Metal Reviews

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Good review Zaddy. I don't think you menationed Kingmaker which is one of the few decent tunes. I think 59 is being too nice though.

I really haven't got into any albums after Youthanasia. Mainly due to the risk factor. That's what I call the tendency Mustaine has to write corny lyrics and shit rhythms on every album these days. I did like 3 or 4 tunes on Endgame, but realistically I just don't have the time or the money for his bullshit anymore. There was a time when Megadeth was edgy thrash, but that ship has sailed. Endgame was a tiny ray of light in the otherwise overcast sky that is Megadeth's current career. It just looms overhead with an overall feeling of stagnancy. There is so much better out there. I wish Nevermore would get back together. That's the thrash I miss right now. Megadeth has been basically dead to me for 15 years. Skip this album and just go back to Nevermore's Dreaming Neon Black or The Politics of Ecstasy. Megadeth and Metallica both had three legendary albums each and then shit the bed. That's all there is to it.

"this is the laziest and least inspired the band has sounded in years"

Spot on. Except for maybe a song or two. I don't have any desire to listen to this album.

Great review and it hits the nail on the head.

Shame really.

you could tell this album was going to be bad when the best track they could think of to demo it had lyrics ripped from Metallica's King Nothing...I have absolutely no desire to hear any song from this album. Megadeth should just stop making new music and just tour playing songs from the first four albums

It's not that bad.

And there's been lots of cool stuff written by Megadeth since 1991 -Washington Is Next off United Abominations is one of my favourite Megadeth songs of all time.

After hearing the title track I said I was not going to listen to any other song....and I haven't. Seems like Dave got bit by the "Risk" bug again and is trying to secure a top 40 hit single.

I have maintained that Megadeth has sucked for many many years. So potent is my distaste for Mustaine that I am not even able to enjoy early Megadeth either as not even that ranks atop my list of metal from the 80's. Like Metallica, there is just too much good and unheralded heavy metal that is far superior to anything Megadeth has ever had to offer. I feel like the only thing keeping this band relevant is the Dave Mustaine/Metallica drama. The music certainly is nothing special.

Is it worse than Risk?

OK they can still play a handful of songs from the albums after RIP provided they have them in the middle of the setlist.

Th1rt3eN sucked other then Sudden Death and Never Dead (in my opinion) and half of Endgame sucked but I doubt there's anything worth hearing on the new album

Not very relevant at all, then? It doesn't seem like that's been a serious issue in years...

thrash overall is irrelevant these days other then a handful of bands there's nothing worth hearing from it

Seems most of the genres are irrelevant these days - not much happeming in Power Metal or Death Metal and Doom Metal seems to be stuck in 1976. Dunno about Black Metal as I don't listen to it.

To be fair, I'm not really hearing much interesting metal these days, even when compared to 2005 or 1999, let alone 1980s and 1990s.

The genre as a whole seems to have become stagnant.

not so sure about that, yeah power metal is largely stagnant (a couple of bands doing some good things there however) but doom certainly hasn't you just need to know where to look.

It's not just the individual genres, it's the whole of Metaldom that's stagnant IMO.


Basically we seem to be in a down cycle.

Mid-2000s was an up cycle with commercial acceptance of melodic DM, Metalcore/NWOAHM and then the Thrash revival, a gazillion reformations, Prog coming to fore (e.g. Opeth, Enslaved, Hevy Devy) etc etc.

Since then the creative juices have slowed to a trickle and run out of steam.

I actually can't remember any period where metal was so so stagnant - even in mid-late 1990s there was a lot of cool innovative underground stuff especially in Scandinavia.

I think the Internet has resulted in geography based scenes dying out and Metaldom merging into one entity. Even boundaries between genres have disappeared.

That was good in 2000s when all of metal revived itself - first you had New Wave of American Heavy Metal that killed Nu-metal but it spread through the genres and community as a whole.

But it sucks when the scene slows down.

This is the best Megadeth album since Youthanasia. I didn't care for the title track at first, but it plays much better in context with the whole album. It's still just an okay, though. "The Blackest Crow" was the second track I heard from the album, and I thought it was a mess then and still do. Terrible song. Dave clearly must have just become a Volbeat fan, but failed miserably trying to imitate them.

Beyond that, I think it's a great album. Much better than I ever expected. Much better and more inspired than the last few.

It is, however, hardly a metal album. If you're looking for thrash (a style Megadeth has arguably never played), then you'll be sorely disappointed.

Again though there are bands doing good things it's just difficult because many of the better bands out there are still in their infancy

This is not better than Endgame.

Eh. Depends on what you're looking for. I'm a fan of hooks, and I feel the last few Megadeth albums have lacked memorable hook. They came across like a band trying too hard to be old school.

I don't dislike those albums, though.

And hell, maybe my expectations were so low for Super Collider that is just appears better than it is and in a few months I'll dislike it. I doubt it, but it's happened before.

I'll admit that it gets better upon repeated listens, but repeated listens also make the bad songs sound worse. Lyrics are terribly corny too.

His first name is Ward, last name is Of The State!