The allure of a stable, functioning lineup
was once again too much for Megadeth to bear. The Broderick/Drover era started
out strong, and gradually removed the thrash from their sound album by album,
to the point where Megadeth had once again faded into irrelevancy. Fortunately,
backed by Angra shredder Kiko Loureiro and Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler,
Megadeth is as strong as they’ve been at any point in the last 25 years. Their
new album, “Dystopia”, once again shows Dave Mustaine regaining his ability to
write incredibly intricate riffs, as well as good songs. The first three tracks
are all great examples of this; they’re more on the upbeat side and have lots
of great riffing. The best of these songs is the title track, “Dystopia”, which
admittedly is just a rip-off of “Hangar 18” in terms of structure (the verse
riff is similar in concept, there is a bouncy tempo change in the second half
of the song, which is all dominated by soloing, and there is a faster buildup
to end the track). Nevertheless, the riffs and vocal melodies are different
enough to keep things interesting, and much more importantly, this song is one
of many examples of where Loureiro shines. It’s up for debate as to whether or
not he’s more technically proficient than Broderick, but there’s no doubt his
soloing is far more tasteful and unique.
This is another area where “Dystopia” beats
out many of its predecessors. In terms of sheer volume, the solos on this album
compete with anything the band has ever done. Absurd fretwork shows up
seemingly on every track, and often times, to the point that the solos
almost feel like the focal point of the album (over the riffs). To be fair though,
the riffs do retain that “Rust In Peace” era feel, simply because they manage
to be fairly technical without always being all that fast. In “Fatal Illusion”,
for example, the guitars have some unique rhythms throughout the verses that
would certainly be challenging to play while singing. Later on, the song speeds
up and still manages to use more advanced riffs than most other thrash bands.
Though this album is a marked improvement
over the last couple of Megadeth records, Mustaine is not immune to the effects
of aging on his voice. It’s hard to imagine that he could simplify his vocal
lines anymore, but Dave has managed to do so. This actually works in his favour
though; you can tell that Dave doesn’t really have a ton of range anymore, or
even much aggression in his voice. In many ways, the vocals just exist for the
purpose of having vocals. And while his voice has always been a unique part of
the band, Megadeth has always been about the riffs and solos for me, so this
approach isn’t really problematic on “Dystopia”.
Even despite Dave’s vocals, he managed to
write some really catchy songs this time. Both “Bullet To The Brain” and “The
Emperor” are examples where though the lyrics might not be the most interesting
thing Megadeth has ever done, but the choruses are infectious, and will remain in
your head long after the record finishes playing. The cover of “Foreign Policy”
is similarly memorable, though quite different sonically from the rest of the
record. There are a couple of weaker songs. Both “Post American World” and “Poisonous
Shadows” fail to have the impact that much of the rest of the album has (though the latter has a unique brooding atmosphere). Nevertheless,
with only a couple of weaker tracks, “Dystopia” manages to be the band’s best
effort in a few albums, and hopefully this lineup continues to gel together.
Highlights
"Dystopia"
"Fatal Illusion"
"The Emperor"
Final Rating
4.3/5 or 86%.
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