Megadeth - Dystopia

Published January 25 2016

*=Staff's pick	The Threat Is Real Dystopia* Fatal Illusion Death From Within* Bullet To The Brain Post American World Poisonous Shadows* Conquer Or Die Lying In State* The Emperor Foreign Policy

Genre	Heavy Metal	Dave Mustaine	Vocals
Tracks	11	Dave Mustaine	Guitar
Running time	47 Min.	Kiko Loureiro	Guitar
Label	Tradecraft	David Ellefson	Bass
Release	January 22, 2016	Chris Adler	Drums
Country	USA	-	Keyboard
Producer	Dave Mustaine / Toby Wright
Similar artists	---

Megadeth's new record is unsurprisingly based on long and frenetic guitar plays and as they also have a new lineup to 50 percent there's luckily a sonic difference between this record and the latest ones as well. Some older elements in the music are quite evident and the actual outcome song-wise is way better than what it was on for instance the previous effort, Super Collider. Dave Mustaine naturally knows what he wants to have and of course he also gets it, whether or not it's the best choice for the band at the end of the day.

Mustaine's voice functions pretty okay in the studio as always, even if he in fact doesn't really sing, in the true sense of the word. Megadeth did however never pretend to be an act whose main qualities and characteristics were set on vocal perfection, since there's no doubt that the band first and foremost has always put almost all its efforts on intensity and on the actual musical environment and at those points a negative opinion would definitely be just stupid, because they are and have often been impressively good with their instruments.

When I listen to this record I sometimes think back to the times when the band was in its prime, but I shouldn't really have to do that, I think, because Dystopia is to me the most valid record this unit has done in a long time and this new lineup seems absolutely more fitting to Megadeth than what the previous one did. Surely they have some difficulties to find a nice groove through all of the songs, yet very often do they come out with great leads and simply just great guitar playing overall and Kiko Loureiro finally gets to show the metal world what he's really made of.

Perhaps it's a little bit too contrived occasionally and focus is perchance set too much on artistry sometimes, instead of trying to hit it big with melody, but this is anyhow a huge step in the right direction and to please all of their fans would be damn near impossible, I guess. Megadeth of 2016 feels kind of rejuvenated and does try really hard to be creative and once again come out with amazing stuff and although they don't make it all the way to the top this time, this is a fresh start and I think that they have put out a very good album.

See also review of: Super Collider , Th1rt3en , Endgame , The System Has Failed

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
8	5	7	4	7

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Tobbe