Megadeth : Megadeth

Dave Mustaine had said earlier last year that the next Megadeth album would be the last. At 64-years old the speed metal icon has seen, drank, ingested and experienced more life than most do in their entire time on this rock. Between decades of addiction, battles with fellow metalheads(including fans), a revolving door of musicians within Megadeth, and even beating cancer the guy is lucky to still be here. He’d pointed out that he just wasn’t able to play the guitar like he used to, so he felt that he wanted to go out on top as opposed to a sad shadow of the musician he was.

Megadeth were part of the “Big Four” in speed metal-dom, along with the great Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax. Megadeth’s beginnings began at an end. An end to Mustaine’s tenure as a founding member of Metallica, and it was quite the end. Imagine traveling across the country with your buddies from California to New York to record your debut album, only to be fired the morning after you arrive and are sent home with your guitar on a Greyhound. Well that was Dave’s end in Metallica, but thanks to grit, perseverance, and a whole lot of bitterness by the time Mustaine arrived at the bus stop in the sunshine state the seeds of Megadeth already took hold.

Despite keeping up with Metallica album for album, even surpassing them when it came to albums like Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying? and So Far…So Good…So What!, Mustaine carried his animosity with him, even as far as up to the early 2000s(his scene in the Metallica doc Some Kind Of Monster will live rent-free in my head for all eternity). But regardless of how he feels about his career in Megadeth, the fans know he did good.

We now have Megadeth, Mustaine’s self-titled and final Megadeth record. The good news is that Dave has crafted the best Megadeth album in a couple decades. The bad news is that this is the last Megadeth album.

What do we get with Megadeth? We get 47 minutes and 10 tracks filled with hard-hitting riffs, breakneck rhythms, and the classic speed/thrash pummeling that we got with those classic 80s metal records. “Tipping Point” comes out of the gate with attitude and menace, quickly going into blitzkrieg mode. Dave Mustaine, for all the drugs and illnesses sounds great here. Guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari lays down some serious leads, bringing to mind the great Marty Friedman. “Let There Be Shred” hints at Mustaine’s early offerings in Metallica, in-particular “The Four Horsemen” and his unique rhythm touches that are very much “Mustaine-ish”. Just a killer track.

Elsewhere “Made To Kill” opens with tribal drums and then quickly goes into a killer Dave Mustaine solo. He always had a killer lead guitarist in the band, but Dave could hold his own when it came to soloing. The album ends on the heavy, melancholy “Last Call”. A nod to the end of an era, and the beginning of another. Retirement? Producing? Stamp collecting? Who knows. But it’s a fine swan song.

And just when you think Dave has finally made peace with Metallica and Megadeth’s place in metal history, we get the bonus track “Ride The Lightning”. Yes, Mustaine had to make his last statement a cover of Metallica’s “Ride The Lightning”, I guess as one last little middle finger to Hetfield and company. How is it? Good, but unnecessary.

Eventually all things come to an end, including classic bands. Megadeth had an amazing run, and whether Dave Mustaine believes it or not he blazed just as wide a path as his contemporaries. Megadeth is a solid swan song.