While it is sad to see such a legendary band call it a day, Dave has given us a heads up that the Megadeth retirement tour will, in fact, span the globe and last several years. I have reviewed the last several Megadeth albums, and the band has been on fire with their last two, 2016’s Dystopia and The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! from 2022. That album was sans Dave Ellefson, but Steve DiGiorgio laid down some great bass guitar on that album, as if anyone should be surprised. The introduction of maniacal death metal/grindcore superstar drummer – Dirk Verbeuren (ex-Aborted, ex-Scarve, The Project Hate)  injected a ferocity to the band’s sound as Dirk went to Dave and asked if he could toss in a few blast beats here and there, and Dave said yes. Dirk’s drumming continues to be impeccable on this self-titled affair, however no blast beats this time around, so I am bummed about that. Finnish guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari is added to the mix, as is returning bassist James LoMenzo, who you may not realize is 67 years old, a full 3 years older than Mr. Mustaine.

So how does this FINAL Megadeth album stand up to past releases?? For me, it’s not as good as the last one, better than Dystopia, and a mish-mash of all their eras. If you were expecting a full-on speedy thrash metal assault, as their final hurrah, well, it’s best to temper such expectations. A few things to mention before I delve into the specifics: the musicianship is flawless. Dave’s guitar solos are not only on full display throughout the album but, honestly, are some of the best solos he has ever done. All instruments and vocals sound outstanding, even with the overly compressed pristine mix and production.

11 songs in 47 minutes, and if you get the Japanese edition, you get the instrumental version (big whoop) of the last song, and if you get the Target exclusive edition (mine is on the way), you get an extra true song called “Bloodlust”. “Tipping Point” begins with a signature, melodic, isolated guitar riff erupting with a perfect guitar solo. Then the true speedy isolated guitar riff comes in, signifying the tempo shift to a faster tempo. Great riffing and some brutally heavy drum rolls. The rhythm section, on the speed metal parts are terrific, with Mustaine’s ever-so-present snarl, to punch home his very personal lyrics, which are all over this album. These lyrics were very cathartic for him to write. Around the 3-minute mark, we are greeted with a powerful groove, which, dare I say, has a bit of a slam influence to it – that is all, Dirk folks – I am telling you. As a farewell album opener, this is a smart choice, especially with the quick, brutal thrash metal speed, ending the song.

“I Don’t Care” is a guitarist’s wet dream, as this song has solo after solo after solo. The repetitive nature of the mid-paced song, as well as the chorus, makes this song most likely to be added to their live set. It’s a fun song. After a rather dull song, “Hey, God?!”, “Let There Be Shred” returns with the thrash metal assault, however, more speed metal oriented with guitar solos all over the place, with the song title perfectly enunciated, at the right time, then right into the speed. The guitar solos continue in breathtaking fashion. A most excellent song and the strongest on the album.

After a bunch of mid-paced, dull to ok, not bad groovy numbers, “Made to Kill” erupts with a drum solo and biting guitar riff. Groove moments, kick ass thrash metal parts, wild guitar solos, and the best moment on the entire album is at the 3.46 section. This fast-paced moment is amazing. “The Last Note” may, in fact, be Mustaine’s most emotive song he has written. From the spoken word moments and entire lyrics, he talks about his accomplishments and says goodbye to us all. Being a fan of the band since the early days, seeing them live many times, to say it sparked emotion in me, is an understatement.

Am I missing anything??? Hmmm. Yeah, I was not going to mention the cover of Metallica’s “Ride the Lightning” (Dave helped write this song, when he was in Metallica), at the beginning, because some of you bastids would have just read that part..lol. Staying true to the original classic song and sound, Megadeth has made this song their own. Now Dave is 64 years old..Does he keep the rhythm of Hetfield’s voice? He most certainly does; however, Hetfield did the vocals in 1984, so the vim and vigor of those original vocals are just not there on this cover. Dave does sound very good; that said, if it recorded years earlier, when Dave was more aggressive, it would have packed more of a punch. The solos are top-notch, capturing the original solos perfectly, and the tempo of this cover is a tad speedier than the original when it comes to the guitar riffing. Boy, is Mustaine shredding on this song, and Dirk’s drumming is godly on this. Overall, a terrific cover.

Yo Mustaine…..Metallica called and asked ‘how can a band write a damn good farewell album rooted in its thrash origins, encompassing a decades-old career?’ I gave Metallica your phone number!! Honestly, as a Megadeth album, this is damn good. Yes, a bit uneven, with some of the more melodic doldrum, ho-hum slower numbers, but overall Dave and Co. bring it on this final album. Dave – thank you for your legendary impact on thrash metal as well as your impeccable guitar work.

Hey, I never met the man…Always something going on in the media with Dave….but again, I have never met him, and so without paying attention to the Blabbermouth water cooler talk, I can only comment on him as a musician, songwriter, and performer, and for that, the dude fucking rocks. As Megadeth albums go, this would be placed in their upper tier, of good – great albums with enough speedy moments to satisfy even some of the old school curmudgeons.

On drums, after Dystopia was released, Dirk Verbeuren joined Megadeth and Dirk is an extreme metal drummer. I just reviewed his latest project – Kill Division – Peace Through Tyranny on here and if you want monstrous grindcore get that album now. I read something last year about Dirk wanting to do some blast beats on the new Megadeth album and Mustaine mulling it over and then eventually saying he did allow Dirk a little blasting. Since the release of the album Megadeth have welcomed back previous bassist, James LoMenzo to the fold. Kiko Loureiro returns and his guitar shredding, alongside Dave, is great.

All the Megadeth signature sounds and beats are here and on full display, but more so. Dirk’s extensive underground metal drumming has definitely made this 16th album the fastest Megadeth album since their debut 1985 album Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good! and this is their best album since their finest release, from 1990, Rust in Peace.

This is 12 songs in 55 minutes and then there are various special editions of this album with extra songs, which I will get to later on. This album opens with the title track, which has a Countdown to Extinction vibe, sound wise. The song is actually one of the mellower songs on the album. Expecting Megadeth to jump out the gates with a speedy number, this song remains pretty much mid-pace and is melodic and catchy…but then the band rips into the speedier and thrashy moments, which are terrific. The end part of the song, with Dirk throwing in the monster double bass over the fast part,——-when was the last time Megadeth sounded that vicious—JFC!!! “Life in Hell” is up next and is pure thrash metal. Megadeth truly sounding their fastest since their debut album, even faster. Dave’s menacing vocal snarl is devilish. Excellent drum rolls and guitar solos and killer snare solo early on in the song.

“Night Stalkers” is up next and is the longest song at over six and a half minutes. DiGiorgio’s monster fretless bass guitar sound boosts this speedy song in the rhythm section. This song is fast!! Guest vocals from Ice-T give this track attitude. The guitar solos over the 3.50 section are killer as the song is in the fast zone and the atmospheric slow down a minute later allows us to catch our breath until the monstrous isolated bass guitar comes in, then the rest of the instruments, as the song gets back into the thrash metal. Seriously, this must be in their live set. This song is so killer.

“Dogs of Chernobyl” could have been on Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? Another monster song. “Soldier On!” is the first song to feature blast beats-something new on a Megadeth album. The first noticeable part on this song is it has a Meshuggah vibe. Poly-rhythms with the jumpiness and almost djent quality to this song makes this groovy song one of the best and more complicated Megadeth songs in some time. The first blast beat happens when the chorus starts at the 46-second mark and Dirk throws in a little ditty of a blast at the 1.05 section and it rules. This section repeats multiple times, with the blast beat, and this truly is a milestone for the band. It’s things like this that get me hyped.

“We’ll Be Back” ends the regular edition of the album and it’s a heavy thrashing song. One of the very best and catchiest Megadeth songs in decades and this is the second song with blast beats. Solos are all over the place on this song and the fast guitar riffing is razor sharp and shows Dave Mustaine has no intention of slowing down. For chrissakes, he’s released the fastest Megadeth album in over 3 freaking decades. The vocals and rhythms on this track are insane and Dirk’s drumming just destroys. As the song is winding down, with the groove at the end with only a few seconds left, Dirk slides in a quick little ditty of a blast and then the song ends. Vicious.

The other songs are great with many speed metal and thrashy moments with exceptional songwriting. There are a total of three bonus songs depending on which bonus edition you picked up. The Target bonus edition has an error as it lists one of the bonus live songs as “Dystopia”, when it’s actually “The Conjuring”. Sound quality is great and then there is “This Planet’s On Fire (Burn in Hell)” (Sammy Hagar cover) which actually has Sammy doing vocals on this. It’s a super fun song and keeps to the original, just heavier, of course. “Police Truck” (Dead Kennedys cover) is a great song for Megadeth to cover. Classic song and hearing Dave get all venomous with cursing is funny.

The production on The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! is great. Crisp, heavy and all the instruments sound freaking insane. The bass guitar is thumping and the drum sound is pummeling. Those are the standouts, for me. Songwriting is super strong and catchy. With no disrespect to past Megadeth drummers, Dirk, is the finest drummer to be featured on a Megadeth album. His addition and Dave not resting on his laurels have helped create the most extreme Megadeth album in ages. If you liked Dystopia and enjoyed more of the speed metal moments, that record had to offer, then you will love this, as The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! offers up more speed and more thrash. The Target cd edition also features an expanded booklet and lenticular 3D album cover insert. Megadeth is back baby and this album is terrific. An easy top 10 for me for 2022.

I will first comment that Dave’s vocals sound insanely good on this album.  As if the man is conjuring his old self, from 1990.  His menacing snarl is back, but deeper and angrier. Chris Adler has added some much needed juice to the band with an outstanding drum performance on Dystopia.  The band has added some much needed speed to their sound and Adler’s double bass is punishing on certain tracks.  Kiko adds some creative solos and really compliments Dave’s guitar style, as if the two have been playing for decades, together.  Ellefson, as always, plays great, no issues there.  So how do the new songs sound??  “The Threat is Real” comes in with ethereal female vocals before the isolated guitar riff and bass thumping comes in.  The tune goes into a cool Egyptian tinged guitar solo and the rhythm section scorches.  As soon as I heard this tune, prior to the album release, I was like “Mustaine Means ‘Effin Business and his Business is Good!!”.  The 2.25 spot with the quick pacing, soling, sounds literally like a section In “Holy Wars”-it is that goddamn great.  The chorus is also excellent.  The title track is next and harkens back to the Cryptic Writings era with the heavy/melodic and jumpy guitar riffing.  Well, does the band shoot its load just with those 2 songs??  Hell no. “Fatal Illusion”, one of the best tunes, on Dystopia, begins quite fantastically with truly heavy riffs and excellent guitar harmonics.  One of the heaviest openings of any Megadeth song.  Throw in a little isolated bass guitar solo and than the track picks up some speed and Adler is smashing the crap out of the drums, with a little poly-rhythmic drumming.  This adds another dimension to Megadeth’s sound.  The 2.30 part is really the “Holy Shit” part with the isolated guitar part and I swear it rips into something that could have been on “Peace Sells”, easily, with the speed metal thrashing, guitar solos and Mustaine’s outstanding vocal delivery.

This review is for the Best Buy special addition that adds 2 extra songs.  One of the bonus songs, “Look Who’s Talking”, thankfully does not have any spoken word moments from John Travolta, but rather an abundance of guitar solos and one of the fastest tracks on the album and very catchy vocal arrangements.   Dystopia contains much of the same sound from albums like The System Has Failed, United Abominations, Endgame and Th1rt3en.  However; Megadeth also reach back to their 80’s and early 90’s roots, with Dystopia by incorporating more speed and overall energy into the songwriting and songs.  I did see Lamb of God recently with Anthrax and Mr. Adler did not have a good night.  He was really off in his timing and effed up a lot of parts.  I was wondering if he was thinking of Megadeth drum patterns, rather than LOG parts.  Regardless, I’ve seen the bastard drum enough times to realize he just had a bad night at work.  I hope he continues to play on Megadeth albums.  I believe it’s his energetic and thrashing drum style that has lit a fire under Mustaine’s rump and has helped propel this album to one of the best Megadeth has ever put out.

The production is top notch and assists in the guitar riffs biting through your speakers and the album cover and booklet are all well designed.  This is a scorcher of an album and one of the best, for me, for 2016.  If you gave up on the band with Super Collider or the uneven Th1rt3en, I urge you to relegate those thoughts just to those albums.  Dystopia is fierce and ass kicking from start to finish, featuring the best guitar solos since the Rust in Peace days.  If you have missed Megadeth’s speed, rest assured, it is back on Dystopia.  Great, great album!

Like the last couple of albums, it’s a mixed bag. There’s a few good tunes, some boring ones, some previously released, and a couple that are just flat out bad. On the whole, it’s pretty average. And less metal, certainly less thrash. Instead, there’s a strong hard rock vibe going on in many of the songs here. When they aren’t in hard-rockin’ mode, the metal is much more Youthanasia/Cryptic Writings than say, Peace Sells/Rust in Peace – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as those were fine albums in their own right, but there are issues with quality and memorability.

I think the biggest problem here is that Dave has slipped into a comfortable groove – no longer worried about following in the footsteps of and trying to outdo Metallica, he’s a found a niche and sound he’s happy with – good for him – but it’s lacking, and sounds lazy. For instance, his vocals are missing much of his old trademark snarl. He obviously still sounds like Mustaine, but many of his old little quirks are not present, instead, we get a much more generic singing style, and he sticks to it, thick and thin.

Then there’s the riffs – my Dio, what the fuck happened to the riffs? At least with Endgame, The System Has Failed and especially United Abominations, the riffs were still undeniably Megadeth, even if a few of them were on the weak side. I mean, there’s some good, signature Mustaine riffs on Thirteen, but so much of this stuff is like the vocals in that it’s just generic, and really stripped back. This is where a lot of the aforementioned hard rock vibe comes into play. “We the People”, the incredibly painful “Guns, Drugs and Money”, “Fast Lane” (yet another tune about Dave’s infatuation with cars, driving fast, etc), “Black Swan” and “Wrecker” fall under the more hard rock banner – some fair better than others, but this is Megadeth – where’s the thrash, where’s the metal?

Previously released material? What the hell Dave. One of the lamest aspects of this album is the decision to lead it off with “Sudden Death”, a track that was penned for one of the Guitar Hero games, as the final, master level or whatever-the-fuck track. It’s a wank fest of epic proportions. So much so, that there’s barely a song there – it’s just a bunch of shred. I love shred as much as the next thrasher, but come on, give it to me in a song man. Then there’s “New World Order”, a track that was originally written back in the Countdown era, and finally released in the Warchest boxset a couple years back. Here, it’s been rerecorded, and it’s still a mid level, average tune – it’s really no wonder why it never made it on any other studio albums. “Millennium of the Blind” was first written around ’91, and ultimately released as a bonus track on the 2004 remix and remaster of Youthanasia – nothing too exciting here either. “Black Swan”, which isn’t a terrible tune to be honest, was given to fan club members who pre-ordered United Abominations. Finally, “Never Dead” was penned for a video game of the same name, but hasn’t been released yet. “Never Dead” is far and away the best and most Megadeth-ish out of the bunch. What all this boils down to is Dave running out of ideas and trying desperately to run that track total up to 13. Kind of a sham if you ask me.

So where does that leave us? 8 fresh tracks? Okay, that’s enough to constitute an album, but how do they fair? Still a mixed bag. There’s the previously mentioned “Wrecker” and “Fast Lane” are both solid tunes; “Guns, Drugs and Money” is absolutely horrible with it’s almost happy sounding main riff; “We the People” has a solid chorus, but a boring verse riff; “Deadly Nightshade” is painfully average in every imaginable; “13”, as stated by Dave Ellefson, has a “In My Darkest Hour” kind of feel to it, which is definitely on the mark being a slower, brooding and kind of eerie sounding type of tune; “Whose Life (Is it Anyway?)” comes off pretty average at first, but grows on you with repeated spins, and finally “Public Enemy #1” is the albums defining standout. By far the most metal of the bunch, the main riff baring a strong resemblance to that of “Hangar 18”, though the song as a whole has a strong Countdown era feel to it, and sports an insanely memorable chorus.

So yeah, there it is. Another average Megadeth album. I’m glad that Dave is finding so much success this late into his career, but he needs to throw us old fans a bone an give us something really special, because this shit just isn’t cutting it.

The addition of Chris Broderick (replacing Glenn Drover) has certainly upped the shred factor, but hasn’t helped Dave write better songs – in fact, quite the opposite. It seems Dave has foregone all the songwriting skills he’s picked up over the past 15 years or so in favor of speed and shred. Now most of us Megadeth fans, myself included, have been clamoring for another balls out, speedy thrash album which he’s largely delivered here I think, but I don’t think anyone wanted it at the sake of memorable songs. Take “Bite the Hand” for example; it’s got two fantastic, killer thrash riffs, ample shred,but a forgettable chorus and a line of lyrics that stick out like a sore thumb – something about “…TV dinners….and beer” – are you serious? Surely something better could have gone in there. I burst out laughing the first time I caught that line. Another song with some questionable lyrics would be “44 Minutes”, a song that I gather is based off a real incident that happened not long ago – two guys suited in Kevlar and packing AK-47’s robbed a bank then had a shoot out with the cops – with a chorus of “44 minutes of target practice, all hell’s breaking loose” – target practice? Really? The bad thing is I can see this being the albums second single with it’s mid paced monster groove. Then there’s “Head Crusher”, which doesn’t really need an explanation, but kicks all kinds of ass musically.

To continue with the negative, “Bodies Left Behind” tries to be a rockin’, memorable tune with a Youthanasia/Cryptic Writings kind of vibe, but ultimately comes up short, as I still can’t recall a single thing about the song after several plays, that is until it comes back on. Then there’s “The Right to Go Insane”, which is overly simplified and much too repetitive the majority of the song, but has one of the most memorable chorus’ of the disc and finishes with some top notch Broderick/Mustaine shred.

Now that all of the bad stuff is out of the way, onto the positives. The album opens with a short instrumental shred piece that heavily reminds of “Into the Lungs of Hell” and sets a good tone for the album, and is immediately followed by arguably the albums heaviest hitter of the album in “This Day We Fight!”, a total thrasher packing one of the best riffs Dave has penned in some time. This momentum is quickly lost when “44 Minutes” kicks in, but is also quickly recovered in Dave’s ode to drag racing with “1,320′”. Here’s another monster riff that should immediately remind of Megadeth circa 88-90, and more specifically “502”. The title track is another shred fest, but starts on the slow side, and carries political based lyrics that are sure to polarize. Here, Dave is ranting about secret bills, the government coming to stick us in concentration camps and black Fema boxes, stripping constitutional rights RFID chips, etc – pretty heavy stuff. From here, there’s the aforementioned “Head Crusher” and Dave’s mandatory ballad/thrasher “The Hardest Part of Letting Go…Sealed With a Kiss” which stands among the albums most memorable songs with another solid riff and excellent solo work. “How the Story Ends” is a slower number that recalls some of the best moments of mid 90’s ‘Deth with what is possibly the albums best chorus and one of those signature mid paced riffs that were all over those albums.

At the end of the day, I’d have to say the mixed bag that is Endgame is on par with the last two studio albums – half good, half questionable. The Andy Sneap mix and production is as good as expected, though Dave’s vocals might be pushed out front a bit too much. Endgame proves that Mustaine still has plenty of gas left in the tank, but whether he can pull it all together for an album of front to back awesome is yet to be seen.

Loomis further comments: “We have tried to work as a 4-piece band, but were unable to reach the real Nevermore sound, especially in a live setting, which is what our fans could expect from us. We really feel sorry about this, as we know that our fans were waiting to see us at the New England Metal Fest. We hope to see you all soon.”

I had my doubts going in, as I’d heard only the boring “Gears of War,” easily the most banal song here, and the remake of “A Tout Le Monde” with Cristina Scabbia from Lacuna Coil. To be completely honest, I like this version of the song better than the original, but I end up wishing that Scabbia was singing more (or perhaps even all) of it. Of course it does seem a little sad that Mustaine has to keep revisiting old songs to try to mine a big song (as he did with “Return to Hangar” a few years ago). It’s almost like he’s admitting he doesn’t have another great song in him.

With those two songs and the fact that I haven’t really liked a full Megadeth record since Cryptic Writings in mind, I was fully prepared for another record with a few exciting moments (a la “Kick the Chair” from The System Has Failed) and a lot of Dave jerking off his inner artiste. There is some of that here, but not as much as I’ve come to expect in recent years. The album opener “Sleepwalker” sets a good tone for the record. It’s an old-school thrasher that wouldn’t have been at all out of place on any of the band’s first four records. After that track, this record settles into Countdown to Extinction territory — a slower and simplified version of the frenetic riffs of the band’s earlier efforts, relying less on technical mastery and more on hooks and catchy bits. The best examples are “Never Walk Alone” and “Burnt Ice,” which are not nearly the heaviest songs on the record, but they will be the ones you’re still humming a few days later.

There are a few failures here aside from “Gears of War.” There’s “Blessed Be the Dead” which has some really awkward lyrical moments as he describes the four horsemen (you’d think Dave might shy away from writing a song about the four horsemen, wouldn’t you?) and sings a line about the “red rider with the great fiery sword” that just hangs out there completely apart from what the music is doing. “You’re Dead” has a similar problem when he tries to make this weird melodic shift from the verse to the chorus that probably would have been really cool if it had worked. Falling in between is “Amerikhastan” that features a really annoying and preachy spoken word verse (which he also uses on the title track distorted to sound like a TV or radio report), but also has one of the strongest hooks on the record, reminiscent of “Architecture of Aggression” from Countdown…

There are a few blasts of thrash glory scattered here and there throughout the songs, but by and large this is the early 1990s version of Megadeth, a bit more restrained and perhaps a bit tamer, but still a potent force. A big point in the favor of this record is that the songs here seem just a little angrier than most of the songs Mustaine has done in recent years. He has that snarl back that’s been largely missing, at least to my ears, for a long time. The Drover brothers of Eidolon fame, and strangely former White Lion bassist James Lomenzo, form the backing band for Mustaine on this outing and handle the duties well.

It’s always nice to be surprised by a band, particularly a former favorite that you’ve practically written off. No, United Abominations isn’t in the same league with Rust in Peace or Peace Sells… but it is the best complete effort that Megadeth has released since 1992.