MEGADETH "END GAME" REVIEW: LATEST ALBUM

Sound: 2 years after Megadeth's previous outing 'United Abominations' comes Endgame. A lot's been going on for the band in those 2 years, ex-Jag Panzer/Nevermore guitarist Chris Broderick has filled the slot of lead guitar replacing Glen Drover. Dave Mustaine has released his own serious of Signature Dean guitars, and of course started his own coffee brand online like every metal front man should.

I'll do my best to compare everyone to Metallica as little as possible, so lets get this out of way. Death Magentic is absolutely shocking in compare to Endgame, every single Megadeth band member is more technically proficient. There's been much debate over Metallica lead singer and guitarist's voice decaying over the years, Dave Mustaine on the other hand has simply gotten better. Better than ever before, better than any other snarling ginger I can think of. His out-the-side-of-the-mouth style might not be for everyone, but you have to admit it's pretty brutal. Let's get back to Chris Broderick a second. It has been a little to watch Dave shuffle through as many session artist virtuosos as he can over the years, but he certainly has good taste. Chris Broderick is Megadeth's best guitarist yet, hands down. I have nothing against Marty, but some of the licks on this album have blown my mind. He's stayed all too true to the classic speed metal sound, and what's more added his own blend of fury in the mean time. I could not ask for more, now we have the bare bones out the way lets break things down track-by-track.

01. Dialectic Chaos: Dave Mustaine means business, and boy is he not being subtle about it. Dialectic Chaos is the perfect opener of the mayhem to follow, a brisk shred-fueled instrumental. I've started to lose my faith in metal tone over the years, either things haven't been updated into the 21st century properly or everything sounds washed out. I thought to myself as that first power chord crashed in 'this is how it's meant to be done, someone finally cracked it.'

02. This Day We Fight!: I believe you! This next track works as a sequel to the perfect intro, with classic speed metal chromatic riffs and the first of Dave's spotless vocals. Dave snarls out his messages with such fury I could feel myself being thrown out onto the battlefield myself. It's quick to lead into many of Broderick's light speed solos. The vocals didn't quite flow perfectly as Dave sings 'no turning the other cheek like a coward' but really, I struggling with criticisms here!

03. 44 Minutes: I was a little surprised as a things seemed to have quietened down here, a single lead line and strings start up with some radio transmissions balancing out the mix. This quickly liven up a bit, a single bass pedal note chugs in the back of the vocals complementing the gapped style riffing nicely. A nice chorus, maybe not quite catchy enough to be chanted like Peace Sells, but brilliant none-the-less.

04. 1,320: two songs with numbers in a row, my OCD does not approve. Anyway, Dave (I'd assume) comes in with another trademark riff. Maybe to repetitive for some, but it could be worse. Like a palm muted E riff which goes up the F# for the pre-chorus (if you get that you have my respect.) Dave's lyrics writing skills shine through here, because how can you not like songs about superbike/car racing (I'm hoping that's what it's about..) And what's more there's yet another guitar face-off style battle at the end, I'd long fallen in love with the album by this point.

05. Bite The Hand: this was sort of a miss track for me, it has a nice Skin O' My Teeth style riff. It just didn't click with my ears, I did quite like the chorus/pre-chorus section. But overall the vocal melodies didn't shine through, there were some awesome lead harmony lines in one of many brilliant guitar interludes though. Broderick certainly stays true to Marty Friedman's eastern influences and it's highlighted here.

06. Bodies: my personal favorite on the album, this is pretty much all owed to the final section. It has a brilliant descending chord pattern with many, many solos layered over of course. It's a shame the track couldn't have been a bit longer, but maybe it'll be released as a single. I know I'd love to see it live. Oh and did I mention the chorus? I love it, I can't stop myself miming along. There are going to millions of YouTubers on about Kirk Hammet having more emotion, I'll be quick to remind them there are more emotions than sadness. There's just harder to communicate, but not for Dave. I'm a real sucker for a harmony line, but the outro of this song pretty much tops Fade To Black for me. One of my favorites of all time. 07. Endgame: the album's title track, starting off with an announcement which I'll leave you to listen to it. Lets just say it brought up images in my mind of Fallout 3 or Halflife 2 (for any of you nerds out there.) I felt a little underwhelmed as Bodies would've been pretty hard to top, but things are back in full swing. This have a little more groove to them, there's a particular bridge section that's very comparable to Hanger 18 (as heard on Rust in Peace.) The final sections weren't quite how as I would've done them, but Broderick and Mustaine's lead work are more than enough to compensate.

08. Hardest Part of Letting Go... Sealed With a Kiss: Dave sure does love his ellipsis...'s (I'm not all too sure what the plural of that would be.) There was bound to be one one the album, and it just so happened to be the albums only ballad... Sort of... Things start of slow... Then Bam... More intense chugging... (I give up with that now.) Things jump in a nice gallop, we're once again in full swing. There are some more memorable solo sections in this song, which has really been my only criticism with Broderick. To be honest, with the pure speed of things it's hard to make your lead lines truly memorable. A brilliant outro quiets things down again, I look forward to chanting it with thousands of others if Megadeth decides to return to the UK soon!

09. Head Crusher: if you've had any interest with the album at all, you've probably already been lucky enough the hear this track. I almost couldn't believe the intro, it blew my mind (or crushed my head if you like.) It's one of the more memorable tracks, and I think it was a smart move making it the first single. If track 1 wasn't enough to prove to you Megadeth are back for good, just stick this track on. I couldn't help but cringe as Dave goes into the graphic details of having my head compressed against a table.

10. How The Story Ends: as things nearly draw to a close, things slow down a bit to complement the mayhem that is Headcrusher. This track is more reminiscent of the band's more recent work, it'll go either way for most people. There are no lines that particularly stand up, I do like the chorus but it's one of the album's less memorable tracks. It does however feature one of my favorite solos on the albums, complete sweep picking inferno from Broderick. If I can master that on guitar, I can die a happy man. By the end of track, whether you like the song or not is irrelevant. Because Chris Broderick is better than you.

11. The Right To Go Insane: and so Endgame draws to a close, and what a way to do it. With a bass intro that actually scared reminds me of St. Anger (but done well) things jump into mid-tempo aggression. The chromatic verse riffs are brilliant, I can knock my head the whole way through. There's just one thing, I do laugh a bit as Dave says 'teetering' but it goes to show how little I can pick at.

Lyrics and Singing: Dave is one of the most under-rated lyricists around, the popular view is that all his songs are basically 'government = bad.' Fair enough, for the most part I guess they are. But Dave Mustaine sings truly writes about things that matter, I don't always agree with his political and religious views, but hell he's writing with passion.

I've mentioned earlier about Dave's vocal skills. They're better than they've ever been, I'm not kidding. And Endgame is chock-full of songs about apocalypses, speed racing, and of course my favorite; medieval torture devices. To put it simply everything discussed here is awesome, I can't phrase it any other way.

I think over the years Metallica have just lost there way with lyrics, we were all a but p*ssed off when James Hetfield moaned about St. Anger round his neck and things up a tad with the new album but really. 'What don't kill ya' make ya' more strong.' Bad grammar AND a cliche.

Impression: Topping the likes of Rust in Peace and Countdown is not an easy feat. Whether you think they've managed it or not is down to you, all I can say as one person is that it's hard to guess which songs will become classics. Two me that really sums it up, Endgame is a CLASSIC album.