guest appearance; for some reason, his “game’s over, bitches” line never fails to crack me up.

Dave’s reckoning with the attention whores of the social-media age, “Célebutante”, as well as the blistering “Life in Hell” and “Soldier On!” are plenty aggressive too, whereas “Killing Time” and “Dogs of Chernobyl”—at least up until that ripping closing section takes us all the way back to Peace Sells—proceed with a more measured stride, showing off the band’s more melodic side. The Sick… is in fact full of catchy choruses and “Killing Time”, apparently some sort of diatribe about one of Dave’s least favorite acquaintances, features a particularly addictive one. The solo section in this one is astonishingly good as well, with virtuoso Kiko Loureiro almost (but not quite) rivaling Marty Friedman’s unforgettable moment of pure genius on Rust in Peace’s “Tornado of Souls”. The tongue-in-cheek, rock-infused “Mission to Mars” is another definitive highlight, not only in terms of musical delivery but also with regard to the lyrics, where Dave’s characteristic sense of humor comes into play, culminating in refreshingly whimsical lines such as these:

»I headbang on the gangway, say my prayers, cross my heart and hope to die
Open a window for the Seven Sisters of Pleiades
"Hello ladies", "Hello Moon Man!"
Three hundred million miles to Mars, it doesn't seem so far away (Yes it does!)
And I wanna, I wanna be an astronaut
I wanna, I wanna, wanna«

Speaking of original lyrics, I also like how “Dogs of Chernobyl” appears to be partly written from the perspective of one of said dogs desperately searching for his missing owners.

Not very surprisingly—after all, Dave has earned a well-deserved reputation as one of the best rhythm guitarists in metal—, Mustaine’s and Kiko Loureiro’s guitar work is the true star on The Sick…, as the quick-fire salvos of precision riffing hit hard, the intricate solos vary from highly melodic to slightly chaotic and the dynamic duo never fail to infuse their shredding with plenty of addictive hooks and licks. The rhythm section is great as well, with drummer Dirk Verbeuren’s technically proficient yet song-oriented play leaving nothing to be desired. On the downside, it’s a bit of a pity that session bassist Steve DiGiorgio’s contribution doesn’t show up more prominently in the otherwise flawless mix. With a guy of his caliber, this feels almost like a waste of resources.

The very nicely done artwork, depicting good ole Vic Rattlehead in swashbuckling gear observing the horrors of plague-stricken Europe, rounds off a highly competent and, at least in this magnitude, surprisingly enjoyable package. As it turns out, sly old dog Dave Mustaine still has some tricks up his sleeve and is far from being finished. The Sick… is a little on the long side at 55 minutes and not every track is an absolute winner, but it’s not much of a stretch to say that of the bands constituting the original big four of thrash—Slayer having split up years ago, Anthrax having released their last studio album all the way back in 2016, and Metallica being more into the long-winded, artsy stuff nowadays—, Megadeth indeed look like the one with the most gas still left in the tank, which is probably the one compliment Megadave would be most flattered to hear.

Choicest cuts: The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!, Night Stalkers, Dogs of Chernobyl, Killing Time, Mission to Mars, We'll Be Back

Rating: 8.5 out of 10 points

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.

Last full Megadeth record I heard before this one was 2009's splendid "Endgame". Admittedly, though, I'm not much of a fan, seeing as how Dave Mustaine's vocals and the man himself are both kinda weird. But I can hear quality thrash when it comes out the speakers, regardless. And Megadeth's 16th studio album is largely that. Notwithstanding that at this point, the band has changed its line-up more times than Whitesnake during the mid-to-late '80s, the opening title track is unmistakably Megadeth: An uptempo riff going from complex and melodic to bluesy and fierce during the verse. Mustaine sounds like a bitter old man, which is probably not far from the truth, but it does fit the dystopian (!) theme.

There's a nice amount of back-to-the-roots thrash this time around. Nothing innovative or memorable, but professional and mostly flawless in and by itself. The production is organic and clear, which is probably heard best in the waltz-y "Dogs of Chernobyl": The respective instruments tend to be busy at work most of the time by far, but they all come through equally well.

This track, however, sets a precedent for a kinda odd characteristic here: The lyrical subject matters are sometimes very specific, often leaving absolutely nothing to the listener's interpretation. For example, "Mission to Mars" is about exactly that: Going to Mars in a spaceship. And I dunno if it's just me, but I find it a bit bizarre to hear the ever-snarling Mustaine singing lines like "I wanna be an astronaut", and "Blast-off, I'm on my way / I'm a shooting star, a man on a mission".

But at least that's kind of original. A song like "Junkie", on the other hand, is about – you guessed it – a junkie. Not exactly an original theme, much less downright cool. But hey – wouldn't be the first time a band recycled a theme. And musically, it does feature those signature deep triplet-pickings and arpeggiated riffs that fans love and expect. And overall, that's what we're dealing with here: A solid helping of MegaThrash that won't be a future classic, but that's as professionally done as you could expect from a maestro like Mustaine. Everything's tight and well-played, and the borderline break-neck solos are enjoyable as always.

Apart from a couple of fillers, it all even holds up on side 2, with the catchy mid-tempo start/stop-riff of "Killing Time" and especially the closing "Well Be Back" being fresh and inspired stand-outs. Indeed, when "The Sick, the Dying, and the Dead" is at its best, it's like meeting an old acquaintance that you haven't seen in many years and maybe not had a lot in common with, but it still makes your day, because that person seems to be doing as well as humanly possible. And considering Mustaine's comeback since cancer treatment, that's probably not far from the truth, either.


(Originally posted at https://www.globalmetalblog.com/l/megadeth-the-sick-the-dying-and-the-dead)

Even years after the classics Megadeth released in the 80’s and early 90’s, Dave Mustaine still finds a way to deliver refreshing music to the ears for not just the old school fans but a new generation of metal-heads like myself. I’ve been a fan of metal for quite a few years but only in the last few have I become enveloped into it the way so many hardcore fans are. Diving into new discographies constantly, playing out the same favorites time and time again, always fearing that the charm will wear off eventually, I always have a legitimate reason to play some music. And in this time, I’ve listened to Megadeth more than probably any other band. And that’s because Mustaine isn’t just a great musician and songwriter, it’s because he always finds a way to craft music in a way that makes it unique, but one can still tell it’s a Mustaine product. Yeah, maybe the voice is a giveaway but his style and knack for technically sound compositions make for a unique and intriguing experience on (almost) every Megadeth album.

The Sick, the Dying, and the Dead pretty much does everything I could have hoped for in a modern Megadeth album. I expected it to be a bit overproduced; after all, this came out in 2022 and moving forward into 2023 I don’t expect too many 80’s production values in newer releases. But from a songwriting aspect, this is some of Dave’s best work since the early records. Take the opening title track for example: it doesn’t necessarily have the pace or structure of a classic thrash metal song. It’s broken up by a lot of mini solos from lead guitarist Kiko Loureiro and little transitions which lead into new riffs and new arrangements. Speaking of Kiko, he is incredible on this record. Yeah, Dave supplies the riffs but man, Kiko’s style is so identifiable and full of flair, he is in my opinion one of the best musicians on the planet right now.

While the title track is a little more unconventional sounding to me, there’s no shortage of legitimate thrash songs. Life in Hell is speed all the way, driven by an awesome riff and with Mustaine’s signature snarl, dude is so good at sounding pissed off and passionate in his recording sessions. Célebutante is another example of old school Megadeth, that riff gives me more speed metal vibes than thrash (yes, there is a difference between speed and thrash metal) but the energetic pace makes this one of the record’s most enjoyable moments. Nightstalkers is awesome too, even that out of left field cameo from ICE-T can’t ruin what is a bonafide barn burner of a track with a juggernaut riff, and enough dynamics to keep it from getting stale despite its long runtime. Dogs of Chernobyl makes good use of a long runtime too; it’s slow and methodical for the first two thirds, a more grim, foreboding vibe from this one as the band travel towards an incredible climax that turns into an all out race to the finish in some of the most frenzied playing on the entire album. Then of course there’s the juxtaposition of the final two tracks, Mission to Mars and We’ll Be Back. The former is pretty much a pop metal song with its ear worm chorus and lighthearted lyrical content while the latter is a vicious display of Megadeth aggression and musicianship.

While mostly consistent, Sick Dying Dead does tend to lull a little bit in the middle. The songs at the beginning and end of the record are definitely more memorable but even tracks like Junkie and Killing Time at least have catchy moments despite taking a backseat in the brain’s memory after the album has finished. At nearly an hour long, it’s expected that the quality wouldn’t completely keep up all the way throughout. But I can’t say there’s any songs I’d want to cut, pretty much everything here leaves some sort of imprint and there’s no tracks that feel like lesser versions of others. Everything here is very varied.

I mentioned the incredible playing from Kiko, but I’d be ashamed if I didn’t say something about Dirk Verbeuren’s drumming on this. Chris Adler from Lamb of God did the drumming on Dystopia and he’s a great drummer. But Dirk seems to have great chemistry with the band, there seems to be a lot more variation in his drum patterns and a competent drummer always seems to make music seem even faster and more intense. On bass, Steve DiGorgio doesn’t necessarily stand out a whole lot, but then again he’s just re-recording whatever Dave Ellefson decided to do in studio before his abrupt exit from the band, so I wasn’t expecting a whole lot other than a competent performance that complimented Mustaine’s playing. And Mustaine himself is amazing here, his voice is clearly aged but he makes the best of it and his playing hasn’t been affected one bit. All these years later, he’s still pumping out incredible riffs just like he was back in the 80’s.

After Dystopia, I had high hopes for this album, it seems like on these last couple records Dave has been writing with the fire he had as a kid. He sounds angry, his playing sounds frantic, and his style of writing has always opened the door for hooks that stay in your head but don’t compromise the aggression that comes with metal music. He’s always been really good at playing hard and heavy and not sacrificing that for accessibility. He’s 61 now, so you’d think maybe he’d a slow down a bit. I’m sure there’s not going to be a ton of Megadeth albums after this one. But that final track We’ll Be Back seems like a message to all, I think the next record is going to be more of the same and I can’t wait for it.

Few things are as satisfying as an underdog defying the odds and coming home with the gold, though in the particular case of guitarist and front man Dave Mustaine, it’s become par for the course. The Megadeth brand itself is an exercise in turning catastrophe into victory going all the way back to when the aforementioned Mustaine emerged from being unceremoniously dropped from Metallica and proceeded to pick up the proverbial pieces. Fast-forward to the recent aftermath of the stellar 2016 smash album Dystopia, the extended period of studio silence that followed and the exodus of co-founder and long-time bassist Dave Ellefson from the fold under controversial circumstances, to speak nothing for the pandemic lockdowns and a nasty bout with cancer, many might have speculated that the previously noted 15th album would have been Dave’s swansong. But just like its skeleton mascot Vic, Megadeth is a name that refuses to die before its time, and with the release of 2022’s The Sick, The Dying…And The Dead, the flame has most definitely been lit anew.

Per usual, Dave has amassed the support of a formidable fold of musicians to assist in realizing his vision, and a few unforeseen shifts in the band’s permanent lineup has done very little to alter the existing formula. The services of shred technician and former Angra guitarist Kiko Loureiro have been retained for a second go around, and though he has been more than fit for the task of filling the shoes originally worn by the likes of Marty Friedman, Glen Drover and Chris Broderick, his game has definitely been upped since Dystopia and rivals the feats Friedman originally brought to Rust In Peace. Insofar as the indispensible rhythm section goes, virtuoso bassist and studio mercenary Steve DiGiorgio has been tapped to fill the role of Ellefson, and while there has been a slightly increased level of force to the presence of the bass in comparison to the past few albums, Steve avoids any excessive showboating in favor of filling out the arrangement, ditto relative newcomer to the fold and former Soilwork drummer Dirk Verbeuren, who makes a respectable ruckus on the kit in rapid succession but definitely plays towards keeping things tight and together.

Setting the tone with an eye for the dark and ominous, Dave and company opt for a rather fresh and engaging blend of atmospheric tension, neck-ruining riff frenzies and technical wizardry to usher in this 14 chapter studio excursion. In essence, the riveting opener and title anthem “The Sick, The Dying…And The Dead” sets the bar for the rest of the album, dredging up some highly welcome parallels to the epic and quasi-progressive structural approach of Rust In Peace and the chilling blend of melodic contour and somber acoustic balladry heard on So Far, So Good…So What, and particularly that of beloved Megadeth cut “In My Darkest Hour” as it recounts the scourge of the black plague. Though this excellent beginning entry does detract a bit from the rest of the listen because of how astoundingly awesome it proves to be, the kicked up tempo that follows on hard-hitting speed thrashers like “Life In Hell”, “Junkie” and the bone-crushing slayer “Night Stalkers” (which also features an auspicious guest slot by Body Count front man and rap icon Ice-T) keeps things plenty interesting. Likewise, other highly atmospheric and dark melodic numbers like the almost power metal-tinged epic number and poignant nod to the tragic nuclear accident of its namesake “Dogs Of Chernobyl” and the rock-infused curveball that sort of recounts the better moments of Countdown To Extinction and ode to space travel gone awry “Mission To Mars” are no slouches.

Not one to be tied down to a singular theme of morose and somber subjects, the tone does get a bit lighter here and there, but the pedal it definitely kept to the proverbial mettle. Case and point, the shuffling march with a massive metallic bottom end “Soldier On!” which comes chock full of fun guitar high-jinks out of Dave and Kiko while the former rallies the troops in one of the more inspirational philosophical odes in his lyrical arsenal, topping things off with a rather humorous ending featuring Mustaine playing drill sergeant and leading a call and response number like an outtake from Full Metal Jacket as the track fades. Likewise, the quick-paced thrasher “Celebutante” takes some sarcastic swipes at the modeling and entertainment industry while delivering a fierce riff display, while the profanity-laced groove machine and slightly bluesy “Police Truck” sees Mustaine going a bit lower in his vocal range than usual and bringing an old school punk attitude into the mix. But the moment that seals the deal in the eclecticism department is the almost rock radio-tinged anthem “This Planet’s On Fire (Burn In Hell)”, featuring none other than Sammy Hagar himself on vocals alongside Dave to bring a lighter mood to a mostly dark studio affair.

In the grand scheme of Megadeth’s near 40 year history, The Sick, The Dying…And The Dead ranks pretty high among its predecessors, which is no small accomplishment considering the many new classics that this band has managed to churn out in United Abominations, Endgame, and Dystopia respectively, to speak nothing for the impeccable legacy this outfit solidified even before their 1992 commercial breakthrough. It doesn’t quite outdo the timeless classics in Peace Sells and Rust In Peace, but it draws from both to a fair degree and is sure to bring plenty of nostalgic ears into its presence alongside the legions of younger fans that have been swept into its ranks since they reforged their old style during the 2000s. The years may have been grinding on Mustaine’s aging vocal chords, and with it has come a more limited range compared to his youthful snarl during the golden era of thrash, but he holds his own and delivers up a respectable performance that measured up to the grand musical display that comes along with it. Whether you thrash old or new, it would behoove all whom thrash to do so with this album as soon as the streaming site loads or the CD hits their mailboxes.

Originally written for Sonic Perspectives (www.sonicperspectives.com)

When Megadeth released Dystopia, it was seen as a relief after the hard rock-oriented Super Collider. Fans had been holding their breath, dreading another foray into commercial dredge, as Megadeth had a bad habit of doing. Luckily, Dystopia introduced a reinvigorated lineup and the band had one thing on their mind: thrash metal. On The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!, Megadeth assures us that this philosophy is here to stay.

This is a heavy album. Fast and catchy in some areas, melodic and brooding in others, but always heavy as hell. After the atmospheric Dystopia telling the story of a doomed world, this album is more content with pummeling the listener with vicious riffs and ballistics-level drumming. This brute force is best heard on tracks like "Life in Hell" and "Night Stalkers", but is present throughout. What the band loses in a consistent sonic landscape, they make up for with pure aggression.

The album is also a reflection of the band's prior works, with inspirations from various Megadeth albums present on the different tracks. The speedy, progressive "Night Stalkers" and "We'll be back" would sound right at home on Peace Sells or Rust in Peace, and the melodic runaround of "Killing Time" sounds like it came straight out of the Youthanasia era. Catchy and straight forward thrashers like "Celebutante" and "Sacrifice" call to mind the bands earliest work, Killing Is My Business, and even their commercial era is touched upon with the seminal "Mission to Mars", the biggest surprise on the album.

Considering his age and his battle with throat cancer, I thought Dave would sound much more coarse on this album. Contrarily, by some miracle, he sounds almost better than he did on Dystopia, delivering excellent vocals on "Night Stalkers" and "Soldier On!". Meanwhile, Kiko continues to prove why he can consistently stand alongside Dave with fast shredding and thrilling solos, and Dirk Verbeuren brings some much needed oomph to Megadeth's recordings. Its nice to hear the drum fills that start or end the tracks, as too often with this band, the drums only serve as a bedrock to the guitarwork. Steve DiGiorgio gets some time to shine on "Night Stalkers", but unfortunately its business as usual as the bass is mostly indistinguishable from the guitar.

At nearly an hour long, however, the album tends to drag a bit. The six minute "Dogs of Chernobyl" takes too long to get to the point, and both "Junkie" and "Celebutante" are fine, but inessential. Ideally, they could have been cut to get the run time down to a more manageable 40 minutes. I listen to thrash metal for a short sharp shock of adrenaline, and a more mid paced album at this length tends to get a bit boring. Endgame, a similarly styled album, had no such problem thanks to its more concise track list.

Overall, this is a solid output from Megadeth, and a worthy follow-up to Dystopia. Its a little longer than it needs to be, but when it hits, it hits hard. I've been listening to it regularly since it came out, and the songwriting speaks for itself. Megadeth is at their very best when they write music that's fast, loud and rude, and if they really do come back, I have a feeling that they'll keep bringing the heat.

Best Songs:
Night Stalkers
We'll Be Back
Mission to Mars

Worst Songs:
Dogs of Chernobyl
Celebutante

I have never been the greatest Megadeth fan but the creative songwriting, gloomy vibes and oppressive energy on Dystopia have finally managed to get me hooked. The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! doesn't only keep the band's momentum going with a strong new line-up but even outclasses the previous career highlight. The vibrant mixture of heavy and thrash metal certainly places this release among the greatest of the year.

The band manages to mix technically appealing instrumental sections with thought-provoking lyrics and catchy choruses such as on ''Soldier On!'' and ''We'll Be Back''. Both songs find the perfect balance between melodic heavy metal and ferocious thrash metal and take no prisoners. The band has excellent chemistry and sounds hungry and reinvigorated. The organic and tight production blends in splendidly.

The record however also comes around with a few creative and fresh ideas at strategic moments. The sinister radio play passages at the beginning of thunderous title song ''The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!'' set the tone for a gloomy record. The otherworldly nightmarish vibes provided by clever narrative sections and sound samples in ''Mission to Mars'' make this grower a serious candidate for the soundtrack of any upcoming release in the Alien franchise.

This album also convinces with a great list of guest musicians and singers. Many people argue that heavy metal and rap are incompatible but they should certainly listen to the gloomy, progressive and tense ''Night Stalkers'' that clocks in at nearly seven minutes without ever sounding boring. Ice-T's guest spot transmits much liberating energy and complements the ferocious musicianship splendidly. The narrative parts provided by Luliia Tikhomirova enhance the desperate atmosphere of the almost cinematic ''Dogs of Chernobyl''. The song might be about the catastrophe that shook the world thirty-six years ago but sounds creepily relevant under the current circumstances during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

At the end of the day, Megadeth's The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! is one of the band's most atmospheric, balanced and creative outputs ever as it entertains energetically, fluidly and playfully from start to finish without any fillers to be found. Make sure to purchase the record's limited edition with a beautiful lenticular cover that makes the epic original artwork look even more fascinating and two great bonus tracks with the playful Sammy Hagar cover ''This Planet's on Fire (Burn in Hell)'' and a wonderful live rendition of ''The Conjuring'' and not ''Dystopia'' as the back cover wrongfully indicates.

I wasn't expecting this album to be anything special. All signs seemed to point to another overindulgent modern Megadeth album, rife with the very same rampant self-plagiarism and rehashing which has plagued their comeback arc since at least United Abominations, but I was dead wrong. Instead, Mustaine and Co. unleashed one of their best albums in recent memory, one which can certainly go toe to toe with (and even outdo) Dystopia and Endgame. I'm talking fast, syncopated riffs, fun harmonies, and apocalyptic lyricism. On paper, this sounds just like classic Megadeth, and shockingly, it kind of does in practice as well. Let's not get too crazy here though, this new album isn't as great as the classics, but like those star-studded Megadeth masterpieces such as Peace Sells and Rust In Peace, this one is bursting with a ton of originality and other various pluses.

Although I think this album is pretty great, I'd like to start off with a few negatives. There's a little bit too much talking on here, sometimes manifesting as bad sing-talking a la The World Needs A Hero, but other times as narration. On other albums such as Countdown to Extinction, there were one or two parts like that, but here it's just a tad overloaded. Secondly, and I'm not sure if this is just a streaming thing (I don't physically own this album), but there's actually quite a bit of digital clipping happening, at least on the Spotify version. The production also varies a bunch between tracks, (especially the guitar tones), which honestly doesn't bother me, but it is definitely worth mentioning. Lastly, some have said that Dave's vocals are bad on here, but I would say he's actually not bad at all, definitely a lot better than on previous ventures such as Th1rt3en and Super Collider. For an old dude, he could sound a hell of a lot worse, and I was actually pretty impressed he can pull off vocals like these after years of drugs and god-damned throat cancer. I say give the man a break.

The rest of it though? Pretty damn great. I'll start by mentioning that the rhythm section sounds awesome, with Dirk's drums being especially fun to listen to. SDG's tone is immaculate, and while I wanted a few more standout moments than there ended up being, I'm glad for the ones we got, such as his solo from Night Stalkers. It would be a crime to not mention Kiko's lead guitar work here as well, what a treat! I can be a bit of a Poland/Friedman elitist when it comes to Megadeth lead guitarists, but Kiko really came into his own here, he does an even better job here than on Dystopia. Like I said, Dave's vocals are pretty good all things considered, sounding a lot like Endgame especially, certainly not his worst performance ever or anything.

After over six years of waiting, some truly outstanding material was expected. They delivered, with several great tracks such as Dogs of Chernobyl, which melds United Abominations/Endgame slow parts with a great Peace Sellsy thrash section. That's something I forgot to mention, actually: the band blends the various styles of previous Megadeth albums on here, but it's all done very tastefully without ripping themselves off like UA's Sleepwalker or the title track of Dystopia. There are tons of riffs which sound like they could fit right in with those older albums, yet they also remain fresh and new. Coming back to the tracks, I really loved Life in Hell, its syncopated pentatonic riffs ooze that classic Megadeth feel (likewise for Night Stalkers) and its 6/8 bridge, which features actually good narration, was very Countdowny (in a good way). Killing Time also definitely channels Countdown/Youthanasia, with obvious Cryptic Writings-isms as well, and despite it not being very thrashy like the others, it's also very great. Even some of those deeper, less talked-about cuts such as Sacrifice were pretty awesome too.

People are coming down HARD on this album, and I really don't see why. It's got a few issues, but most Megadeth albums do. It's got very few overtly shitty aspects, and the self-plagiarism is basically non-existent here. This reached #3 on the US charts, and frankly, it deserves it. If this ends up being the very last Megadeth record, it's the perfect place to end their long career. That being said, I do hope they will, in fact, be back, as they promised with the final track.

If you had an AI listen to Megadeth’s entire discography on repeat 1,000 times and then write an album, this would be the album. It is a patchwork of every release to this point, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing!

People like to talk about Dave’s age impacting his vocal performance, but I’m just not hearing it here. He has never been the most technically talented vocalist, but his vocals are iconic. And from the rapid fire sections to the sustained fry scream in Life in Hell, one simply cannot claim he doesn’t have chops.

Where Dave’s age really shows is in his songwriting. His lyrics are notably bad here, but they’re not a major problem besides on a couple songs like Mission to Mars and Cèlebutante, the latter of which was likely doomed from the subject matter anyways. The main problem is the overuse of spoken word sections. This should not be conflated with a bad vocal performance, because it is a creative decision to have any vocals there at all (spoken or otherwise,) and there are many interesting riffs which could have been highlighted if not for the spoken word sections distracting from them. Mission to Mars is ironically the exception to this, because the spoken word section at the end is the highlight of the song and serves as a wonderfully clever homage to Megadeth’s career.

The riffs feel generally uninspired outside of a few exceptions—notably the title track, Night Stalkers, and We’ll Be Back. Besides those songs, there are no major standout riffs that I take with me after listening to the album. Everything else simply “fits.”

The rest of the band really steals the show here. Dirk is arguably the best drummer Dave has ever worked with, Kiko is certainly no slouch and his creativity and energy are audible on every track, and Steve DiGiorgio is… Steve DiGiorgio. Probably the GOAT when it comes to metal bass. The renewed energy from this lineup has the same effect that elevated Ozzy’s “Ordinary Man” album. You can tell that everyone had a blast making this album, and that energy carries the whole album.

But high energy can only go so far for any album. Cohesiveness is important too, and this album doesn’t really have it to the same degree that some of its predecessors do. The production is oddly varied, and at times it almost feels like it wasn’t all mastered together. For instance, Killing Time feels quite thick and punchy, so when it leads into Soldier On! which is much thinner, the opening riff just loses all of its bite.

As far as cohesiveness between the songs? It’s about the same. While Night Stalkers and We’ll Be Back would both feel at home alongside any of Megadeth’s thrash classics, tracks like Soldier On and Sacrifice feel more in line with an album like Super Collider or Th1rt3en. Thrash-inspired, but rather tame. Junkie and Killing Time both feel like they were unreleased B-sides from Cryptic Writings, and Killing Time is certainly not a big enough stand-alone track to warrant a full lead-in song making Psychopathy feel a bit out of place. I believe the plan was to have Killing Time be a single, and it was only through a snafu with Apple that caused Soldier On! to become the third single instead, but ultimately I believe this was the wise choice. It works much better as a single than it does in its album placement.

But despite all of that, at track #4 we have the single greatest song Megadeth has ever released: Dogs of Chernobyl. And I don’t take that accolade lightly. This is the pinnacle of Megadeth’s modern songwriting, and for standalone tracks I truly would put it right up there with Holy Wars, Tornado of Souls, Wake Up Dead, In My Darkest Hour, etc. for their best ever.

I should also briefly mention the covers. Police Truck is actually one of the highlights of this album. Such a fun track, and you can really hear Dave having fun with it which makes it that much better. With Cold Sweat being arguably the best track on Super Collider, and the quality of both covers on this album, I kind of want to hear Dave do a full cover album a la Overkill. Probably won’t happen but it would be fun to hear!

So is this a good Megadeth album? Yes! Especially when you judge it subjectively against its more recent predecessors. It is probably even better than Endgame, and arguably their best since Countdown or Youthanasia (although I personally prefer United Abominations to anything they’ve put out in the past 30 years.)

Is it a good album objectively? Still yes, but I wouldn’t call it amazing. It has its flaws—which I’ve described—but it also has some truly incredible songs. And with a name like Megadeth on the album cover, and considering the circumstances with Dave’s health, I struggle immensely to grade this album objectively. So while this album is likely to be ranked low initially, you can almost rest assured that it will be revisited and appreciated for a long time.

Highlights:
- The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!
- Life in Hell
- Night Stalkers
- Dogs of Chernobyl
- We’ll Be Back
- Police Truck (Bonus Track)

Avoid Like… The Plague?:
- Cèlebutante
- Junkie

Total Score: 75/100

Some mythic thrash bands are still around in the 2020s. Some of them already released their first effort of the decade (Destruction, Kreator, etc). Megadeth joined the party with The Sick, The Dying and The Dead. 6 years earlier, they made a good thrashy comeback with Dystopia, but the magic faded with this new confort-zoned album. Without being completely awful, nothing is really memorable.

At the roots, it is a quite consistent thrash metal effort. It’s fast (too fast ?), heavy and experimenting new ideas without sacrificing the elements that caracterizes the band. Sacrifice and We’ll Be Back are the most standard thrash metal tracks you will find on this album. The first is very straightforward but generically forgettable, the latter is quite fast and rehashing some 80s thrash elements. It is the kind of it-looks-like-a-80s-track-I-like-from-the-band kind of song. One would even say it’s a medley of Good Mourning...Black Friday and Metallica’s Disposable Heroes played in a D-standard tuning. Despite their flow being a little bit cut by acoustic or/and rap interludes, the title track and Night Stalkers are agressive headbanging songs with a great ‘Deth vibe while incorporating fresh ideas. The ABABC song structure often found in Megadeth still works well here : Dogs of Chernobyl and Celebutante are good examples. Nothing special to say neither about the two bonus cover songs at the end. Quite enjoyable and this Sammy Hagar guy has a voice that could suit perfectly well in Megadeth.

For a reason, because vocals and lyrics are the biggest flaws on this album. Dave Mustaine is out of breath, he just cannot do it anymore and he will have to humbly prepare for a replacement on the mics. We all know he’s not a good vocalist at the start, but since Dystopia he struggles more and more. Despite this, he still tries to give us catchy phrases with mixed results. Lyrically, he also seems out of fresh ideas and bringing back those cliché themes. Celebutante sounds like a song written by Espace The Fate with its cringy depiction of a person obsessed by fame. A bunch of cheesy war songs are also included on the package deal and what about quotes like ‘’I wanna be an astronaut’’ ? Ouffff.....

Musically, it is still good, but less memorable than Dystopia in the guitar/bass department. There are more riffs relying on open string rythmic patterns and the solos, while still being technical, are easily forgettable in most cases. Sad to say this about Megadeth. On The Sick, it is not completly awful, but it sounds a bit recycled. On drums, it’s much better than the Drover-era and a continuation of the great Adler’s work on Dystopia.

A review like this make it clear, there are no Rust In Peace/Peace Sells kind to see around here. Instaid, The Sick, The Dying and The Dead is ranging among their most recent thrash albums : would return to listen to it, but would really like to have the possibility (and talent) to re-record it to correct its flaws.

Growing up as a metalhead in the 2000's wasn't an easy situation. While the scene kids found their fixes in bands like Slipknot, Korn and System Of A Down, I personally strayed toward the opposite way by backtracking to what my dad had raised me on as a kiddo in the 90s. He was a 1980s metalhead to the fullest extent and thus I had an expert with a rich vinyl collection at my disposal. When I eventually came around to discover thrash metal and becoming drowned in its many great acts, the big one that stood out among the rest was Megadeth. They became my savior in the midst of all the crappy alternative and nu metal that was popular at the time. I used to proclaim "Dave Mustaine for president" all over the Internet. That's the impact and personal investment that went into Megadeth at one point in my life.

But like oh so many things in life, my relationship with Megadeth would eventually turn sour as Dave Mustaine's born-again views and political rants became more frequent in media. To make matters worse, the band really took a bad turn musically after the excellent Endgame album, whose title fitted perfectly for where Megadeth and I had our last good time together. But while the 2010s proved to be a very weak decade for Megadeth's musical output, as reflected upon in my review for 2016's Dystopia, we now stand in a new decade with yet another personnel change, new opportunities and another six years worth of life experiences for Dave Mustaine to take inspiration from. So, have this lengthy wait and the band's internal changes improved or changed anything? Uhm, sadly not...

Listening to Megadeth's new album in 2022 feels more or less the same as it did listening to the most mediocre Th1rt3en back in 2011. Well, with the exception of being better prepared and not expecting as much this time around. Because despite the band now being over ten years older (and supposedly wiser) and consisting of an entirely different backing band to help Mustaine's musical vision come to life, it sounds just as dull and uninspired as it did six, nine and eleven years ago, respectively.

My first impression of The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead! was that it came walking rather than busting through the gates with its title-track; a melodic mid-tempo number that does little to create any hype whatsoever. "Life In Hell" ups the tempo a notch but also adds to the mediocrity. "Night Stalkers", one of the album's singles, has hints of the old riff-catchy Megadeth I used to know and love, but something about it is just plodding away too much. There's some coloring going on with "Dogs Of Chernobyl" which sounds like it could've come off of 1994's Youthanasia, but not quite of that album's caliber. The same could be said for "Mission To Mars" which may just be my favorite number on this album. But overall there's a feeling that not much is really going on within this record. A few songs have semi-decent riffs but most of the tunes sound improperly conceived to my ears. A riff here and a nice melody there don't cover up for uninspired and bland songwriting, something which has become painfully evident on the last few Megadeth albums.

Another issue I had with Dystopia was its production values. It had a decent mix that lacked bite but did its job well enough. The mastering was also yet another victim of the loudness wars and unfortunately, I can only confirm it's the same case with this album. There's clipping all throughout its duration and the mixing sounds particularly flat this time around. With songs as half-assed as these it's basically like adding insult to injury to make them sound as weak and flat as they're presented here. It's usually of little value but sometimes I find that a good mix can partially salvage what is otherwise a weaker selection of songs. In this case, however, it only doubles down on the boring listening experience.

The one quality you can always expect and count on from a Megadeth album is solid musicianship. This case is no different. But what you can't expect these days is the fun and vigor of masterpieces like Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? and Rust In Peace. Despite having a nuclear arsenal of musicians at his disposal, Dave Mustaine once again chooses to play it safe and keep everything toned down. As a drummer I was particularly interested in hearing what album-debuting Dirk Verbeuren would bring to the table, but sadly he's kept on a leash and only allowed to do the bare minimum. I feel like his massive chops could've come to much better (and well deserved) use, seeing as he's probably the closest match the band's had since Gar Samuelson. A truly wasted opportunity. Such a shame.

In my world Megadeth has been in steady decline for a long time. I never understood all the accolades the previous album recieved. It was a truly dull affair to these ears and it essentially showed a band living on past merits and going through the motions. While it's not really saying much, I can at least acknowledge that this album is a slight improvement over their works from the previous decade. But it's still a far cry from the levels of United Abominations and Endgame, not to mention the band's 1985-1994 era. There's bits and pieces of good stuff going on here but they're few and far between. The songs just aren't there anymore. Like I lamented in my Dystopia review, Dave Mustaine just isn't in the same place anymore. He and his life have most certainly changed too much to thrash as hard as he used to. I've lost all hope for Megadeth to ever bang out a real scorcher again and I won't cross my fingers for it to happen either. But I low-key wish that Dave Mustaine will dig deeper into himself and find back to what made him crank out something like Endgame merely 13 years ago. Maybe it's not yet too late and there's some spark left in him, somewhere. I just won't hold my breath in waiting to see if it happens.

I can't really recommend or warrant a purchase of this album unless you're a die-hard fanboy or collector.

Check-outs: Mission To Mars, Dogs Of Chernobyl, Soldier On!

After the release of the useless abomination that is Super Collider, Megadeth decided to pull things together and go back to the thrash metal vintage that most people associate them with. The outcome, Dystopia from 2016, was a great return to form and proved that there is still a lot of gas left in Dave Mustaine’s creative tank. That was 6 years ago though, and to say that the world has gone through enormous changes in those years would be an understatement. For that reason, one may wonder how Megadeth would respond to these changes. The album that would show this reaction, suitably titled The Sick, The Dying… And Dead, was released a couple of weeks before this review is written and proved that Megadeth’s adaptation was non-existent.

In many aspects, The Sick, The Dying… And Dead! continues the musical paths established on Dystopia, which is an exclusively good thing because it’s made up of the things that Megadeth does best and what most people want them to do. Yet, there are still signs of experimentation on the album, and not the type of experimentation that gave rise to useless pieces of s***s like Risk or The World Needs A Hero. It’s experimentation done right, experimentation that make the songs interesting and worthy of listening to more than once. For example, there are a couple of longer songs by Megadeth standards (6+ minutes), and there are a lot of interesting musical arrangements on the album too. Some acoustic sections, some weird intros and outros… you name it. However, none of these things would have mattered if the songs sucked. Luckily, they don’t.

I heard this album twice the day it was released and something that striked me was how consistent the material was. As with every album, you will find songs that you like more than others. What surprised me though, was that where no songs on the album that I disliked. All the songs were good. Some of them even great. Every song had parts or sections that I, despite the fact that I haven’t listen to the album in over a week, remember and can recall being good. That’s a true sign of a consistent album.

Musically, The Sick, The Dying… And Dead!, can be considered as a mix of everything that makes Megadeth a great band. My favorites songs has always tended to be the fast ones, and this album is no exception. The 2nd track for example, “Life In Hell”, is a relentless, unapologetic thrasher with some monster riffs and a very memorable chorus. The following song, “Night Stalker”, is most likely my favorite song on the album. It’s built around a fast and aggressive basis but still has a lot of variety to it, including an acoustic outro and a killer break that includes a spoken interlude by rapper Ice-T. This is one of the few times ever that I’ve heard rap in a metal song and liked it. I think it sounds great. Elsewhere on the album, you can find the melodic side of the band, particularly in the interesting and dynamic title track and “Sacrifice”, which has some really beautiful melodic leads. There are also a couple of “tongue-in-cheek” songs like “Junkie” and “Mission To Mars”, which are great musically but silly lyrically. Many people have expressed distaste for these songs because of their lyrics, because as we all know, bands can’t have fun once in a while. No, no, no. Unacceptable. I don’t care about that, because for me lyrics aren’t as vital as for many other people.

Overall, I find The Sick, The Dying… And Dead! to be a great album and a worthy follow up to Dystopia. Is it better than that album? Only time will tell, but as it is right now, I would probably say that it is. It’s more varied and I find the songwriting to be more consistent than on Dystopia. It’s not as good as Endgame, which still is the best album of Megadeth’s “modern” era (United Abominations and onwards) by a long shot for me, but I would definitely consider placing The Sick, The Dying… And Dead! at nr. 2 on that list.

Good gravy, I did not expect this from Megadeth. I don’t mean “oh Megadeth made a bad album” because they’ve made a few of those over the past 30 years. No, I mean that they follow up the best album that they’ve made since Countdown to Extinction… with basically nothing. Turbogeneric doesn’t even begin to describe the album and the fact that it came from Megadeth is definitely a surprise. Say what you will for Cryptic Writings or Risk – at least they were outright bad! Not something that simply exists as a collection of thrashy riffs and shreddy solos that probably sound fine if not cool as shit on their own terms but dull as shit when stitched together into the 12 songs that happen to be on this here album. Sad to say, The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead is quite a disappointment.

Much of the issue is the tag-team of generic riffs and overproduction. Now, the latter wouldn’t be a huge issue – provided it’s merely overproduction and not plain botched like their remasters – if the former wasn’t the case. Even bad riffs can at least sound charming or at least elicit something with this overly glossy production. But mediocre riffs end up sounding largely like this wall of sound, just buzzing around you expecting you to give a damn. The melodies are virtually indistinguishable beyond the most standard, ordinary vaguely shreddy thrash rhythms – something Megadeth had perfected over 30 years ago with much better riffs. I… guess the title song has the best melody, mainly because it’s got some life to it. Although “Night Stalkers” comes second through virtue of Ice-T’s lines, which certainly have a whole hell of a lot more life than much of the rest of the song. At least Mustaine and Loureiro can still shred out some killer solos here and there, but as far as the boring riffs and tired vocals are concerned, the songs end up going in one ear and out the other.

Considering all that, the album is quite long, and there just isn’t anything justifying it. Some songs try to go beyond what’s effectively 2010s-style retraux thrash – there’s the aforementioned Ice-T section, “Dogs of Chernobyl” attempts more atmospheric moments with its slower bits, and… okay, well, that’s about it really. Oddly enough, those two songs broach the six minute barrier. But because of their largely monotonous compositions, they feel like they hit the six hour mark! On the whole, you get nearly an hour of… I guess some cool solos here and there? Juxtaposed by increasingly redundant compositions made up of nothing riffs, it’s difficult to really recommend this album to anybody who isn’t a mega fan.

Much like Running Wild’s Blood on Blood from last year, Megadeth follow up their first good album in about 30 years… with their most boring and inconsequential album to date – and we're talking about a discography that includes fucking Super Collider!

Megadeth has been characterized mainly in the 2010s in advance of generating expectation in their record works, and fans have been very offended with works like: Super Collider and th1rt3en, which in themselves are weak works, without heart, boring riffs, and songs. without highlighting, more than the recycling that it had of models from previous times of the band itself.

This album has been cooking since 2019, through several delays, the expectations of it were great, it was not for nothing that it was a long-awaited album to see what Megadeth created from the good Dystopia album, which, not being a very complex, if I manage to attract the attention of the fans by giving what they wanted complex songs and great riffs like in Rust in peace or from the Peace Sells era, it shows that the pandemic gave them time to improve the ideas on this album called: “The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!” that as it is not an allusion to it, it takes inspiration from the plagues that have plagued humanity, on this album you can see the contributions of the other members of the band who are not only there to fill their position, but also contribute greatly with riffs and arrangements that go according to what Megadeth does. Although Dave is characterized as a person who composes and does not accept suggestions from the other members, in these recent albums there is a change and evolution regarding the relationship with his current bandmates, thanks to this we have a great album.

Although this album does not stand out for Dave's voice, the fact that the tone of the guitars is better coupled to the raspy singing that he currently has when playing the pieces on this album is appreciated. The bass pitifully shines in certain parts of some songs like Nightstalkers.

The theme of the album is not defined in its entirety because it has several themes, which, since they are not coupled in a great way, are somewhat dissonant. Listening several times, it adheres better, but the beginning of the album is perfect, its four songs are a sound bomb, from the middle of the album you feel a decline in which three songs falter, but Psychopathy would remain as an intro of the future song or it was better as an instrumental part where Kiko would shine with his time.

Starting from their third single Soldier On!, it starts again with more complex solos executed by Kiko and Dave, if rather Mission to Mars, feels like a filler song, it is perfectly enjoyable to give a break from the closing of the album, in which with Well be back, he takes up that aggressiveness and violence that Megadeth had in its early years, this piece was the cause of all the high expectations that were had for the album itself, it does not disappoint but it does not fulfill great either way.

In conclusion, this album is very good for the current Megadeth, due to the evolution of their sound, and the parts of the other members of the band. For not falling into a certain way of creating a good album and then making a total disaster as in previous works, a good rating is given despite its setbacks, controversies that the album had been attracting, this with the theme of David and his expulsion from the band, a fresh air is noted and that Dave Mustaine has found his way to compose in future works, having an excellent musical staff, and his way of seeing life due to his recent illness, therefore this album is qualified with a "Good", since there are filler songs that only extend to the album. This album would be better if those songs were removed and only about eight songs were placed, it would reach “excellent”.

When I was younger I wasn't really a fan of Megadeth; I thought their style was too close to traditional heavy metal, so slower than Slayer and I had a need for speed. A couple of years ago I revisited their first albums, "Peace Sells" was ok but I didn’t love so much blues on the basslines and groove in general. "So Far, So Good, so What" seemed a little bit better but was somehow shadowed by "Rust In Peace", that strikes you from the first time you listen to it. Technical and ambitious songwriting, excellent string instrumentation overall. "Countdown to Extinction" is more laid back, I wouldn't say it's melodic because it isn't as cheesy and
pompous as let's say... power metal; but the use of harmonic tension is intelligent, it helps to develop a dark and chilling atmosphere. In "The Sick, the Dying and the Dead" I found a collection of the very best moments of those classic albums, surprisingly.

I noted the personnel change at first, long time bassist Dave Ellefson was replaced by Steve DiGiorgio. In terms of composition it implies a purge of the classic groovy basslines from the former but at the same time it doesn't sound like a record done by SDG, I assume he was told strictly what to play so the bass lines are pretty simple and just serve as a mattress for the guitars, totally relegated on a second plane. You can hear the bass but even on the mix it isn't as loud as on "Individual Thought Patterns" by Death or "Defiant Imagination" by Quo Vadis. I read on an interview with drummer Dirk Verbeuren that his drum parts were initially developed by Dave Mustaine in terms of which was the pace and the rhythmic tension most appropriate for each part of the songs, and latter he perfectioned
the fills and breaks with his drumming skills. That being said, this is one of the richest albums of Megadeth in terms of percussion; it is modern, precise and aggressive. Dirk also wrote the main riffs from "Life in Hell" and another riff from Nightstalkers".

The guitar work is outstanding as you can imagine, prime Mustaine with lots of twists but never losing the edge. The fast numbers like "The Sick, the Dying and the Dead", "Life in Hell", "Nightstalkers", "Célebutante" and "We'll be Back" are complete bangers with vicious riffing and virtuosic soloing, double bass hammering on the drums and everything. The rest of the album is mid paced, heavier and leaves room for a little bit of experimentation like the eerie guitar intro of “Mission to Mars” which is kind of progressive and space-like. “Dogs of Chernobyl” features an acoustic intro with metallic strings that sounds super cool, proving Dave is still a hell of a guitarist. There’s another interesting breakdown in “Nightstalkers” at the end of the piece, with orchestral arrangements that sound straight outta Compton… I guess that was ICE-T’s collaboration. Summing up, this is Megadeth’s best album in 30 years and it’s completely on par with their beloved classics and other thrash metal staples; if you love classic thrash and traditional heavy metal you’ll definitely like this.

I am not easily impressed by singles, I've never been, and the main reason for me to even avoid listening singles is exactly the purpose of their existence. I remember that back in the 80's several bands used to release their not-so-heavy songs as singles trying to attract a bigger number of buyers of their new record, many of them were not ready for what the album really contained. It seems like nowadays the strategy is the opposite. When your best effort to recover the sound that brought you to greatness was released 13 ago, you really need to convince your audience that you are still playing aggressive music, and there's where all the hype about this album came from: 2 thrasher singles that magically convinced everyone that 30 years of mediocre music disappeared; all of a sudden, you're that ferocious band from the 80's again.

This album is definitely not bad (if that comforts the fiercest defenders of this record), I'd rather say that it was poorly planned, because it has indeed several songs that are completely worth listening. They could have made a 30 min album with 6 songs that could have been way better that this mediocrity. They could also had developed a bit more some of those good songs to reach about 35 min, a totally worthy release! But somehow Mr. Mustaine thought it was a great idea to make it almost one hour filled of boring, mediocre, corny and weak songs, that's the worst of all, no matter how much they worked at the studio trying to reach a production that sounded strong, half of the songs are ridiculously WEAK! Sick, Dying, Death, Life in Hell, Night Stalkers, Dogs, Célebutante and We'll Be Back... That was more than enough!

But even if Dave had been wise and had decided to release only the aggressive (or at least fast) songs the album would still not be as good as many alienated fans asseverate, the thrasher songs are really simple and easy. Don't get me wrong, I like them a lot but we're talking about fucking Megadeth, this is not the best Dave can do on his guitar, it's clearly that this was effortless for him. I would be completely pleased with those songs if they had been released by Metallica, but not Megadeth, this is the minimum of the capacity of a musician like Mustaine, we know what he is capable of, you can't be conforming with this!

I will not say anyhing about the lyrics or the vocals, Dave is old now and he lost his voice many years ago, he is a throat cancer survivor and he was never the best singer or lyric writer. I'm going to give him credit for still giving his best effort to be a frontman and a singer.

Anyways, this is the same shit that Megadeth sells since 1991 but with some OK songs, the album as a whole is mediocre, not bad, but mediocre. All the people defending this and declaring it as a "fantastic" or "prime" album are either typical fans that will eat everything they have on the plate as long as it has the Megadeth logo on it or, people that couldn't hide they are easily impressed by aggressive music and they followed all the hype from the singles, and now they are refusing to admit they were wrong and were praising the album before time.

I'd like to say I'm disappointed, but I knew this was going to happen, Mr. Mustaine has little respect for his fans (luckily, I'm not one) and I would never fall in any of his marketing strategies. Megadeth is one of those dusty skeletons from the 80's that never gets me excited about new material, I prefer it to be like that because I would have been disappointed many times by now.

Megadeth's 21st century efforts have never been all that spectacular, and their previous album, Dystopia, didn't excite me much. When Dave began teasing snippets from this new album, I knew it was going to be a good one, and I was certainly right. The first singles that were released don't hit as hard if you listen to them alone, once you have the whole album spinning, you can really get into it's energy.

Dave Mustaine once again uses his more melodic vocals on this album. I will always prefer the classic vocals, but the man has battled throat cancer and is now in his late years, so you can't really blame him for being smoother with his voice. The guitars have a very similar tone to the one on Dystopia, with low down tuned guitars.. The riffs are honestly really great, they are catchy, groovy, and quick. Be prepared to hear lots of chugging because this album doesn't hold back on that sort of thing, I swear every album has some sort of chugging passage. The riffs honestly harken back to Rust in Peace, this is very prevalent on Nightstalkers and Dogs of Chernobyl.

The drums are quite delightful, with lots of riding and hi-hats. Oh, and blast beats too, which I was pleasantly surprised to hear on a thrash album (I haven't listened to much modern thrash, so I'm not sure if this is a mainstream thing now opposed to the 80's). The bass is fairly audible and makes its mark on the album, but I would've preferred to hear David Ellefson's bass as he has more experience and is an original member after all. Now with all the instruments accounted for, I can say with absolute certainty that the entire album is over produced and sounds flat. Pretty much every single goddamn classic thrash band making a new album is over produced and has lost its raw sound. It's like a plague for classic thrash.

Most songs hold up well with decent shredding and excellent riffs, even some of the obvious filler songs can sound pretty good. Now for the bad stuff of the album. There's way too many sound effects, and elaborate intros. It seems like every song has some sort of noisy intro that doesn't add to the songs at all. Mission to Mars has all this stupid radio crap and it gets annoying after the first time. And the absolute worst thing about this album is Ice-T's ridiculous cameo. Every time I hear it I cringe, it just makes no sense and does not fit in at all, makes me think I'm in 2003 listening to some Limp Bizkit.

I don't want to complain a lot because it's really not a bad album and a step in the right direction, a fair improvement from Dystopia, and because I spent $65 buying the album on vinyl. All jokes aside, I like this album and will most likely find myself spinning it again sometime this month. Also, turn to Toxik's new album if you find the sound on this album pleasurable. It's extremely similar. Thanks Dave once again for another solid album.

Top 3 songs: Nightstalkers, Dogs of Chernobyl, Life in Hell

Definitely happy I got the CD version of this album. However, the streaming displays 2 bonus tracks not found in the physical copy of the album. It was definitely worth the wait despite the critics opinions of this release. I'm so into this one. It's probably one of their best in years. There's just a variety of thrash/heavy metal on here. What's not shown is that Steve DiGiorgio is on bass for the recording, not James Lamenzo. He's a permanent part of the band however and toured with them this past year (2021). I got a chance to catch them with Hatebreed, Lamb of God and Trivium! What a show!

The music on here is supreme balancing metal guitar with some clean parts (small amounts) mostly distortion. Kiko takes care of pretty much all of the leads so that Dave could focus on the rhythms and vocals. That's how it's going to be from now here on. The leads were technical reminiscent of Marty Friedman. It's a shame he left the band in 2000 but Kiko is darn good replacement! He had a read of Dave's book when he joined the band. These guys have been a band since 1983 ever since Dave got kicked out of Metallica. Megadeth never had as much success as Metallica but still they have loyal followers!

Pretty much every song on here I like and the production quality is top notch. The guitars and vocals did the album justice, still furious as veterans! They still have it after all these years and the lineup changing over time firings and deaths unfortunately. But as frontman, Dave is always in command showing his good songwriting even at 60 years of age. He still has the fire! This one does any but disappoint. It certainly doesn't one bit the music steals the album. These guys are still as creative as can be and the riffs are catchy as all hell. I think that they're a while from retiring!

Again, I'm glad I bought this CD and showed support for the music industry that's failing due to streaming services. I'll probably collect CD's till I die. This is an outstanding album. I say that it's a "B" average but it's because there are some things that could use improvement but not many things. I'm glad that they took this "old school" approach to thrash metal than their other releases which were more heavy metal. I'm not in favor of the lyrical concepts but that is immaterial. What these guys did on here was monumental. I hate other critics that damn this one where I see as one of the highlights of 2022 in metal. Own it!

After the powerhouse that was 2016 release "Dystopia" with then new guitarist Kiko Loureiro, I was pretty stoked to hear what they'd bring with this one after a 7-year gap between albums. It hurts to say I'm disappointed. I generally split Megadeth's discography into three categories: the bangers, the middle, and the ones with the least appeal. This one lands in the middle.

It's the first Megadeth album on which Dirk Verbeuen contributes to creating and laying the drumwork. He handles the duty pretty well and does not make it unnecessarily complex. A lot of the parts fit in like butter and bread, along with Dave's thrashing riffs and Kiko's surgically precise and greatly themed solos. Songs like the more melody-based 'The Sick, the Dying... And The Dead!', the energetic 'Life In Hell' or the straightforward 'We'll Be Back' prove the point.

What starts to crumble are Dave' vocals, and by that I mean the way he sings them, sometimes following the melody and failing. At moments, he tries too hard to fit as many words as possible and catch up with the speed of the instruments, and the tune that suffers the most from it is 'Night Stalkers'.

While we're at this one, the part with ICE-T as a guest feels like its potential was wasted - saying stuff that adds nothing of value to the overall song with basic chugging underneath it. I expected a cool crossover between metal and hip-hop genres like Anthrax and Public Enemy did with "Bring the Noise" back in '91. Also, is it me who is deaf or is the bass guitar close to or straight up inaudible on the album? 

Next on the list is 'Dogs Of Chernobyl' and it really drags on and on with slower-paced riffs and drums, and the fact that the intro lasts for almost two minutes and the track overall goes over the six minute mark does not help at all. 'Sacrifice' intro reminds me of Havok's "Prepare for Attack" intro, but I believe it is a mere coincidence. 
The song 'Soldier On!' sounds as if it was ripped straight from the United Abominations era, but with worse production that lacks the depth/bass as if it's some sort of a demo that was not meant to be published for the public yet. The next one 'Mission To Mars' is a flashback to the more-poppy, Super Collider-esque Megadeth that you either love or hate, especially with lyrics like these:

"Open a window for the Seven Sisters of Pleiades
"Hello ladies" ("Hello Moon Man!")
Three hundred million milеs to Mars
It doesn't seem so far away (Yes, it does)
And I wanna, I wanna bе an astronaut
I wanna, I wanna, wanna".

The album closes with the song I mentioned at the beginning being 'We'll Be Back' along with two covers, which will not be reviewed here, and what's to say about this one besides being probably the closest one to classic Megadeth thrashers you could get in 2022, straightforward riffing with multiple solos, a catchy chorus, and even a breakdown. I also like to believe that the title means it's not the last effort we'll hear from them, especially with Dave coming back strong after kicking cancer's ass.

I appreciate the addition of clean guitars and sometimes the parts where it instantly switches to them caught me off guard, as if I was suddenly listening to the Orchid and Morningrise era Opeth on the tracks 'The Sick, the Dying... And The Dead!' and especially felt on 'Killing Time'.

Overall, this one is a mixed bag for me. Some of the songs work in the favour of the band, while others straight up ruin the experience. I'll need to give it some time to dissolve in my head before coming back to listening to it by pure will.

My favourite tracks are: 'The Sick, the Dying... And The Dead!', 'Life In Hell', 'Celebutante', 'We'll Be Back'.

Considering how much I loved Dystopia, you can imagine my disappointment in discovering that Dave and co.’s latest release is, to put it scientifically, hot garbage. Ever since the classic lineup split in the late-90s, it’s basically been anybody’s guess on whether the next Megadeth album would be good, alright, or trash. The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! is one that reeks of trying hard in every facet. This has been a problem for most of the weaker areas of every record, but man does it ever shine bright here.

First, let’s strip away the glaring issues for a minute and look at the core. The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! does very little at its base to stand apart regarding the main idea. Filling this record are generic heavy metal riffs one after the other that are way too produced for their own good, topped by far-too-clearly-aged vocals. Again, this is somewhat of a consistent issue with newer Megadeth, but it can be far overlooked if the songwriting is good, the progression compelling, or energy boasted aggressively. This hits zero of those marks.

But enough about what this isn’t. Atop this very basic idea that can sometimes be built on is horrible attempts at dramatic shifts and even worse attempts at sounding fierce. The common theme is world demise, apocalypse, and general catastrophe (wow, never would have seen that coming!). Thus, it’s no surprise that this is overloaded with apocalyptic samples and corny spoken word cheese over boring riffs, something that also plagued The World Needs A Hero. The softer cues in the title track and “Night Stalkers” feel forced, awkward, and transitioned poorly. “Killing Time” reaches for the catchy fallback in the chorus, but instead it’s forgettable. “Soldier On” aims for the power-stance gallop, but just goes on and on leading to nothing interesting.

Also, this is way too fucking long. “Night Stalkers” and “Dogs Of Chernobyl” did not need to surpass six minutes, let alone the whole record nearly reach an hour. Both tracks are dragged out, loaded with uninspired thrash rhythms and vocals brought way too high into the mix. In the former, Dave tries so hard to boast a terrified tone, and instead it just sounds tired. Oh, and you better believe there’s an edgy wargasmic track in the bridge (featuring Ice-T). The latter has all sorts of predictable sampling and poor attempts at softer suspense that leads into an otherwise unflattering thrasher with unconvincing vocals. Weak, weak, weak.

Really, the best way to sum it up is taking all of the problems that existed in every record since 1999 and compiling them into one massive heap of shit. Bad lyrics, corny rhyming, stupid samples, generic production, shoddy vocals, and boring riffing can all be spotted at different areas of the last two decades, some albums far more than others. But at least those have something to either save them, or make it less-bad at best. There’s none of that here. Not one song stands out as good or impressive, and I can confidently say that Megadeth have dethroned Metallica as the band with the worst Big 4 album. Take a seat, St. Anger, you’ve been moved to second place.

After such a strong, revitalizing album that was Dystopia, and a tough battle with throat cancer, which he won, Dave Mustaine and the boys from Megadeth have come back with an amazing album, which, and I can confidently say, is their best outing since Youthanasia.

The album overall sounds similar to Dystopia, but with a few improvements. Firstly, far better song style variation - I've always had a feeling Dystopia was a bit too much reliant on the fast and the thrashy, and even though there's quite a bit of that on this album, there are also some better made amazing slower, focused songs here. Secondly, the lyricism of this album is a clear highlight. From the incredible seriousness and emotions of Dogs of Chernobyl, to the intentionally (which is something that seems to have flown over most people's heads) tongue-in-cheek light-hearted funny stuff on Mission to Mars, it's obvious that Dave put in quite a bit of effort to hone his lyricism here. Also, the typical cringy Mustaine political lyrics are thankfully absent on this album, which is something that has to a minor extent bothered me on previous releases. Thirdly, Dave himself sounds way better here than on Dystopia. And having in mind he had throat cancer (which he beat) before this album, he sounds pretty damn good. And somehow better than on Dystopia. We also get some surprising and surprisingly good extreme metal-esque screams on Life in Hell, which, taking everything else into consideration, comes off as a Christmas gift.

The songs of SDD are top notch. The album starts off with the title track, which is very much akin to the title track of Dystopia, which I have for one reason or another always disliked and thought it really didn't fit with the album. But the title track of SDD fits perfectly, and overall sounds like how Dystopia should've sounded and fit within its album. We're then followed by three mostly fast-paced and thrashy Life in Hell, Nighstalkers and Dogs of Chernobyl, all of which are bangers. The latter is one of the highlights of the album for me personally - the amazing intro riff that slowly progresses into the first verse is simply massive, followed by a very solid middle section, and ending with one of Dave's finest moments, both lyrically and songwriting-wise. The album follows up with a couple of solid tracks such as Sacrifice, Soldier On! and Célebutante, ending with my two favorite tracks from the album, Mission to Mars and We'll Be Back. I've seen a number of people making fun of the former and taking the song way too seriously and giving Mustaine criticism for it, but I believe they just failed to see the point that the song was purposefully intended to be tongue-in-cheek and make fun of people that think they will go to Mars and live like legends (could be that this is a jab at Musk and Musk-stans). It's a huge plus to see Dave has the lyrical ability and the will to make a song like this, something most bands probably would never even attempt, and he pulls it off exceptionally well. The rockish lead guitar riff from 0:13 is really likable and extremely catchy; the lyrics are downright hilarious, and the thrash/speed metal ending with the voice com in the background is chilling - just a great song overall with nothing to hate about. We are then met with the final track, We'll Be Back, that sounds like classic 80s fast as hell Megadeth, with an enormously catchy chorus that I just can't get out of my head. This is the strongest track on the album by far, and works very well as the album's closing track. The whole album just works as one great cohesive unit from start to finish (a fine example of a good track order choice), better than most Megadeth albums. If I had to pick a top 3 from the album, it would be We'll Be Back, Mission to Mars, and Dogs of Chernobyl.

The downsides of the album are really minor, but it's definitely important to point them out. The most obvious one is the production: while 90% of the album is clean and well produced without sounding overproduced like the typical modern thrash metal album, there are some jarring moments I've noticed throughout - there are a few moments where there's some form of clipping/crackling present, like at the beginning of the album when the drums kick in in the title track and throughout Psychopathy, as well as in Nighstalkers, during the Ice-T section and, perhaps most noticeably, after the bass solo when the guitars kick in. There are also some odd transitions like from Psychopathy to Killing Time, and the odd compositional choice of the treble-heavy intro to Soldier On! which makes the guitars sound a bit too thin. I just can't figure out how no one seemed to notice the clipping when it is super obvious on every system that I have played it on. It isn't a constant problem, but it sure is annoying, especially knowing how much of a perfectionist Mustaine is and a lover of clean overproduction (as noticed from all of his remastering endeavors). The second thing I would mention are the vocals. Even though I stand with what I wrote above that Dave sounds pretty damn good given the circumstances, it comes off as a tantalizing what-if when I, and I'm sure most of us do, imagine how the record would sound like if we had lots of the old high pitch Mustaine vocals from the earliest of albums. Since that will not and cannot happen ever again, I think it would be disingenuous and a bit too much to ask for, which is why this doesn't affect me all that much. But these are, at the end of the day, just minor things that do not detract much from the greatness of the album.

The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! (would also like to mention that I'm glad that the old school three dots and exclamation mark in the album name is back) is one of the best Megadeth albums of all time, and, if you ask me, their best since Youthanasia. To me, this is the strongest candidate for AOTY of 2022, and will 99.9% end up as such. I look very much forward to what the current lineup of the band has in store for us in the future.

In the year 2022, the legendary Dave Mustaine of Megadeth fame has graced us with a new musical output. After the band's latest release, the hopes for its successor were high and the wait couldn't seem to end. You could say that the wait has paid off..., but has it really?

The title track that opens the album sets the tone for its brightest moments. Megadeth's songwriting on this record tends to be more unpredictable and ambitious when compared to a couple of the preceding albums. Songs like The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead, Dogs of Chernobyl, Nighstalkers, and We'll Be Back are a display of Mustaine's unceasing creativity. Musically varied, consisting of frequent and far from obvious transitions outweigh some of the questionable choices that were made during the writing process (like the abysmal passage in Nightstalkers featuring Ice-T). There are some typical post-2000s Megadeth songs on here, like Soldier On! or Killing Time, which, despite not bringing anything new to the table, still prove to be earworms that, once settled comfortably in your brain, refuse to leave, making you hum their choruses and melodies.

While the album deserves praise for bold choices in its songwriting, it also deserves to catch some flak for the exact opposite of that - laziness. Tracks like Life in Hell or Junkie bend under their own weight. Almost as generic as their titles are, the songs also wear the listener out by being needlessly repetitive. One song deserves to be mentioned separately – Sacrifice features one of the most awkward vocal performances in Megadeth's history and buries the interesting instrumental beneath the shitshow we are presented with. Also worth mentioning is the track Mission to Mars, which, despite being pretentious (I wanna be an astronaut) and much too radio-friendly, has some replay value due to it being as silly as it is.

Overall, it’s a solid release and a nice statement – yes, the old Mustaine still has it. He is creative and capable of writing aggressive and fast songs that can haunt you for days on end. It is dragged down by a batch of questionable choices and some of the most unremarkable tracks in the band’s catalogue, but it leaves us, Megadeth fans, with a promise - they'll be back and hopefully without the flaws that can be found here.

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.

Dave is old now, has been for some years. Really old, so old that it's repugnant that he's still shitting out music like this. Nothing here is impressive or new. It's not much more than a plastic and heavily processed version of repugnant early 2010s nu-thrash that ironically tried to copy bands like Megadeth's old selves. There's no innovation to be found, rather, Dave tries to be something he's not here: himself when he was composing Peace Sells or Rust In Peace. I'd normally call an album like this a product of greed, but considering that it's been six years since their last and that Mustaine has all the money he could need for the last few remaining years of his life, that's seemingly not the case. Why this album even exists is beyond me. Maybe the geezer actually thinks he's still got it. I feel sorry for the poor sod who has to break the news to him someday.

The songwriting is so bland and poor that every single song becomes an unredeemable, unrecognizable mush. Not even the better parts of the tracks such as Kiko's leads or Dirk's drumming manage to stand out amidst Dave's horrendously stale vocals and proficiently played but remarkably poorly written rhythm sections. Any hint of emotion is impossible to find and the band's technical aptitude isn't even impressive at this point. Nothing, absolutely nothing, redeems this album. Even Dave's daughter's music is better than this.

Lyrically too, this album is as weak as it is compositionally. Most songs feel like regurgitations of Dave's rage against his retirement community nurse, and the ones that try to be deep fall flat on their face quite pathetically.

The only parts that are worth mentioning would be the intro of the title track, which is a solid start to the album and an uncharacteristically good clean section for Megadeth; and Ice-T's segment in Night Stalkers. I know the guy means well, but from a purely objective musical standpoint, the insane extrapolation of hip-hop in a thrash metal song is seriously uncalled for and a bad idea overall.

As a thrash metal album, it isn't actually as bad as I made it sound. It's music, it's listenable, and it's inoffensive to a degree. It's mediocre, but so what? That applies to almost every single big metal release of the current century.
As an album of the band that gave us masterpieces like Killing Is My Business, Peace Sells, Rust In Peace and Countdown To Extinction, however; this is honestly, truly a sad epitaph. Especially so when you consider this might possibly be Megadeth's last album. I do realize he insists that it won't be in the last song, but I don't think Dave will be able to do those snarly vocals without rupturing his colostomy bag a couple of years from now.

Just when you think it's safe, I attack!

The long-awaited follow-up to 2016's Dystopia is finally here, and it's a hell of a blast — in more ways than one. Despite numerous setbacks during the past few years, Mustaine and co. persevered, soldiering on (pun intended) through a global pandemic, countless chemotherapy sessions, and the scramble to find a new bassist after Ellefson's dismissal. The wait, no matter how excruciating, was well and truly worth it. The Sick, The Dying...And The Dead! is not only triumphant declaration that the titans of thrash have returned, but also a testament to how far the band and their musicianship have come over the course of nearly four decades. It's both catchy and crushingly heavy, with a diverse array of songs that are each memorable in their own way. An easy contender for the standout metal album of the year, it'll surely satisfy both new and old fans alike.

Opening with the ominous chant of 'Bring out your dead...' and the plaintive chime of a church bell, the title track gradually builds into a perfectly blended cocktail of Kiko's technical solos, Dirk's frenetic drumming, and a stellar vocal performance from Dave — topped off by a slowed-tempo section that channels perfectly the mournful atmosphere of a city ravaged by the plague. This isn't the only instance of samples being used throughout the album, nor the most immersive: in Dogs of Chernobyl, the ticking of a Geiger counter and a snippet from a news report about the titular nuclear disaster both serve to produce an arguably even more haunting soundscape. With a chorus that will both tug at your heartstrings and live in your head rent-free, it's undoubtedly one of Megadeth's strongest songs in recent memory — and that's not even getting into the tight, faced-paced latter section. Dave's aggressive, shouted vocals are an unexpected, but wholly welcome addition. Whatever your thoughts on the notorious ginger's signature snarky voice are, I'm sure we can all agree that it's more than impressive he's still able to sing (and shout) as well as he does. In the end, it stands to reason that Megadeth wouldn't be Megadeth with another vocalist in his place. Aside from the fact that We'll Be Back has almost exactly the same verse melodies as Good Mourning/Black Friday, I have no complaints about his vocals here.

With TSTDATD being Dirk Verbeuren's first time in the studio alongside Dave and Kiko, it would be a disservice not to mention his drumming, which adds a characteristic extreme-metal flair to certain songs, in particular We'll Be Back, whose ultra-heavy breakdown is accompanied by blast beats. I've touched on Kiko's playing already, but I haven't mentioned how much I appreciate that he was given more free rein in terms of songwriting — of course, we don't know exactly what riffs and ideas he contributed to the record, although it's clear that there's a synergy between him and Dave here that wasn't present with previous lead guitarists. As a result, both guitarists' individual parts complement each other in an outstanding way, exemplified by Sacrifice, a surprisingly melodic offering with lyrics that harken back to The Conjuring. Speaking of lyrics, while they don't top anything from Rust In Peace and other earlier albums, I have to (once more) commend Dogs of Chernobyl for its suitably dark, visceral descriptions of radiation sickness. Mission To Mars, on the other hand, is a light-hearted sci-fi romp. Personally, I think it's a fun addition to the album, but I've already seen a lot of mixed reception towards Ice-T's cameo on Night Stalkers, so YMMV.

Overall, I was genuinely impressed by the overall versatility of the album. It doesn't veer into experimental territory, still maintaining the recognisable Megadeth sound, but with enough unique qualities to set it apart from many of their other records. I'm going to try and avoid going into too much detail about it (otherwise, we'd be here all day), but my personal favourite song is Night Stalkers. It might take a few listens to grow on you, but make no mistake, TSTDATD is proof that thrash is still alive and well. I'd go so far as to say that Megadeth's current lineup is easily the best one since the 90s, especially now that James LoMenzo has returned as a permanent member. It's a shame that James didn't contribute anything to the album, but Steve DiGiorgio was still an excellent choice for a session bassist.

The bonus tracks — both covers — are also worth mentioning. Be sure to check out This Planet's On Fire if you're a fan of Van Halen, as Sammy Hagar himself appears on the song.

I'm not a huge thrash metal fan by any means, I like some of the 80's Bay Area acts and a few bands from Europe but past that I much prefer death metal and death/thrash metal, as I find vanilla thrash extremely boring. However, I've always enjoyed Megadeth's early work from 1984 to 1990 and have always considered them strong points in the thrash metal genre (which has a sea of honest horseshit to its name), so hearing that there was going to be a new album after completely missing Dystopia and really every other Megadeth album after Countdown to Extinction and the hype around it, I was stoked.

Me and a buddy of mine listened to it today, and holy FUCK does it blow honest balls. To start, the production is INCREDIBLY flat and overdone, which is a disease that plagues a lot of modern metal today but ESPECIALLY thrash metal. Secondly, we found that the songwriting was INCREDIBLY weak, a lot of the album didn't sound like thrash metal but with riffs akin to alternative metal and a lot of wank solos that completely lacked the feel of a Mustaine classic from the first three. I get that he's old, but what a disaster.

The songs that CAN be considered thrash metal are also incredibly lackluster, plagued by the aforementioned flat production and need I mention a DOZEN recycled riff patterns from older Megadeth material? Ripping yourself off can work if you actually change something, but the self-plagiarization is honestly embarrassing and shows how bankrupt of ideas Dave Mustaine is at this point.

Speaking of Dave Mustaine, I need to mention the "vocals" on this album. I'm surprised he can still even talk by this point considering the man has been singing for 38 years and has battled throat cancer, but the amount of times he sounds out of key on this album is incredible. Mustaine has never been an AMAZING vocalist, but his old style was really charming and fit Megadeth extremely well. Nowadays they just flat out suck.

The only saving grace this album has to offer is the aesthetic is pretty cool and it has MAYBE two cool riffs, that's it. Unironically the Ice-T cameo was one of the only enjoyable parts of this dogshit record, which is heartwrenching when you go back in time and listen to the amazing thrash albums Dave Mustaine and his band have made.

To say Dave Mustaine is a rock icon is an understatement - the man stands as one of the most influential heavy metal musicians of the past forty years; an institution in his own right, responsible for some of the genre's defining chapters (musical and otherwise). Insufferable enfant terrible to some, charismatic idol to others, MegaDave has never left anyone indifferent throughout his troubled path. Be it classics such as Peace Sells... But Who's Buying and Rust in Peace, personal favorites like So Far, So Good... So What!, or products of a new cycle - Countdown to Extinction or Youthanasia, Mustaine's work is carved in stone for posterity. It is the privilege of those who are in the right place at the right time. And whatever industry you're in, this means everything.

Although Megadeth's music has ceased to be artistically relevant since Youthanasia, there seems to be a nostalgic element that keeps pushing the brand forward, like a steady, continuous stream too strong to be restrained. The System Has Failed and Endgame are accomplished examples that infused some excitement into an already well-known template. Even 2016's Dystopia, without being brilliant, revealed a solid artistic direction with a handful of good songs. I stopped craving some sort of Rust in Peace 2.0 for some time now, just gimme Dave's raspy vocals and a couple of tasty riffs and I'm good. It's a bit like Steven Spielberg's movies which, despite not having the magic of yesteryear, always deliver something more, if only small glimpses of a glorious past. We must keep our feet on the ground and understand what to expect (or not) from our heroes, otherwise we will always be disappointed with life. And a sixty-year-old Dave Mustaine, coming off a throat cancer battle, is no longer the rebel he once was, either as a man or a musician.

That being said, Dave knows what he signed on for. Megadeth is not a jazz or blues band that can drag on for eternity without losing its following. Even in a woke era, where appearances speak louder than talent, he must keep the fire alive with honesty and respect for the past, to avoid falling into the doldrums of an insipid majority who have only recently found "god" with all his moral virtues. He’s probably already stuck in the loop, yet the music must keep bridges with the past, if only to ensure the solidity and longevity of his megabrand. The singles 'We'll Be Back' and 'Night Stalker' (which features Ice T), consciously or not, keep this channel open by mimicking the band's early sound. Despite its lack of creative relevance, this cloning injects some irreverence into an overly institutionalized formula. The interesting Rust in Peace-ish bridge of 'Soldier On!' or the constant Friedman-esque solos by the talented Kiko Loureiro also mirror this collage with fragments of the past. While self-plagiarism is understandable, especially at this late stage of the band's career, the music takes on another color when Dave mixes things up, as in the hybrid end section of 'Dogs of Chernobyl' that fuses Peace Sells(ish) guitar and tempo with narration a la Countdown to Extinction. This clash of eras, working in parallel, should have been explored more often, rather than appearing separately, as in the verse and chorus of 'We'll Be Back'. Though its somewhat goofy wrapping, 'Mission to Mars' also offers some fresh fun by diving into catchy waters without resorting to generic mainstream formulas like 'Junkie' and 'Killing Time' that border on mediocrity. A top producer would surely help Dave evade this dissociative creative disorder by shortening spaces, thus pushing the songwriting into more focused and coherent grounds. The late Martin Birch could probably also persuade Mustaine to put more effort into the vocals on a track like 'Sacrifice' that calls for a more technically refined approach, or to remove unnecessary filler segments that add no value to the songs, such as the abrupt midway break in 'Night Stalker'. These ups and downs, while unsurprising in (modern) Megadeth, take some of the shine off a record with the potential to be substantially better.

MegaDave and his trusty war buddy, Vic Rattlehead, are back with a mixed bag that gathers the good, the average, and the bad. A melange of familiar echoes which, while not a symphony of destruction, still do enough damage to keep the brand alive and kicking. And that, my fellow metalheads, is reason enough for all of us to rejoice.

Originally written for www.sputnikmusic.com

Dave Mustaine is the only musician from thrash metal’s heyday who can occasionally still write material that is just as good as his classic work. And given the strength of the first two singles of ‘The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!’, Megadeth’s new album instantly became my most anticipated release of the year. While the album isn’t quite as thrashy as those two tracks may have suggested, ‘The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!’ is easily my favorite Megadeth album since ‘The System Has Failed’ eighteen years ago. It might even be more consistently good than some of the albums from their classic era.

Overall, ‘The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!’ sounds slightly more traditional than the modern bite of its predecessor ‘Dystopia’. Stylistically, it sits somewhere between the clever speed metal of ‘Rust In Peace’ and the surprsingly successful marriage of vicious, intricate riffs and relatively laid-back rhythms of the heaviest moments on ‘Countdown To Extinction’, leaning closer to the former compositionally. Production-wise, the album also feels pleasantly old-school; the guitars have lost nothing of their sharp edge, but they sound less compressed and more like a band playing together in a room rather than a studio-constructed project this time around.

Where ‘The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!’ really shines, however, is in its songwriting. Every song on the album has its own character. Sure, a lot of mileage is pulled out of palm-muting the lowest string in various rhythmic variations, but what happens between those notes makes every song instantly recognizable. And despite many contributions from guitarist Kiko Loureiro and drummer Dirk Verbeuren, both relative newcomers, it all sounds like Megadeth. Prime Megadeth even. Except it doesn’t run out of steam near the end, which most Megadeth albums appear to do. But that cannot be anything else than an improvement.

Singles ‘We’ll Be Back’ and ‘Night Stalkers’ are standout tracks, but fortunately not the only ones. ‘Life In Hell’ is full of classic Megadeth riffs and cool solos, while ‘Dogs Of Chernobyl’ and the opening title track are somewhat epic heavy metal tracks, albeit with that typical Mustaine riffing. ‘Soldier On’ is a bit more upbeat and taditional, while ‘Célebutante’ will probably turn out to be one of the hidden gems here. Its placement in the tracklisting might make it easy to miss, but its early NWOBHM-inspired thrash riffs are too cool to skip and its surprisingly melodic middle section opens the track up very nicely.

Most thrash metal bands that still release good records these days often have their albums labelled “best since”. ‘The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!’, however, largely sounds exactly like fans of classic Megadeth would want the band to sound. There might be a few more traditional heavy metal influences than usual, but if anything, that is an asset for the album. Although the first two singles made me expect something good, ‘The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead’ surpasses my expectations. I’d be extremely surprised if any better metal albums are released this year.

Recommended tracks: ‘Night Stalkers’, ‘Célebutante’, ‘We’ll Be Back’, ‘Life In Hell’

Originally written for my Kevy Metal weblog