By Andrew Bansal
Metal giants Megadeth have had an intriguing time over the last few years, between the largely sub-par ‘Super Collider’ album, half the band (guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover) quitting on the same day, and frontman Dave Mustaine often facing criticism and hatred for non music-related comments made in public, many perhaps taken out of context by sensationalist clickbait-driven media outlets. Megadeth enter the year of 2016 with Kiko Loureiro of Angra fame stepping up to fill the lead guitarist position, and Lamb Of God drummer Chris Adler having joined the ranks to record with the band in the studio and play shows subject to availability. Amidst all this, the fifteenth Megadeth studio full-length album ‘Dystopia’ hit stores worldwide on January 22nd, and as always, came with equal parts enthusiasm, expectation and skepticism typically associated with any modern-day Megadeth studio release.
For starters, it takes less than a second to type ‘Dystopia album’ on Google and discover that American metal veterans Iced Earth released an album of the same title in 2011, and Orange County sludge/crust punk band Dystopia also released a self-titled album in 2008. So, it’s quite astonishing to come to terms with the fact that Megadeth still chose this as their album title and would not go for something even slightly more original and distinct. Moving on, the cover artwork is the best since ‘The System Has Failed’ (2004) and is more in tune with the album covers that visually decorate some of the band’s most loved albums. As for the music itself, fans expected a lot more from Megadeth than what was delivered on the three post-United Abominations albums, but approached ‘Dystopia’ with understandable caution and hoped for the best.
The 11-track, 46-minute effort begins with ‘The Threat Is Real’ and this amalgam of fast-paced galloping riffs and scorching tradeoff solos between Mustaine and Loureiro is already better than anything on the past three albums, which may not be much of a compliment but already raises listeners’ hopes of this album witnessing the band’s return to the level of musicianship they’re capable of and reputed for. From this all-guns-blazing opening track, the album presents its title track which delves more into Mustaine’s well-established dark melodic stylings as a songwriter, the guitar work breathing fully throughout the mid-tempo composition and dictating the tune with varying patterns.
Classic Megadeth was always all about the guitar work, and fans would be delighted to discover that the band has rightly kept this aspect as the focal point of the music on this album. The Mustaine-Loureiro interplay gets progressively better as one moves from one track to the next, proven as much by the two opening tracks and the hefty mid-section of the album boasting ultra-excellent tunes such as ‘Fatal Illusion’, ‘Death From Within’ and ‘Bullet To The Brain’. A great variety is heard in the songwriting through these songs, as a perhaps surprising degree of freshness is felt and the riffs and solos do not seem old, tired, rehashed or recycled.
The album refuses to fade away and is by no means top-heavy. The progressive, down-tuned and down-tempo yet poppy ‘Post American World’ infuses an interesting variation from the relatively straightforward guitar-driven sonic onslaught of the album’s first half. ‘Poisonous Shadows’ takes this variation one step further and comes across as the darkest composition on the album with prominent usage of acoustic segments, keyboard layers and extra-heavy riffs. The acoustic guitar features quite often on this album, more than ever before, but none more so than on ‘Conquer Or Die!’, an instrumental tune that transitions beautifully from an opening acoustic section to its full-on electric counterpart. This may be Megadeth’s finest songwriting effort in a long time, and is most definitely the highlight of ‘Dystopia’ from a creative standpoint. The album closes out with three more guitar-heavy tunes ‘Lying In State’, ‘The Emperor’ and ‘Foreign Policy’.
Vocally, Mustaine’s singing sounds heavily processed and produced, but the end result, however achieved, is one of his better efforts as a vocalist in recent years. Whether or not he’d be able to reach the same level on stage is another matter altogether. Lyrically, ‘Dystopia’ certainly surpasses ‘Super Collider’ by a huge margin. But most notably, the instrumentation on ‘Dystopia’ is quintessential Megadeth back to their best. Mustaine has extracted the creative juice to come up with some undeniably high-quality material for this one, and in Loureiro he has found an ideal guitar ally to do justice to it. Not to forget, the supreme rhythm section of heavyweights David Ellefson and Chris Adler stamps itself on the album. Ellefson’s bass stands solid as a rock and serving as the backbone for the guitar wizardry. Adler’s work does not stand out to the extent any Lamb Of God fans might have hoped for, but his class, skill and experience still shines through.
Overall, ‘Dystopia’ is Megadeth’s triumphant comeback into modern-day relevance and lays the pathway to the band and its members being in the news for the right reasons, for a change. This one is right up the alley for Megadeth fans and guitar enthusiasts alike.
Rating: 9/10
Record Label: Tradecraft (via Universal)
Release Date: January 22nd 2016
Track Listing:
01. The Threat Is Real
02. Dystopia
03. Fatal Illusion
04. Death From Within
05. Bullet To The Brain
06. Post American World
07. Poisonous Shadows
08. Conquer Or Die!
09. Lying In State
10. The Emperor
11. Foreign Policy
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