Soldiering on with Much Atmosphere, Creativity and Energy - A Review of Megadeth's The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!

I have never been the greatest Megadeth fan but the creative songwriting, gloomy vibes and oppressive energy on Dystopia have finally managed to get me hooked. The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! doesn't only keep the band's momentum going with a strong new line-up but even outclasses the previous career highlight. The vibrant mixture of heavy and thrash metal certainly places this release among the greatest of the year.

The band manages to mix technically appealing instrumental sections with thought-provoking lyrics and catchy choruses such as on ''Soldier On!'' and ''We'll Be Back''. Both songs find the perfect balance between melodic heavy metal and ferocious thrash metal and take no prisoners. The band has excellent chemistry and sounds hungry and reinvigorated. The organic and tight production blends in splendidly.

The record however also comes around with a few creative and fresh ideas at strategic moments. The sinister radio play passages at the beginning of thunderous title song ''The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!'' set the tone for a gloomy record. The otherworldly nightmarish vibes provided by clever narrative sections and sound samples in ''Mission to Mars'' make this grower a serious candidate for the soundtrack of any upcoming release in the Alien franchise.

This album also convinces with a great list of guest musicians and singers. Many people argue that heavy metal and rap are incompatible but they should certainly listen to the gloomy, progressive and tense ''Night Stalkers'' that clocks in at nearly seven minutes without ever sounding boring. Ice-T's guest spot transmits much liberating energy and complements the ferocious musicianship splendidly. The narrative parts provided by Luliia Tikhomirova enhance the desperate atmosphere of the almost cinematic ''Dogs of Chernobyl''. The song might be about the catastrophe that shook the world thirty-six years ago but sounds creepily relevant under the current circumstances during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

At the end of the day, Megadeth's The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! is one of the band's most atmospheric, balanced and creative outputs ever as it entertains energetically, fluidly and playfully from start to finish without any fillers to be found. Make sure to purchase the record's limited edition with a beautiful lenticular cover that makes the epic original artwork look even more fascinating and two great bonus tracks with the playful Sammy Hagar cover ''This Planet's on Fire (Burn in Hell)'' and a wonderful live rendition of ''The Conjuring'' and not ''Dystopia'' as the back cover wrongfully indicates.

Final Rating: 90%