https://metalheadconfessions.com/?p=3428

This won’t be fun. I will not enjoy making this review. It’s sad that I came out of retirement for this.

It was announced a few months back that Megadeth’s next album would be their last. I didn’t buy that and I somewhat still don’t, even after listening to the final track, with its strongly worded message. Dave Mustaine has been diagnosed an arthritic condition in his left hand known as Dupuytren’s Contracture, in which his hand stiffen up, as if he’s holding an axe. That apparently is why it’s also known as Viking Disease. Imagine writing some of THE most insanely technical riffs in ALL of Heavy Metal, and then your hand is essentially crippled. That’d kill me if I were in his shoes.

We also have yet another new lineup. Back in the fold for his second jaunt with Megadeth is none other than legendary Brooklyn bassist James LoMenzo. James joined Megadeth in time for 2007’s United Abominations and left shortly after 2009’s Endgame as original Megadeth bassist David Ellefson was being brought back in. When David was fired a few years ago for what I at least describe as religious hypocrisy, his bass parts in the yet to be released The Sick, The Dying, And The Dead were erased and replaced by fretless bass GOD Steve DiGiorgio. But Steve didn’t tour with the band for that album, and that’s when James was brought back. Finnish guitarist Teemu Mantysaari was previously in Symphonic Metal band Wintersun. He joined in time to replace Kiko Loureiro, who left after The Sick, The Dying and The Dead to be home in Brazil with his family.

Symphonic Metal: GAY.

So, with some younger blood in Megadeth, it would be interesting to hear how this supposed sendoff would sound. For those who don’t know, Dave Mustaine left his own band in 2002 after an arm injury. But he came back a little over a year later and his hand was working just fine. And when he initially said that the inaugural 2005 Gigantour would be the last Megadeth tour, he chose to continue on. That’s why I’m pessimistic. Even David Ellefson knows to be pessimistic!

Let’s look at the artwork first. We see band mascot Vic Rattlehead in a three piece suit. As he’s adjusting his tie, we see that he’s slowly being engulfed in flames. It may be symbolic of one going out bravely, going out on his own terms. To me it’s reminiscent of Gus Fring adjusting his tie after barely making it out of the nursing home room that was just blown up by Hector Salamanca by way of Walter White in Season 4 of Breaking Bad. Half his face is blown off, but maybe he knows he’s about to die because once that shock kicks in he immediately drops to the floor.

This supposed final album begins with “Tipping Point”, which was also the first single off the album. It starts off with a pretty good mid-tempo, Iron Maiden-esque harmony riff, featuring quite an impressive solo from Dave. It then picks up speed. Then comes Dave’s vocals and rather shitty lyrics. “Today I may bleed, but tonight you will die”? Yeah, ok bud. Thank fuck for Teemu, who really does sound like a modern-day Marty Friedman at times. And man, it’s only one track in and I can hear how shot Dave’s voice is. A lot of this has to do with his 2010 neck fusion. That fucked up a lot of things for him.

Unfortunately, his voice is going to sound pretty raspy and frail for most, if not all of this album.

The lyrics to “I Don’t Care” are absolutely childish and retarded in plain English. RETARDED. Is this supposed to be Dave’s attempt at writing a Punk Rock song at 64 years old?? Once again, thank you Teemu for saving the day, and for not being a Temu Marty Friedman. See what I did there? Otherwise, “You gotta know gotta know gotta know” that this song is absolute ass!

“Hey, God?!” is more mid-tempo. The sound of Dirk Verbeuren’s drums, and the punchiness of his snare, make this sound like it maybe could’ve fit on Countdown to Extinction. I’m trying to figure out what Dave’s talking about. Is he trying to speak from someone else’s point of view since he himself is a Born Again? Is he channeling his younger self who attempted suicide more than a few times (see “Skin ‘O My Teeth”)? What I do know is that I love Dirk’s drum breaks immediately preceding the solo section.

“Let There Be Shred” contains the album’s most technical riffing so far. And, true to the title, solos galore between both Dave and Teemu. But goddamn, these lyrics – especially the chorus! And how about the line, “the guitars are screaming , they scream with delight”?

GAY.

Before I continue, I need to make this abundantly clear: I get that Dave Mustaine is now 64. Fuck, this September he officially becomes a fucking senior citizen – a milestone he NEVER thought he’d reach! So, I get that at this point not everything he writes will necessarily hit the mark. But I do expect that if this album is to be his final curtain call, that he puts just a little bit more effort into his lyrics. Just a little. It shouldn’t be that hard.

Left to Right: James LoMenzo (bass), Dirk Verbeuren (drums), Dave Mustaine (vocals and guitar), Teemu Mantysaari (guitar)

Is Dave even trying to sing on “Puppet Parade”. In the chorus alone it sounds like his just trying to get through it, and not even because he’s straining his voice. It sounds like that amateur musician that’s so anxious that he’s just trying to get the take over with and doesn’t care if it’s QUALITY or not. I’ve dealt with that a few times when I was stupid enough to play in bands. The music here reminds me of something that could’ve been on United Abominations. Go figure; that’s Megadeth’s last really good album for me and that was released nearly nineteen years ago now.

In fact, I’d say that this final album as whole musically is a combination of both Countdown and United. It’s technical to a point, yet melodic, and there are more mid-tempo tracks than fast tracks, most likely as a result of Dave’s unfortunate diagnosis. I sense that it was the only way he could feasibly record at least one more album without being in too much pain and I cannot hold that against him.

Damn if “Another Bad Day” doesn’t sound like “This Was My Life” at points. It’s actually one of the better arrangements on the record, that’s for sure. But the lyrics sound like a real bad attempt at Springsteen minus the part where he worked that 50 hour shift over at the factory in (insert the edge of random New Jersey town here) and didn’t get paid for it the next week.

I think it’s odd that I don’t really hear much of James LoMenzo’s bass in the mix. I wish I knew why, because he’s an INCREDIBLE bassist. We’re talking so good that I actually forgive him for being in White Lion in the 80’s!

Why do the opening tom fills for “Made to Kill” remind me slightly of “13 Steps to Nowehere” by Pantera? The shuffle otherwise is a classic signature of Megadeth and I actually can’t help but bop my head. The speed picks up and I appear to FINALLY hear James’ bass. Thank fuck! It’s not up there in the mix the way David Ellefson’s bass used to be, but that could also be because Ellefson uses a pick and James uses his fingers. Those vocals again. I almost feel sorry for him. The arrangement seems a bit anti-climactic. It picks up speed, hits a Dave solo, a few more lyrics and it just stops abruptly.

“Obey the Call” is giving me mixed feelings. The mid-tempo groove allows the guitars to breathe a bit more. Teemu’s solos kill it. Thank fuck he helped Dave with some of these arrangements because you can tell he needed the help more than ever. It picks up momentum, a few trade off solos between Teemu and Dave, and then it ends abruptly. Again.

“I know me, I know myself. I do not fear countless battles ahead. I will win when I go to war. Swifter than the wind, I attack fire.” Between this music and your shaky voice, I’m not convinced, Dave. Maybe this’ll work in the nearest nursing home.

And by the way this is killing me to write this.

“One more spotlight start to fade to black. One more winding road, and I won’t come. The roar I lived for, it starts to die. And now it’s time for me to say the long goodbye”. That’s what kicks off “The Last Note”. This is actually moving to me as someone whose own guitar playing was influenced by Dave Mustaine. The deepness in his gravely, shaky voice, appears to be legitimately genuine, as if he knows it’s truly over for him.

The arrangement is very different from the rest of the album, as the lyrical message is far more important than the music. And the music is just fitting. It’s not as dramatic a musical number as I was hoping for with crescendos and drops. But the emotion is there, I was just hoping for a little more to match the lyrics.

“They gave me gold. They gave me a name. But every deal was signed in blood and flames. So here’s my last will and testament, my sneer. I came, I ruled, and now, I disappear…” That’s the way he said goodbye to a calming, gentle twelve string guitar.

If that isn’t an emotional way to go, then I don’t know what is. It did hit me. His riffs, despite what his previous band said about him, ran circles around those guys. His songs were amazingly intelligent, his riffs made you dizzy, his arrangements otherworldly – and most of those happened while under the influence! He made his own path and has his own legacy.

Well, that’s the way he SHOULD HAVE said goodbye.

Now For The Problem!

A Metallica cover, huh?

Let’s discuss something else first. It’s a bit peculiar that he chose to record “Ride the Lightning”. Yes, girls, he does in fact have a songwriting credit for that track before you scream at me for no reason. But of all SIX songs he has credit for, I’m very surprised he didn’t record anything from Kill ‘Em All, the album where he sees the most songwriting credits. I’m even more surprised that he didn’t choose “Jump In The Fire”, as he wrote that before he even joined Metallica. Megadeth already performed “Phantom Lord” live during their 2013 Gigantour shows with Jason Newsted joining the band on stage for that number.

But what I’m not surprised at is that he chose to do this at all. According to David Ellefson, when Megadeth were getting ready to record The Sick, The Dying, and The Dead (in which David’s bass tracks were later erased), Dave wanted Megadeth to record the tracks he wrote for Kill ‘Em All as retaliation for Metallica releasing a special edition, 40th anniversary cassette replica of the No Life ‘Til Leather demo for Record Store Day in 2022, and that’s when David FINALLY put his foot down said no. He also thinks that was the beginning of the end of his relationship with Dave leading to the incident that justified Dave firing him in the end.

Now to discuss “Ride The Lightning”: The Megadeth Edition.

Ask Dave Mustaine and he’ll tell you this is his “full circle” moment where he pays tribute to his previous band as they were his roots. That’d make sense if he ever actually GOT OVER THE FACT THAT THEY FIRED HIM. I think this was more to show off the fact that from a musical standpoint he’s the one who invented the spider chord technique you here in the middle section, and he also most likely wrote the main riff. That sliding power chord is unquestionably a main staple of Dave Mustaine’s guitar/songwriting technique. That groaning sound that you hear in so many Megadeth songs.

But listening to this track over and over again I can’t help but ask myself “what the fuck are we doing here???”. I’m just going to get straight to the point here, it’s a modern-day produced, note-for-note rendition. And Dave’s vocals? Remember that Beavis and Butthead episode where Butthead told Beavis that he sounded like Mustaine? Well, here, Mustaine sounds like Beavis talking about trying to score. That’s not a compliment and Beavis and Butthead was my childhood!

I feel like he just did one take struggling to just get through this. It’s really bad karaoke. It’s as if he got smashed, stumbled into the nearest Karaoke bar in St. Marks Place in Manhattan and yelled badly into the worn out microphone, trying to emulate the vocals of a then-twenty one year old kid. To boot, his vocals in the mix are louder than the music. And let’s talk about the solo section. It’s clear that Dave arranged it where he and Teemu trade off solos. Teemu absolutely starts if off, followed by Dave. But that harmonized section near the end, I don’t know if it’s Dave, Teemu or the two of them harmonizing together. But it almost sounds like a harmonizer effect. Very clinical, much like Dirk’s drums.

And then there’s James’ bass, which I complained about once already. I’m not listening to this expecting Dave to mix James to sound remotely like the late Cliff Burton. I definitely didn’t expect Dave to fly Flemming Rasmussen in from Denmark to mix the tracks the way he did for Metallica in 1984. But on a track like “Ride The Lightning” where the bass was absolutely as important as the other instruments, James fucking LoMenzo needed to be a little more prominent in the mix.

Worse than all of what I just said is the idea that nearly 43 years and an entire legacy later, he chose to end his career by pointing to THEM. It’s not a full circle moment at all. It’s him still mourning the fact that he got kicked out of what became the biggest band on Earth even though it was HIS OWN FUCKING FAULT. I’m not as big a Metallica fan like I was a Megadeth fan; but you NEVER heard James or Lar$ bitch about Dave they way Dave still bitches about them.

It’s time to face the facts: Dave’s time in Metallica was a fucking blip. He, once again, has songwriting credit for only SIX SONGS. He never even made it to record Kill ‘Em All because he was unceremoniously fired just DAYS after the band arrived in Queens, NY. I can easily join the echo chamber in saying he needs to let it go. But if I’m pragmatic, I know that at this point it’s hopeless, so hopeless it’s pathetic. I swear his dying words are going to be “James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich”. And why not? The first two words in his autobiography actually are “James Hetfield” after all. I shit you not.

Abandonment issues my big, hairy ass!

THIS is how he chose to ride off into the sunset, by pretending he was still with them and seemingly forgetting about his own INCREDIBLE legacy. It also acts as a reminder that a LOT of his career was based on trying to one-up Metallica. That’s why he tried to go mainstream in 1992. That’s why he made an album as shitty as Risk in 1999 – because of something he heard Lar$ say!

I didn’t have high hopes for Megadeth’s self-titled farewell. The band’s take on “Ride the Lightning” solidified my fears. I hearby give Megadeth’s swan song two middle fingers.

My Own Final Will and Testament

I’m closing this by officially announcing my retirement from Confessions of An Angry Metalhead. I haven’t been inspired or motivated for over a year. That’s why I’ve done NOTHING since 2024, that’s why I’ve done NOTHING to celebrate the blog’s 10th anniversary last year. I just don’t care and you probably don’t either. The only way I’ll let anyone keep in touch with me if it’s a hot chick, or at least one with great big titties, who wants to send me nudes. Otherwise, I hope I pissed you off and triggered your asses to no end.

Good riddance and kill yourselves you fucking cunts!