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