Megadeth - United Abominations (2019 Remaster) (2019)

Megadeth have been through a lot of lineup upheaval circa the early 21st century, with longtime leader Dave Mustaine being the only familiar face left in attendance. But Megadeth's crunchy, venomous thrash has remained intact, as heard throughout their 2007 release, United Abominations (their first for the Roadrunner label). While many thrash-metal bands take the easy way out lyrically by detailing their encounters with Señor Beelzebub Mustaine has never shied away from voicing his opinion about politics and the state of the world. And as evidenced by such biting tracks as "Washington Is Next!," "Gears of War," "Amerikhastan," and the title track, Mustaine remains as outspoken as ever about what he's been seeing on CNN for the past few years. Musically, Megadeth were never afraid to show off their prog-worthy chops, and the 2007 lineup (which sees Mustaine joined by bassist James LoMenzo and the sibling tandem of Glen Drover and Shawn Drover on guitar and drums) appears custom-made for tackling "tricky bits" including the album-opening "Sleepwalker." Elsewhere, a re-recording of "A Tout le Monde" as a duet between Mustaine and Lacuna Coil's Cristina Scabbia has "radio/MTV airplay" written all over it. They may have lost the plot for a period (remember 1999's Risk?), but with United Abominations, Mustaine and company certainly sound reborn.

As such, deceptively simple guitar-shredding master classes like "This Day We Fight!," "1,320" (surprisingly, written about "funny car" racing), and first single "Headcrusher" are cut from the same bloody cloth as "Wake Up Dead" and "Set the World Afire," while politicized rants such as "44 Minutes," "Bite the Hand That Feeds," and the title cut recall old stalwarts like "Peace Sells" and "Holy Wars." And for those who enjoyed Megadeth's early-'90s shift away from incessant thrashing toward the more "civilized" (but pre-sellout) Countdown to Extinction and Youthanasia albums, there are more methodical and melodically sweetened cuts like "Bodies Left Behind," "How the Story Ends," and "The Right to Go Insane." Indeed, the only song here that breaks entirely from vintage Megadeth templates is the elaborately named "The Hardest Part of Letting Go...Sealed with a Kiss," which surely owes its orchestrated string backdrops to the European metal perspective afforded by producer Andy Sneap, and tells a "love story" about entombing one's beloved behind a brick wall à la Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado. This one anomaly notwithstanding, however, Endgame is arguably the least commercially concerned Megadeth album since Rust in Peace some 20 years earlier, and by touching on so many of the favored songwriting styles of those early years, it should not only give their typically opinionated fan base very little to kvetch and moan about, but also throw new fuel upon the flames of Megadeth's unlikely longevity.