ALBUM REVIEW: Megadeth's 13th attack

by Nikki M. Mascali
Weekender Editor

“Thirteen times and it’s been lucky for me,” Megadeth singer/guitarist Dave Mustaine growls on the closing track of “Th1rt3en,” the 13th song on the band’s 13th album.

It might be a fitting statement. After being booted from Metallica, Mustaine formed Megadeth, which has sold more than 30 million albums and garnered nine Grammy nominations, and “Th1rt3en” marks the return of original bassist Dave Ellefson for the first time since 2002’s “Rude Awakening,” and the outcome is heavy, sometimes dark and always in-your-face.

Standout “Sudden Death” is violent, with a piercing guitar reaching fever pitch before it blasts into a staccato riff. Mustaine’s vocals have grown gnarlier, but can still deliver lines like “a blitzkrieg raining down evil.” “Public Enemy No. 1” is fast and dirty.

“We The People” is a sludgy commentary that brings to mind Occupy Wall Street while “Guns, Drugs & Money” and “Never Dead” are thrash-y. “New World Order” has great rhythm — and Shawn Drover’s machine-gun drumming in its final half.

“Fast Lane” has an apt fast-pace to it; Mustaine’s and Chris Broderick’s accelerated guitars give visions of a roadway rushing past. “Wrecker,” about a wrecking ball of a woman who’s like “a vulture picking my bones clean,” gets off to a noisy start with great percussion and features a searing guitar solo. On the heavy epic “Millennium Of The Blind,” Mustaine adopts a softer, but still scratchy snarl as he sings about corrupt wars, sacrificing leaders and faceless children.

“Deadly Nightshade” has dueling crunchy and chugging guitars and guttural Ellefson bass while closer “13” starts with ballad-worthy guitar before the song begins to blister.

Along with Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax, Megadeth is “The Big Four” of thrash metal; all four are pioneers of the genre in its own right. But alongside Megadeth’s successful 2009 outing, “Endgame,” which debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200, “Th1rt3en” continues to prove that the band is not only a pioneer of metal, but remains one of its greatest torchbearers.

Rating: W W W W 1/2