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Label: Roadrunner - Rating:
ME-GA-DETH, ME-GA-DETH, ME-GA-DETH!
"Endgame" hits my ears and I've been transported back in time to the late 80's. Metal is god. Grunge has yet to exist and plague humanity. I look in a mirror and realize that the time travel machine has turned my plain black tee into a blazing, patch filled denim jacket. My
normally comfortable jeans have shrunk and are ball-huggingly tight.
Rips and frayed denim thread are plentiful in the knee area. My normally trim beard is ratty and I...have...a....MULLET! Goddammit! I've got to review this album before I can rejoin the present. Let's go!
Logic is exposed on "Dialectic Chaos" as it can't be possible to open an album with this much shred. This instrumental is preparing you for the journey of destruction that you will be undertaking. Chris Broderick and Mustaine will literally lead you the entire way. There is no scale or sweep left unturned in their path of thrash. "This Day We Will Fight" is announced by the duo as they take turns melting each others faces. SOLO WATCH: 9.
Give me "44 Minutes" and I'll give you an entire Megadeth album (44:34). Weird coincidence? The subject of this track are two guys, wearing full armor, who shot up Noho with high powered automatic rifles after robbing a bank. I've been to this bank! The lyrics here are a little corny, but it doesn't really matter. A pounding, mean solo backing riff is the perfect climate for virtuosity gone mad. You have "1,320'" worth of guitar doodling at this point. Time to check in on the solo watch. SOLO WATCH: 19. Whoa. Some of the best shred so far is on this track. It fingerbangs out in a blaze of glory. You should "Bite The Hand" that doesn't solo as there are "only" 2 featured. Wha? I agree with Mr. Mustaine though. Down with corrupt corporations!
Throw their "Bodies" off the top floor! Get fucking thrashed and witness the classic 'Deth riffing that's showcased here. Dave's getting political and he means it. The old snarl is back and he's
barking at FEMA, the President and the New World Order on the title track "Endgame." Did you know that there are over 100 concentration camps in the US? You do now! The softer Mustaine arrives with that old school croon on "The Hardest Part Of Letting Go.... Sealed With A Kiss." The tender intro segues into a galluping riff tutorial waiting to end with more Mustaine serenade. SOLO WATCH: 28.
Plead death to the "Headcrusher" and get rewarded with the grandfather of chugs. It's old, but it's aged well. The 2nd to last track is "How This Story Ends." What a great last track name! You blew it.....you blew it. A great heavy riff and (you guessed it) solos hold this track up. I am granting myself "The Right To Go Insane" when I hear intro bass and accompanying riffage. However, the rest of the track kept me quite sane and didn't really close out the album for me. By the way, FINAL SOLO WATCH: 32!
This small sour note does nothing to make me want to stop listening, but the review is over. I'm transmetamorpholizing back to the present. Megadeth's latest release is the finest of the "Big 4" by far. I think Dave Mustaine has finally topped Metallica and it was about damn time. Now, to hit play again. The mullet wasn't that bad....
4 Guns
If you like Megadeth you probably already know a lot about metal. Continue on sir/madam.
