Megadeth
United Abominations

THE REVIEW

Courage and determination are certainly not lacking in Dave Mustaine, this must be admitted. After the well-known wrist issues, which seemed to have ended his ability to play, leading to the band's breakup in 2002, and with the added lawsuit from his loyal (former) bassist Ellefson, it truly took a lot of strength to move forward and rebuild what remained of his historic (and somewhat dimmed) band.

If the successful "The System Has Failed" had brought the band back to the spotlight, after too many years of albums of modest value and fierce criticism from the music press and fans, this "United Abominations" was supposed to return the 'Deth to their former glory, being described as "the most shocking thrash metal experience of the third millennium" (words from MegaDave himself...).

Question: "how to return in great style?" Answer: "by retrieving the peculiar characteristics of Megadeth, that is to say: powerful riffs, scorching solos, and a raging, almost malevolent voice...".

Of course, a healthy dose of protest against everything and everyone by good old MegaDave couldn't be missing, and this time he decided to take aim at the UN ("United Abominations" is a rather direct critique...) considered an association with the sole "merit" of enriching itself at the expense of America, showing total indifference to world horrors. But even America isn't spared, amidst threats of wars ("Washington is Next!") and not-so-subtle criticisms of recent politics ("Amerikhastan"); just to not miss out on any of the good old days, let's also add some self-celebration (the terrible reworking of "A Tout Le Monde" with Cristina Scabbia...).

Moving on to the actual album, it cannot be said that it's a total return to the thrash of the early days, but what you have in your hands is the perfect synthesis of Megadeth's career: the power and speed typical of the "thrash" '80s era, combined with the melody and technique of the "heavy" '90s era.

The opener "Sleepwalker" starts with an acoustic arpeggio to which strings are added in a crescendo that explodes into a fast, powerful, and direct track: truly an excellent start, well continued with the follow-up "Washington is Next!" another direct bullet into the listener's ears. One thing that's immediately apparent about this album, marking a truly welcomed return to the origins, is the presence of continual duels by guitarists Mustaine-Drover: listen to the closing "Burnt Ice" to understand, a track not outstanding at least until the final solo section; sure, the rapport and technique of the Mustaine-Friedman duo in their heyday was another thing, but the final result (despite some imperfections and flaws) is still very good.

Other tracks of notable interest include the title track (also opened by a mood-setting arpeggio) which, though presenting quite banal and catchy melodies, turns out to be very enjoyable; "Gears of War", the "heaviest" in its stride (soundtrack of the game of the same name for Xbox 360, for those interested...), and "Play for Blood", perhaps the track that most closely recalls the times of "Rust in Peace": continual riff changes, accelerations and stops that lead to excellent solos, hoarse and furious voice. Also good are tracks like "Blessed are the Dead" and "Amerikhastan", where Dave also brings back the spoken word he cherishes: in both, solos abound and, in the latter, an appropriate, very catchy chorus, never hurts.

Thumbs down, however, for tracks like "Never Walk Alone...a Call to Arms" and "You're Dead", relatively weak tracks without particular points of interest and offering no solutions not already expressed elsewhere, even within this same album; decidedly thumbs down for the reinterpretation of "A Tout le Monde" (complete with a brand new subtitle: "Set me Free"): not so much for Scabbia's participation which adds nor detracts anything from the song, but for the rendition itself: apart from being out of context in an album with sounds like this, it's performed (poorly) faster both in the vocal parts and (especially) in the solo which used to be Friedman's, so much so that it's distorted and doesn't retain a bit of the atmosphere of the wonderful version present in "Youthanasia".

Despite these weaknesses, the CD turns out to be excellent: indeed a summary of what Megadeth has accomplished over so many years; let's hope that with this lineup they gain the stability needed to continue producing music of this level, definitively marking the return of Dave and his "infernal machine," also considering the splendid cover artwork.

Definitely one of the best releases of the year and of the band itself, in my opinion worthy of being compared alongside "Rust in Peace" and "Countdown to Extinction," of which it represents a highly successful mix.