‘Countdown to Extinction’ by Megadeth (1992)

Going into this review, the only Megadeth album I was really familiar with was the predecessor to this one, 1990’s Rust in Peace. That was the first album to feature the ‘classic’ Megadeth line-up which appears on Countdown to Extinction: Dave Mustaine on lead vocals and guitar, David Ellefson on bass and backing vocals, Marty Friedman on lead guitar and Nick Menza on drums. And for those of you who are unfamiliar with metal music, it’s also regarded as one of the greatest heavy metal albums of all time, still influential 30 years later. After the success of Rust in Peace and the subsequent world tour, expectations were huge for Megadeth’s fifth album, as fans wondered how the band would follow an album featuring all-time classics like ‘Holy Wars…The Punishment Due’ and ‘Hangar 18.’

Despite their longstanding rivalry with Metallica, the members of Megadeth admitted that they took inspiration from the worldwide success of Metallica’s self-titled album in 1991 and Mustaine wanted to reach the same level of mainstream popularity. On Rust in Peace, instrumental virtuosity was pushed to the forefront, with all songs featuring complex guitar riffs played at a frantic pace. But if Megadeth were to replicate the success of the ‘Black Album’, a new radio-friendly approach to songwriting was needed.

With this in mind, the first four tracks are about as solid a start to an album as one could hope for. Opener ‘Skin o’ My Teeth’ sounds to me like an almost glam-rock song, with a bouncy rhythm and incredibly catchy riffs, which sets the tone for the new musical direction of the album. It’s amazing how a song about failed suicide attempts can feel so upbeat! It’s followed by the ominous ‘Symphony of Destruction,’ with a slower, thumping rhythm and clever lyrics about political power and complacency. With it’s simple structure and singalong chorus, this was an easy choice for lead single and quickly became one of their most iconic songs. ‘Architecture of Aggression’ sounds more like a classic metal song, with a warfare theme and darker guitar tone, but played at a groovy medium tempo. And ‘Foreclosure of a Dream’ switches gear once again to a folk-rock vibe, with a fingerpicked acoustic guitar riff and lyrics about economic deprivation, alternating with heavy choruses. These songs broadly represent the different music styles of the rest of the album and are great examples of Mustaine’s ability to write memorable hit songs.

But if this all sounds too mainstream for the metalheads, fear not! Because these tracks also showcase the talents of ex-Cacophony guitarist Marty Friedman, who for my money is one of the best players to come out of the 80’s shred guitar scene. To quote the man himself, “shredders are the guys in your friend’s basement who play insanely fast…but if you close your eyes and actually listen, what you hear is a pile of shit” and Friedman certainly avoids this trap. His solos on ‘Foreclosure of a Dream’ and ‘Symphony of Destruction’ are exciting because of their impressive speed but they’re so melodically written, they sound just as epic when slowed down (set your Youtube speed settings to 0.75 and see for yourself!) The guitar playing throughout the album is stellar and although Mustaine mostly sticks to rhythm playing, we do get a tasteful dual-guitar solo on ‘Countdown to Extinction’ and the way both men trade solos in closing song ‘Ashes in Your Mouth’ rivals the ending to ‘Hangar 18’

As mentioned, this album was written in response to Metallica so I expected plenty of moments to remind me of Mustaine’s former band. And there are certainly several riffs over the album which sound influenced by James Hetfield’s songwriting, notably anti-hunting anthem ‘Countdown to Extinction’ which opens with a dead ringer for the chorus of ‘Fade to Black’. However, what surprised me was the amount of moments that brought to mind Alice in Chains. The Seattle grunge band were the opening act for Megadeth on their last two tours before they began writing Countdown and it sounds to me like their music rubbed off on Mustaine. The opening riff to ‘This Was My Life’and the chorus for ‘Captive Honour’ both sound like they could have been lifted from AIC’s 2^nd album Dirt and the way Mustaine growls the high notes in the outro of ‘Sweating Bullets’ sounds eerily like the late Layne Staley. As well as these bands, the complicated main riff and punky attitude of ‘High Speed Dirt’ instantly made me imagine some Van Halen track about driving fast cars (although it’s actually about jumping out of a plane when your parachute doesn’t work, because this is metal and metal takes things one step further)

Unfortunately, the album is not without weak points. ‘Psychotron’ managed to keep my interest with Friedman playing multiple short guitar solos but overall, I found the song too repetitive to warrant the almost 5-minute length. And the album has a few slightly cartoonish tracks, such as ‘Captive Honour’ which includes a long voiceover section in which they act out a trial verdict, or ‘Sweating Bullets’ where Mustaine pulls out his best Mike Patton impression to portray a mental patient. I’m not sure whether these moments were intended to sound genuinely intimidating or they were aiming for dark humour but in either case, these songs fell a bit flat for me.

Fortunately, the album ends strong with ‘Ashes in your Mouth’* At 6 minutes long, this is the longest track on the album and for fans of their earlier work, this song is a welcome return to their thrash metal roots. With thoughtful lyrics about the pointlessness of war, a string of ripping guitar solos and a thunderous performance from Nick Menza, this is one of my highlights of the album.

(*well, this is the final track on the original version. The 2004 remastered version I listened to continues with 3 demo tracks and a bonus track, co-written by Diamond Head singer Sean Harris, called ‘Crown of Worms.’ It sounds like a Motorhead song. It’s pretty cool.)

Final Thoughts

With Countdown to Extinction, Megadeth set out to write a Number One album and although they ultimately lost the top spot to Billy Ray Cyrus (ouch) it’s not hard to see why the album was so successful. Mustaine really showed the range his songwriting ability with a mix of stomping rock anthems, punky glam-rock tunes and even a few rock ballads. His distinctive voice has often been mocked for being too nasal, but I was pleasantly surprised at how expressively he was able to sing throughout the album, especially on slower tracks such as ‘Foreclosure of a Dream’ and ‘Countdown to Extinction.’ The rhythm section of Ellefson and Menza give a restrained performance compared to earlier albums, with each only getting small moments to show off, but they both work well together to create heavy grooves and elevate these songs to their full power. Meanwhile, Friedman constantly steals the show with incredible guitar solos on almost every song. I didn’t feel that all of the tracks were as strong as the singles, particularly towards the end, but I enjoyed the whole album. This is a fantastic ‘gateway’ album for anyone who’s unfamiliar with metal music and for the purists who heard that Megadeth went ‘poppy’ for this album, I encourage them to take another listen!

Recommended albums

‘Metallica’ by Metallica

‘Dirt’ by Alice in Chains

‘Rust in Peace’ by Megadeth

‘Cowboys from Hell’ by Pantera