Megadeth
Killing is my business...
and business is good!
[Combat]


Seeing as how a few other Megadeth reviews have been springing up on LARM recently, I've decided to throw in my two cents regarding the works of Mustaine and company...and what more logical place to start than "Killing...", the debut Megadeth album released back when metal ruled the land and spandex was still seen as a viable fashion statement (that's 1985 for the youngsters out there)...

Starting off with "Last Rites/Loved To Death" ("Last Rites" being an instrumental piano piece which sounds like something or other that I just can't place my finger on at the moment), it's full speed ahead from the get-go. "Loved To Death" isn't brilliant by any means, but the opening riff/scale is one of the best I've heard in all of American thrashdom - too bad the rest of the song can't sustain the same sort of energy. Still, as an opening track, it does well in setting the pace to come. The title track ("Killing...") is then up, and it truly rips shit up. It starts off a bit slower than "Last Rites", but then kicks in with an infectious groove that demands thy head begineth to bang! I find the vocal melody on this track (especially on the pre-chorus) to be fucking brilliant - I've never really been a fan of Mustaine's nasally style of snarling, but on this track it works very very well...the song picks up pace quite a bit near the middle-end, but it's the opening riff that really makes the song memorable IMHO. "Skull Beneath The Skin" is next, and it's generally a bit more sombre sounding with a pseudo-evil vibe running through it - once again it's the vocals (surprisingly) that save the day. "These Boots" follows, and is Megadeth's piss-take on an old Lee Hazelwood (don't ask me - I've no fucking idea) track that was made famous by Nancy Sinatra - it's not without a certain charm, but (apart from the novelty factor) is pretty much filler material. Next up is "Rattlehead" which begins with the same type of brilliant scaling/riffing that opened up "Last Rites" - this is probably the best track on the album, and YET again, I find that it's Mustaine's vocals and their interplay with the dynamics of the music that really push this track OTT (funny - later Megadeth just never had the same vitality in the vocals, but on this album, Mustaine really does a top notch job - it's almost enough to make me rethink my position on the subject. Perhaps I've been too hard on old Dave all these years ?). Anyway - a finer thrash track would be hard to find - this is on par with any Metallica and Exodus material. "Chosen One" (the next track) is a bit more of a grove oriented track, and while pleasant enough, doesn't really do much for me - the band turn in a fine performance as this track really showcases their playing ability, but as I'm not one who's impressed with technical prowess, this is of little consequence to me (although I'm sure some will wank over it). "Looking Down The Cross" is the token "dark track" on the album, and it's also the most traditionally "metal" of the lot, recalling the glory of epic 80s metal with ease. An excellent track with a lot of atmosphere running through it (mostly the result of instruments dropping in and out of the mix and helping to create a VERY dynamic exchange). And not to repeat myself, but Mustaine vocals really shine - perhaps his finest moment. Lastly, the album ends with the infamous "Mechanix", which Metallica worked into "The Four Horsemen" on their debut (I assume everyone reading this knows the history of both bands, so I won't bother to get into it). I personally prefer "The Four Horsemen" still, but in Megadeth's defense, the only thing Metallica really managed to add to it was a bit of depth - Megadeth's version however is most definitely the thrashier of the two (and a bit faster to boot)...plus anyone who's heard the Metallica demos with Mustaine realizes that Jame's vocals on said track were nothing more than sonic plagiarism of what Mustaine had originally done before.

Final Analysis ? Absolutely essential. It's a bit difficult for me to convey how great this album is as I'm quite biased against later Megadeth, and this in turn taints how I see "Killing...", but this really is an album no metal collection should be without.

As a side note : most of the recent pressings that I've seen of this CD have omitted the track "These Boots" (apparently due to legal reasons), and I'm not sure if any currently produced version has this, so it may well be worth your while to search out the original pressing, although this may be easier said than done...a solution to this would be to buy the currently pressed versions and then seek out a copy of the soundtrack to "The Rivers Edge" which this track appeared on, but I've heard rumours that the recording on the soundtrack is actually different from the "Killing..." version, so even this may not remedy the situation completely...


© 1999 chorazaim