Widely revered due to their credentials as part of the “Big Four,” Megadeth has been a household name in metal circles for decades, and the thrash veterans don’t show any signs of stopping now. After largely negative reception from their last effort, 2013’s Super Collider, the Los Angeles collective is full steam ahead on their latest.
Dystopia opens with a primitive-sounding intro and a phenomenal opening riff, getting “The Threat is Real,” and the album as a whole, off to a great start. This riff stays prominent for the remainder of the song, including a spectacular solo in the bridge. Though the title track follows in a similar vein, its dueling guitar attack is new and, as it turns out, something that will continue to make an appearance as the record progresses. Just when it feels like “Dystopia” can’t get any better, the tempo changes, kicking into a stellar breakdown of sorts before finishing strong. An eerie intro kicks off “Fatal Illusion” before a galloping bassline segues into the “meat” of the song, which is solid in its own right. The shredding continues right up until frontman Dave Mustaine’s low roar ends things (he’s right, evil never dies), while its successor, “Death from Within” is one of Mustaine’s stronger vocal performances, with his raspy chords shining through particularly in the chorus.
The beauty of “Bullet to the Brain” can be found in its contrast – though it’s heavy from start to finish, it oscillates between a shuffle pattern (initiated by a fantastic acoustic guitar line) at some points and straight eighths at others. Meanwhile, “Post American World” picks up the dominant dueling riffing from before, particularly in the instrumental section near the song’s end. The strongest track on the entire record though is “Poisonous Shadows,” which opens with Spanish-esque guitars, before chilling recurring vocal harmonies and an orchestral layering underneath take over, the former most evident in the chorus. When everything is all said and done, the powerful piano outro is sure to finish things just as strongly as they began six minutes earlier.
The instrumental “Conquer… or Die!” is similar to its immediate predecessor in that it features a lengthy intro with acoustic guitar, but obviously without Mustaine coming in, even after things heat up musically. That is, not until “Lying in State,” one of the album’s weakest moments. Still, “Lying in State” isn’t awful; it just lacks any sort of staying power, especially after many of the tracks it follows. “The Emperor” brings back the dueling riffs one last time in the chorus, but this time around perhaps stronger than ever before. To close things out, the band offers up their take on the Fear classic “Foreign Policy.” Though it’s an interesting change-up for the band, it seems like a strange way to end things, at least in the musical sense. Other than that, it’s a well-executed cover that stays true to form of the punk original.
Dystopia possesses a certain dominance that was clearly lacking on the radio-friendly Super Collider, even if it does find itself a bit discontinuous at times. Not every track from the record is top-notch, but the vast majority is, making it a stellar effort overall and a refreshing return to form for the heavy metal titans.
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