Pomegranate Seeds  6/10

After a six-year hiatus, thrash metal legends Megadeth are back with their 16th album, “The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!”, with new drummer, “Dirk Verbeuren” and bassist “James LoMenzo”. Going into this album I had decent expectations after their last album. I believe that the band delivered.

The title track of the album is about the black plague and a great way to start off the album. One thing to note about most of the album is that the riffs are fast and skull crushing. They really get the adrenaline running. “Life in Hell”, the second track is about someone who is overall a bad person and gets the punishment for it. The third track, “Night Stalkers featuring Ice-T”, The song is about Special Forces obliterating any enemy that stands in their way. Some people might think that this song may be corny in a way. It is still a decent track despite the lyrics. The lead single on the album, “We’ll Be Back”, is possibly my favorite of the album. It contains a pretty catchy chorus and one of the better riffs on the album. Another highlight from the album is, “Dogs of Chernobyl”. It comes in with a dark ambiance which builds up to a beautiful acoustic guitar intro. It works great going into the crushing riff. The lead guitar on the album is shown to be pretty good working with the rhythm guitar.   The worst song in my opinion is probably  Mission to Mars. The title explains what the song is. I feel that it does not fit with the rest of the album and is kind of corny. Finishing off the album is the track with Sammy Hagar called, “This Planet’s On Fire (Burn In Hell)”. This song as a great riff accompanied by a well played solo and fun lyrics to sing along to. It is just a great way to send off the album.

Dave Mustaine’s singing may not be as good as it used to be, but it is serviceable, especially for his age.  The band’s playing is also pretty good. Overall this is a solid thrash metal album. I give it a 6/10.