Th1rt3en - Megadeth

There seems to be a race within thrash metal right now (at least within the big four) to see who can return to their roots faster. I probably would have put my money on Slayer rather than Megadeth but Mustaine is really showing his stuff. I preferred World Painted Blood to Endgame but on Megadeth’s most recent output the band has really kicked it up a notch, and that’s not to say that Endgame wasn’t good, it certainly was.

Th1rt3en brings the band closer to their 1990 magnum opus Rust in Peace than any of their albums over the last decade (and even a little beyond). In fact it’s probably fair to say that this is the best album of the big four within the last decade. Metallica’s Death Magnetic was a huge sigh of relief (due in part to the fact that it was the follow up to the colossal failure that was St. Anger), World Painted Blood was probably Slayer's best album since Seasons in the Abyss, and meanwhile I am still bewildered by all the praise being given to Anthrax’s Worship Music.

Something seems to have happened to Megadeth; maybe it’s that Mustaine is finally clean, maybe it’s the return of Dave Ellefson, maybe it’s Mustaine’s recent turn towards religion (although I seriously hope that’s not it) but something indeed has happened. Actually I think the most likely thing is that Mustaine has created a time machine and has been regularly travelling back in time and writing music with his former self because just about every track of the new album is pure old school thrash. All of the songs really seem to groove together. Well that’s not entirely true; I was actually a little apprehensive when I heard the first single from the album: “Public Enemy No. 1”. The song just didn’t really click for me, it didn’t quite feel like a Megadeth song so I was worried that after Endgame Megadeth might have fallen off the wagon again but when I heard the rest of the album all of my fears were alleviated. Stuff like “Never Dead” and “Sudden Death” are exactly what Megadeth is all about: pure homebrewed good ol’ fashioned thrash. Plus on stuff like “We the People” you get that awesome political commentary that Megadeth is famous for.

Overall this album is great and easily Megadeth’s strongest in years. Considering the proximity of it’s release date to that of Metallica and Lou Reed’s Lulu it’s hard not to look at the four horsemen and just shake your head.

Sudden Death

Never Dead

We the People