MEGADETH - Dystopia

The fifteenth studio album from Dave Mustaine's band, presented in a renewed lineup in which he and bassist Dave Ellefson remain the only original members; this time around, the roles of "second guitar" and drummer have been entrusted respectively to Kiko Loureiro, already active with Brazilian power metallers Angra, and to Chris Adler, on duty with thrashers Lamb Of God.

In both cases, the desire to bring in top-level professionals has shaped the search carried out by the red-haired frontman, who has called the current lineup the best ever.

And indeed, the new Megadeth's thrash-metal is a very "technical" one, marked by surgical precision and complexity; at the same time, it's a work defined by a strong visceral quality, direct.

The album already shows promise from the cover art, dominated by mascot Vic Rattlehead, armed with a sword and immersed in a setting somewhere between urban and post-apocalyptic. An image well suited to the concept that, running through the album's eleven tracks, in a sense channels Mustaine's complex and at times dark "thinking".

"Dystopia" undoubtedly sounds familiar, an album where Megadeth-sound-like-Megadeth, but with a thirty-year career behind them, that's hardly surprising. Less predictable are the moments when they step on the gas and return to the more aggressive sounds of "Rust In Peace", so to speak, backed by a crystal-clear yet powerful production, at times "modern".

The opener "The Threat Is Real" drops us into a Nuovi Barbari atmosphere: amid tight riffs and quick tempo changes, there's room for pleasant deja-vu moments (the title track, "Post American World"), groovier tracks like "Bullet To The Brain" and "The Emperor", and a pseudo-ballad ("Poisonous Shadows").

The album closes with a cover of Fear's "Foreign Policy", with its controversial lyrics, in keeping with Mustaine's own lyrics.

A quality comeback from a band of veterans who prove they've still got plenty of tricks up their sleeve: fans of Megadeth and old school thrash metal in general can buy this one with their eyes closed.

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21/04/2016