Hi, everyone. Megthony Deathtano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of this new self-titled album from Megadeth.

This is the 17th and said to be final studio album from the legendary thrash metal outfit Megadeth, who started in LA in the early '80s, with lead singer and guitarist Dave Mustaine, essentially masterminding the band's trajectory through every era. He isn't solely responsible for all of the band's songwriting over the years, but he is credited with the vast, vast majority of it.

And despite his reputation for being a little unhinged, confrontational, controversial, and polarizing, he still responsible for some of the most influential, high selling, and important thrash metal records of all time, be it Peace Sells or Rust in Peace, Countdown to Extinction. He really built Megadeth up to be one of thrash metal's Big Four, as they're called. Even with an active rivalry going with contemporaries Metallica, a drama that could be detailed in an entirely different video. I digress, though.

The truth is that none of the big four thrash metal bands are putting out their best work ever these days, or they have at least seen the writing on the wall and have slowed their momentum to pretty much a halt.

But Megadeth, though, have remained pretty active and consistent over the course of their 40-year career, in spite of numerous lineup changes and even recently, throat cancer. And while I don't think anyone would argue their final act here would be like their golden age creatively, there have most definitely been much greater and dramatic falls from grace within the history of metal music. And you could argue Megadeth has done an at least somewhat decent job of maintaining their trademark, lively, intense guitar work and soloing, and heavy production on Dystopia, and The Sick, the Dying, and the Dead.

Comparatively, even if I do like James Hetfield more as a singer in Metallica, more as a song long-writing unit, it was not enough to make up for just how predictable and bland a lot of the riffs and soloing were on their last record, 72 Seasons.

So again, Megadeth here, a final record from a legendary band that should still have some gas left in the tank at this point. And given that this is a finale of sorts, I went into it hoping for at least a little bit of a blowout, something to really make us reflect on and think about this curtain closing here.

But all I really got with this record were the dying breaths of a metal institution that was clearly on life support going into this project with just a complete lack of creativity from top to bottom. Even the title, clearly, after listening to this record, was not chosen as a means of defining to the audience, This is what Megadeth is. No, it feels more like a lack of anything else to put there in its place. I wouldn't say the recordings are a total bust on this thing. Drummer Dirk Verbeuren, who was a standout on The Sick, The Dying, is still here, though he seemingly does not get as much much time to steal the show on this set of new recordings, which is also true of newly added guitarist, Teemu Mäntysaari, who should most definitely be some X-Factor on this album, given his time in Winter Sun, a death metal band known for their melodic spins on the genre. But at no point on this LP do I get a sense of what his unique talents bring to this project, even with writing credits on most of the songs.

I didn't expect Megadeth to switch up genres or do anything crazy on this new album for sure. But this is still not an excuse for some of the most forgettable riffs this band has ever laid to tape. It's almost like they knew this because what is "Let There Be Shred" if not the band fully leaning into the cliché to the point where it is almost parody. Instead of using their collective experience to prove they can still make thrash metal and Megadeth exciting and interesting, the whole band is basically just phoning it in for 40 damn minutes.

Not just that, but this has to be the thinest sounding Megadeth recording that we have received in recent years with very stiff, very plastic performances. The drums sound so dry. The snarrel of the guitar and bass riffs have been reduced down to this very crunchy dime a dozen guitar tone that could most likely be attained by most home producers after a few YouTube tutorials. It's just not as heavy as Megadeath's past few albums, leaving Mustaine's vocals feeling very unsupported and nakedly awkward. It makes me feel like I'm listening to book on tape set to royalty-free thrash metal tracks.

And it doesn't help that Mustaine, after all of these years, is still writing and inflecting like he's delivering the most edgy inner monologues known to man, like a true '80s Saturday morning cartoon bad guy who's really plotting a scheme or an anime villain making the biggest deal out of nothing.

Because Dave's lyrics through this project never really lives up to the rage he's performing. You named your opening track "Tipping Point", and you're just going on through the song about how you're being "pushed" to a tipping point. Why don't you just name a track "Newsflash Buddy!" or "You're Cruising for a Bruising". Both would sound equally as badass.

It gets even worse on the song "I Don't Care", where it's bar after bar of just edgy lame nihilism. It's like reading a super long, angry uncle comment on Facebook. This man is 64, and he's still rebelling against mommy. Even when Dave is attempting to show a little bit of depth on this record, he falls miserably short. Like on, "Hey, God", where he's trying to sell us on the idea that these are things he would be saying in conversation with God – prayer – he claims there are a lot of things on his mind, but ultimately, he doesn't really communicate much of anything other than a vague disconnect.

I don't know. I don't really get the sense that Dave is worried about his immortal soul. I doubt he's really pondering his loneliness on a deeper level, too. A problem that's spelled out on the track "Puppet Parade": "I punch a clock, I play a role / But every day it's the same / The party's loud and the drinks are cold / But nothing dulls the pain / I bite my tongue and sell the lie / Pretend that I belong / Another shot, another high / Make it a double and make it strong." He envisions his whole existence as if it's this falsehood he was trapped into, as if he has no choice but to just live it out like a puppet. It's a complete and total rejection of his own agency and fails to really conceive of parallel existences where maybe people are struggling with even more powerlessness.

The only commentary throughout the record I thought there was at least something to was on the track "Made to Kill", which showcases Dave's continued cynical views on war and imperialism, the stuff he's been saying for years at this point, but it's no less relevant in 2026. Still, it feels like he's writing about this topic more from a standpoint of shock value than genuine outrage at the military-industrial complex.

But the writing on "Obey the Call" on this very similar front, I would say, is a lot smarter and nuanced. Though this feels almost at odds with Dave's positioning on the track "I Am War", where he seems almost empowered by this topic and in a very grandiose sense, envisions himself as embodying things as huge and as horrific as misery and sorrow, which isn't inherently bad writing or framing. It's just a tough thing to sell on a metal album that essentially has no mystique or ambiance around it at all. Because, again, it sounds like a bunch of cryptkeeper diatribes on top of generic thrash instrumentals.

The best track on the album, though, I would say, is the closer, "The Last Note", where Dave actually does reflect quite poetically on the fact that he is closing the door on Megadeth's existence, at least in terms of new studio output. And there is something genuinely thought-provoking about what Dave is trying to get at here. Because, again, Megadeth has had a 40-year plus career that's most definitely worth being proud of, even if its final moments here are not not shining super bright.

But despite Dave actually recording and writing something here that's noteworthy toward the end of the album, he then immediately spoils that experience by ending the whole record off with a cover of "Ride the Lightning", which again, is honestly quite sad and pitiful that you want your band's final moments spent reminding listeners of the band you could have been in instead.

I could really envision Dave Mustain here thinking, Yeah, This is my last laugh. When doing this is more comparable to just peeing your pants, peeing your pants for attention, which is why I'm feeling like a light three on this album.

Anthony Fantano, Megadeth, Forever.