This is Megadeth’s second album, released back in ’86, and the only surviving member is good ole’ Dave himself. He has fallen out with, or sacked nearly everyone who has ever been in the band so, if you were under any illusions that this was anything other than a dictatorship, then you must have missed the memo. The first three albums are the best, as the band had a sound and vibe that was all theirs and after So Far So What they were just another speed metal band. Of course, there were rumoured to be all sorts of chemical enhancements around the band at this time, and most of which were trying to kill them. Out of that environment though came the band’s best work, and this could just be their best.
Right from the opening crunch of Wake Up Dead Mr. Mustaine means business, angry words spat at the listener mixed with angry riffs crushing your brain, there is no let up. Devil’s Island has flashback moments to his previous outfit as he is taunting his ex-bandmates with the fact that he came up with most of their first two albums. There is even an old Willie Dixon blues cover with I Aint Superstitious, but it’s the riff and groove overload that is Bad Omens that is my favourite track. There are things going on in this track that took metal to places it hadn’t been at the time. Killer track and album.
9.5/10 from The Grooveman.
