Sep
22
Album Review: Megadeth-Endgame
While most in the metal community have welcomed Megadeth’s return in recent years, the band’s output since mainman Dave Mustaine’s wrist healed (a strained radial ulnar nerve caused temporary paralysis in his hands around 2002, requring him to bury Megadeth until his 2004 comeback) has been glass-is-half-full at best. While the excellently titled “The System Has Failed” brought the band’s trademarrk speed and iconic mascot Vic Rattlehead to the fore, repeated listens have reveled that only some of its songs do justice to the band’s legacy. The same applies to 2007’s well-received “United Abominations” where tracks like “Sleepwalker,” “Washington is Next!” and “Never Walk Alone” proved Mr. Mustaine still had some of that long dormant thrash metal magic in him.
This year’s “Endgame” is what bucks the trend. Not only does a new lineup breathe life into Megadeth version 5.0, but the sheer virtuosity and aggresion on display here puts the album on the same league as the band’s finest work, namely “Rust In Peace” and “Peace Seels…But Who’s Buying?” While Mustaine’s choice of new musicians has always been beyond suspect, he seems to have really hit the jackpot with ex-Jag Panzer shredder Chris Broderick. The guys’s technical style fits perfectly into Dave’s patented blend of melody and speed. You’re almost tempted to tell yoruself that Marty Friedman is back in the fold.
As for the songs themselves, why, surprise, surprise, they all smoke. Most groups can barely manage great music past five albums and Megadeth was no exception, until “Endgame.” The energy never slumps for this, album number twelve, even if Dave’s songwriting touches on the usual war, violence, and dangerous occupations, like NASCAR racing. (That would be “1,320”.)
The ride kicks off with an instrumental that buries any doubt that Dave and his crew are way past their prime. Then comes “This Day We Fight!” which packs the same vitriol and high octane decibels as “Holy Wars (The Punishment Due)”. Snapping at its heels is the mid tempo “44 Minutes” that stretches Mustaine’s deftness at songwriting as he recounts an L.A. bank heist gone awry. This late into their careeers, Megadeth remain fixated on politics (“Bite The Hand That Feeds” and “Endgame”) but also venture into new territory with a macabre love song titled “The Hardest Part of Letting Go…Sealed With A Kiss.”
With 25 years of priceless material to back him up plus a bulletproof new album, Mustaine’s band has a good chance to earn 2009’s highest accolades in the metal world. All that’s left for humanity to do is worship “Endgame.”
-Miguel
