Megadeth\u2019s self-titled 17th studio album will reportedly be their last, which makes its ordinariness feel all the more glaring. The riffs cycle through familiar shapes, the solos arrive on cue, and everything trudges forward with a bloodless efficiency\u2014the same template that the thrash metal band has relied on for the past two decades. For a supposed swan song, the near-absence of risk, reward, or even closure is instructive in the worst way. <\/p>\n
A streak of indifference and a lack of a distinct personality have always been two of Megadeth\u2019s defining features. Closing out their farewell LP with a cover of Metallica\u2019s \u201cRide the Lightning\u201d feels less like tribute than an open admission that this is a band still surviving on proximity to history (indeed, frontman Dave Mustaine once played guitar in Metallica, a credential Megadeth brandishes like a groupie with a backstage pass) rather than on the strength of their own ideas.<\/p>\n
Megadeth\u2019s original material is largely anonymous, exemplified by uninspired titles such as \u201cAnother Bad Day\u201d and \u201cObey the Call.\u201d New member Teemu M\u00e4ntysaari shreds with metronomic precision, his guitar playing folded into a hyper-polished aesthetic that emphasizes technical accuracy over character. Everything is overly compressed and tightly controlled.<\/p>\n
Mustaine\u2019s trademark snarl has collapsed into a pinched bark, turning every chorus into an endurance test for the listener. The singer\u2019s 2019 throat cancer diagnosis is obviously a factor, but the band seems to make little attempt to work around these new limitations.<\/p>\n
The sophomoric \u201cI Don\u2019t Care\u201d is a shit-post of a lead single that turns Nelson Muntz\u2019s laugh into a mission statement, filled with edgelord verbal barbs that may or may not be directed toward former bassist David Ellefson, but its commitment to the badass bit is at least memorable. Nothing else on Megadeth commits to much of anything. Even \u201cThe Last Note\u201d barely musters the energy its title demands. For a final album from supposed titans of metal, Megadeth operates with surprisingly little ambition: It clocks in, then clocks out. <\/p>\n
Score:\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
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