Megadeth
Th1rt3en
Roadrunner Records
2011
This is the 13th Megadeth studio album which is simply (or is it symbolic?) entitled “Th1rt3en”. This is also the last album that Megadeth is releasing through Roadrunner records, since the mastermind of the band Dave (Mustaine) was not happy at all with the way that the label treated the band all these years… so, what will follow next no one knows… well except Dave himself… he is so selfish and “crazy” that he would prefer (as he stated) to call it quits than to go on with a label that has treated him bad (as he says). I just hope that this wasn’t the reason why he included a number of “old” demos, some “old” songs and some songs that have appeared in video games in this album. Dave (I want to believe) was never a “booty call” fan… “let’s do something really quickly, in order to fulfill the contract with the label and then we’ll see what will happen”.
“Th1rt3en” is the best work of the band in a long time (probably since “Cryptic Writings” – although this album does not feature only new songs) and also, it’s the album where we see Dave Ellefson back in the band again that’s a big plus, it’s obvious when you are listening to the album. David is back for good and has done an exceptional work once again. This is a heavy album… it has all those elements that made Megadeth a leading band in the thrash metal genre… killer riffs, great solos (battles), fast double bass drumming, smart and heavy bass guitar lines, Mustaine’s “psychotic” voice” and lyrics featuring sharp tongue. The production is top-notch, heavy and very tight… the man responsible for that is Johnny K (Johhny Karkazis – there’s always a Greek behind!) who has also worked/produced bands like: Staind, Sevendust, Disturbed, 3 Doors Down, Black Tide, Machine Head, Mushroomhead and Soil among others.
The song that opens the album “Sudden Death” was originally featured on the music video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. Moreover it was nominated for a Grammy for Best Metal Performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards but finally Iron Maiden won the contest with “El Dorado”.
“Never Dead” was initially featured on an action/fantasy game called NeverDead.
“New World Order” was first included in “Hidden Treasures” (as a Japanese bonus track), it was a demo song that was left out of “Youthanasia”.
“Black Swan” was a bonus track, especially for the members of the band’s fan club who had pre-ordered “United Abominations”… it’s a great song maybe the first recording is better ‘cause it’s kinda “clearer”… the solo at the beginning of the song now is ok but I prefer the first edition.
Lastly, “Millennium of the Blind” was written back in 1991, according to Dave Ellefson, and later, it was included on the “re-mastered edition” of “Youthanasia”. The song has changed a lot and has become longer than the original one.
From the other 8 new songs, I think that: “Whose Life (Is It Anyways)”, “We The People”, “Guns, Drugs & Money”, “Deadly Nightshade” (Ellfson has stated the main riff of this song was written during the sessions for “Youthanasia”, or possibly “Cryptic Writings” - nonetheless it featured some excellent bass guitar), and “13” ( a fantastic Megadeth heavy gloomy song – Ellefson also said that this is a song that “summed up the arc of Megadeth as a band”) will assuredly gratify all the Megadeth maniacs & the heavy/thrash fans out there.
I do not wanna even think that the cover symbolizes the end of the band (maybe the end of an era for the band – that’s better)… just because Vic Rattlehead is leaving on the album cover… neither ‘cause he’s in a coffin in the booklet of the CD. Megadeth and Mustaine have more to offer to our beloved music and we absolutely need them.
It’s true that very few bands from the “80s big ones” have left to hold the flag of metal music high and definitely Megadeth is one of them (on the other hand Metallica seems to have been lost eternally in their selfish wannabe “evolution”). Let’s hope that in the near future they will, actually, offer us a new album (a heavy gem that only Megadeth knows how to deliver)… free from all those label shitty chains that kill the music and the artists in the name of profit… after all Megadeth is so big a band that can go along without any big or small label… they can do it themselves… and maybe that will be better, if they wanna retain their musical freedom. In conclusion, “Th1rt3en” will please the Megadeth maniacs/fans…