After the failure of “Super Collider”, the departure of Chris Broderick (guitars)/Shawn Drover(drums), the coming of Kiko Loureiro (Angra)/Chris Adler (Lamb Of God) respectively and a bunch of in-between stupidities (swearing off his guitar tech online, charging 4700 euros for a fan to come over and record a song with MEGADETH), Dave Mustaine had a lot to prove, the first one being that he’s not just a notorious a**hole to anyone who comes across him. He’s also a musician and a great riff master, who’s capable of more than “Super Collider”.The new album title? “Dystopia“.
The album kicks in with “The Threat Is Real”, a great mid-tempo MEGADETH trademark song, bringing back in mind the group’s “Rust In Peace” days, with solos courtesy of Kiko (he has done a great job on this record). Then comes the extremely catchy title track, sounding closer to the “Countdown”/”Youthanasia” days, with lots of inspired melodies from MegaDave (he gets older but his trademark vocals remain), especially on the chorus section and that twist after the second chorus, which is pure stuff, reminding me of the classic “Hangar 18” twist. “Fatal Illusion” follows with a Lamb Of God-influenced riff, going into a MEGADETH trademark bass-line and overall song, with a great fast riff, perfect for headbanging.
Time to groove things up with “Death From Within” and “Bullet In The Brain” after its acoustic intro. Speeding things up with “Post American World” is a, pre-America (lyric wise), mid-tempo headbanger ,with a great acoustic break and a build up to the solo, closing up with the original groove of the song. “Poisonous Shadows” kicks in with an acoustic intro, building up slowly into a middle-eastern solo, and from there into solid riffage and mid-tempo double-bass (courtesy of Mr. Adler), leading to a dark yet beautifully melodic chorus, reminiscent of songs like “The Hardest Part Of Letting Go…Sealed With A Kiss”, “Promises”, with a piano outro and Dave showing the sort of deal he’s done with the devil, transforming every ballad of his to an eternal song.
Time for the instrumental of the album “Conquer Or Die”, with a classic guitar intro building up to great staccato MEGADETH riffs, leaving plenty of room for Kiko to show what he’s made of! “Lying In State” brings back the “Rust In Peace” riffage, meant to cause great pits in the upcoming MEGEADETH shows. And the album ends with “The Emperor”, a mid-tempo hit-oriented song with a great rockin’ feel that takes us back to the “Cryptic Writings” days and a kick ass chorus. What a way to end it, followed by a crushing cover of FEAR’s “Foreign Policy” (long-time friends with MEGADETH, and their front man was involved in the MD45 project).
MEGADETH is back for good. Vic Rattlehead has come out to snap some necks once more!
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