The Metal Files

This was a great show even though Death didn’t play.  Apparently their van broke down.  It was my first time seeing Gene Hoglan live.  Other than seeing OTT, a local band that I loved, seeing Dark Angel was pretty huge.  I wasn’t really a Death fan at the time, that didn’t really happen until Hoglan joined the band.  After that I decided to delve into their older material.  Good stuff.  After Darkness Descends, I lost interest in Dark Angel.  This was on the Leave Scars tour and I didn’t really care for that album at all…except for the drumming.  Gene rules.  This show also featured Brett Eriksen from Viking on guitar to replace Jim Durkin.  It was a great night made even more special by it being at the old Atlantic Beach Club.  I loved that place and saw some really cool shows there.  I also missed some really cool shows there!

Here’s an old one and a tad bit obscure. I remember first buying this on tape when it came out. I saw an ad in a magazine and thought the cover looked cool. Remember back in the old days when you had a good chance of picking a good band by their album covers? Not so much these days.

Deathwish hailed from England. While this isn’t a great thrash album by any stretch of the imagination, it’s worth giving a listen to once a year or so. I picked it up on CD a few years after its release and got it in a cutout bin for maybe $5. What an investment it was! A few days ago I sold my copy on eBay for $65!

Download it here.

Arsis posted another song from their upcoming album Starve For the Devil called Forced To Rock.

Says frontman Jim Malone:  “How can I better the world? This is the question that I asked myself when writing ‘Forced To Rock’. I eventually came to the conclusion that the death metal world needed an anthem. Sure, it may not be the cure for cancer, but it is fun and fun is something that I feel is lacking in a lot of the music out there today. It’s music, it’s not saving lives; there is no reason to be serious 100% of the time. Tongue in cheek or foot in mouth; I am probably not the proper authority to comment on the matter.”

Cool song and definitely on the lighter side lyrically.  Can’t wait to hear the whole thing.

Seriously?  There’s all this talk about Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax doing a tour together.  I wouldn’t go  no matter how “legendary” it might be.  Let’s just face facts here (my facts!):  Metallica hasn’t put out anything worth listening to since maybe And Justice for all.  Slayer hasn’t released anything decent since Seasons in the Abyss.  Anthrax was lifeless after State of Euphoria.  Megadeth has made a good run of it in the last 5 years, but they wouldn’t be enough for me to want to see the other bands.  I believe they are coming near here with Slayer in a few months.  I’ll likely go and leave before Slayer comes on, just like I did last year when Judas Priest came on, I was out of there.

Now on the marketing side of this, it would be ideal if all of the egos could work it out.  Every band would stand to make a lot of money…mainly by having Metallica on the bill.  They sell out everywhere they play (insert easy joke here!).  Money wise it’s a no brainer as long as these bands don’t actually have to speak to each other.

There are certainly other thrash bands I’d much rather see than these.

Sometimes I really miss the old days.

I like Megadeth…really, I love Megadeth.  But I’m no fanboy.  I really stopped listening to them when Countdown To Extinction came out.  I even had a little trouble listening to Rust In Peace, but it’s pretty tolerable now.  I’ll also be at the front of the line to say that I prefer Megadeth’s first 3 albums over Metallica’s.  Dave is a riffmaster and I am sure there are a lot of good songs on the albums between Countdown and The World Needs a Hero, but I just can’t care.

Those first 2 are simply incredible.  The perfect combination of power, sweet riffage, great solos, drumming and heroin.  Even So Far So Good has some really high points.

But they whimped out after Rust In Peace.  Other than Friendman’s Dragon’s Kiss album, his playing never did much for me, so I stayed away from his era of ‘Deth.

Then The System Has Failed came out with Chris Poland back in the ban for the album!  I had to hear it…Loved it!  His trademark sound was all over the album.  I got to see Gigantour and finally got to meet Dave.  It was a memorable experience.  That guy is pretty smart and a phenomenal guitarist.   I also like United Abominations a lot.

So here we are in 2009.  Another Megadeth album.  Endgame.  I’m impressed.  Dave has always hired good guitarists and Chris Broderick (Jag Panzer) is a worthy member.  He’s got some great solos on Endgame as does Dave.  It’s pretty easy to tell who is who.  Dave’s style is pretty unique.  I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves as a guitarist, especially as a soloist.

Endgame is pretty good all the way through.  The opening track is an instrumental and it does remind me of Set The World Afire in a few spots, but it doesn’t detract from the great solos.  I’ve listened to this about 6 times now and I think my least favorite track is Bite The Hand.  I was a little nervous when I heard about the ballad, but it’s not bad at all.  My favorite tracks would be This Day We Fight, The Hardest Part of Letting Go, Endgame and 44 Minutes.  Shawn Drover and James Lomenzo do a great job of holding down the rhythm.

Now I do have a few criticisms.  Dave’s vocals have never been great by any stretch of the imagination.  He’s certainly lost a step in his vocals over the last 2 albums.  It’s natural really.  He’s no spring chicken these days.  They’re not bad, but he sounds a little weaker.  That guy used to have one of the greatest wails in metal!  I’ll also make a small complaint about the lyrics.   Sure, metal has always had a bit of silliness and Megadeth sliced their share of the cheese.  But it doesn’t really detract from the record.  The record is good.  Really good.  Very rarely do I buy albums on their release day, but for modern era Megadeth, I make the exception.

Nice work, Dave.  8.5/10.

Sorry, no free download here.  Go buy it, slacker.

www.myspace.com/megadeth is streaming it for free right now as well.