I have long enjoyed Megadeth. I cut my teeth on the classic line up of the 90s with Dave Mustaine, David Ellefson, Marty Friedman, and Nick Menza, following them through the Megadeth shutdown in 2002. But when the band was resurrected with the release of “The System Has Failed” in 2004, I recognized something deeper than just angry technical thrash; something of Dave Mustaine’s new-found Christian faith coming through. Over the following decades, I would check out the Megadeth camp now and again to see what they were up to. When news that their eponymous album would be their last, I felt the need to pay my respects to Vic Rattlehead.
Born from fierce rage at being fired from Metallica, Dave Mustaine set forth to beat them at their own game by founding Megadeth. Dave is the only fixture in the 40 plus year career of a band with a revolving who’s who of metal supporting the institution. Since their last album, the band saw Brazilian lead axeman Kiko Loureiro leave, bringing in Finnish Teemu Mäntysaari (Wintersun) and keeping James LoMenzo on bass and Dirk Verbeuren on drums. Although it seemed out of the blue, the announcement of Megadeth’s end was tied to Dave’s diagnosis of Dupuytren’s contracture, a condition that makes guitar playing painful. To end Megadeth properly though, the band is planning a multiyear tour in support of the album to properly say good bye to fans around the world.
This album is a fitting finale for Megadeth for better or worse. There is plenty of exquisite guitar pyrotechnics, speedy riffs, and angry thrash vocals that flesh out the classic Deth sound from the early 90s. Familiar lyrical themes like war, politics, and internal struggles fly overhead like fighter jets through varying flavors of thrash from speed demons to the melodic. It’s all done right and technically on point, but there is something subtle missing here that makes the last notes feel a little empty. The silver lining of this final album is that Mustaine offers closure on the feud with Metallica, with his own take on a cover song that he co-wrote.
To be clear, Megadeth ends their career running on all cylinders. Songs like “I Don’t Care” and “Let There Be Shred” show great shredding and riffing at a speed many bands cannot get close to, and all with a characteristic snarl. Even after a bout of throat cancer, Mustaine’s vocals are just as nasty as before even if lacking the vitriol of his younger years. Dave and new axeman Teemu do a great job of playing off of each other in mind-bending technical runs that are intelligently arranged. Dirk does a great job keeping the speeding circus together with excellent fills and top notch drum patterns that rival the energy of the axeslingers. Their sound is a mature thrash that is controlled through the lightning speeds, shifting tempos, bending key changes and melodic moments. To top it off, the production is crisp and clean, making the harsh attacks all the more vicious.
The lyrics lean more personal rather than political. Not only is the playing in your face, but Dave doesn’t mince words in “I Don’t Care” and the quite violent “Tipping Point” while also playing on familiar war and political themes in “Made To Kill” and “Obey The Call.” As I expected, there is some reflection of faith in “Hey God?!” which is an honest confessional song through a heavy plodding, yet lively, chugger. But as one would imagine, there is a fair amount of introspective honesty and retrospective pride looking back over years with Megadeth, which shows clearly on “The Last Note.”
But it feels like it misses something. After a career with many incredible metal musicians in their ranks over the years, I feel that it is Dave who stands alone in the end. There also seems to be a lack of playfulness in the songs as we get eleven well played yet straightforward thrash metal tracks. There are no sound bites, staged news bits, or scientists telling me about animals going extinct, which I realized listening through old albums how these gimmicks were an integral part of the Megadeth experience.
For a career spun from revenge for being fired, the encore is important. Metallica‘s “Ride The Lightning” was co-written by Dave and is a thrash classic. Megadeth’s version is a faithful rendering with a couple of adjustments. It is faster, sharper, and boasts of Mustaine’s attitude that bring more of a defiant snark compared to a young James Hetfield maniacally scared of the electric chair. It is done well, respectfully, and hopefully acts as the much needed olive branch between the two heavy metal heavyweights.
Megadeth provides a mature rendition of their classic style that lacks endearing elements of the past. This is a very worthy cap of the latest trio of aggressive thrash renaissance albums from the band and an appropriate finale for a career that has shaped the groundwork for metal and thrash in particular. My gut says this is not the last we hear of Dave Mustaine and there is an outside chance that we may yet see another Megadeth release or two. Until then, I will hold this as Megadeth’s last testament.
Rating: 8.5/10
Written by Sean Bailey
Tracklist
1 – Tipping Point
2 – I Don’t Care
3 – Hey God?!
4 – Let There Be Shred
5 – Puppet Parade
6 – Another Bad Day
7 – Made To Kill
8 – Obey The Call
9 – I Am War
10 – The Last Note
11 – Ride The Lightning (Metallica Cover)
Megadeth is:
Dave Mustaine – guitars, vocals, production, engineering
Teemu Mäntysaari – guitars, additional production, engineering
James LoMenzo – bass guitar
Dirk Verbeuren – drums
Release Date: January 23, 2026
Record Label: BLK||BLK
Discography:
Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good! (1985)
Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying? (1986)
So Far, So Good… So What! (1988)
Rust in Peace (1990)
Countdown to Extinction (1992)
Youthanasia (1994)
Cryptic Writings (1997)
Risk (1999)
The World Needs a Hero (2001)
The System Has Failed (2004)
United Abominations (2007)
Endgame (2009)
Thirteen (2011)
Super Collider (2013) [review]
Dystopia (2016) [review]
The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! (2022) [review]
Megadeth (2026)
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Video for Tipping Point
Video for I Don’t Care
Video for Let There Be Shred