ARTIST: Megadeth
ALBUM: Super Collider
LABEL: Tradecraft via Universal
RELEASE DATE: June 4, 2013
Mega It’s Not
Written by Dan Sinclair
Super Collider is thrash metal veterans Megadeth’s 14th studio album and the first one to be released on frontman Dave Mustaine’s own label Tradecraft. Though Megadeth has gone through many lineup changes over the years all the same musicians from 2011’s Thirteen are here, including original bassist David Ellefson, drummer Shawn Drover and Chris Broderick on the other guitar. But enough of that, let’s start headbanging and put up those signs of the devil… oh, wait. Don’t do that. The Born-Again Christian Mustaine probably won’t appreciate that.
But no matter what religion any of the band members follow, none has forgotten how to thrash on the first track “Kingmaker.” The first song comes out kicking some ass. It’s heavy and fast as shit, the dueling guitars whirl, swirl and scream and Mustaine’s distinct voice shines through. Dave sounds like the scary guy down the hall who likes to complain about everything, but not in a whiny way, more in a way you can’t help but listen to, and afterwards he just says, “Rock and roll,” and you nod in agreement though you know not why.
And just as you’ve banged away a couple thousand brain cells in celebration of the first song’s awesomeness, the title track comes on next and you go, “Uh, what?” “Super Collider” starts off promising enough with a nice loud thrashing guitar solo, but then it slows down to the same bored beat that’s been polluting modern rock radio for years before transforming into one of those semi-catchy, but tired, choruses that could’ve easily been Nickelback or 3 Doors Down.
Then “Burn!” comes on and does the same thing. What is going on? This is almost butt rock. “Burn, baby, burn ‘cause it feels so good” is about as generic as lyrics can get. This is followed by “Fire/I got the fire,” so if nothing else, at least Beavis and Butthead will appreciate it.
“Built for War” is better. It’s heavier throughout and features an almost Pantera-ish chanting-like chorus of “Built for war/What do you think fists are for?” But then “Off the Edge” comes on next and farts right back to the familiar old hard rock verse/chorus/verse begging for radio play. The headbanging has stopped and the head scratching has commenced.
But then “Dance in the Rain” comes on and Mustaine belts out spoken-word type lyrics semi-reminiscent of 1993’s “Sweating Bullets.” You sing out, “Powers that be will never learn” and rejoice. Disturbed’s David Draiman even adds a little guest vocals over the powerful dueling guitar solos. “Beginning of Sorrow” is nothing special, but at least sounds more like Megadeth than Nickelback.
“The Blackest Crow” features a little slide guitar and almost sounds like an interesting take on a country song. Unfortunately, it resorts back to a chorus that sounds much like the weaker songs on the album. Shame, there was a real opportunity to do something new there.
The next two songs (“Forget to Remember” and “Don’t Turn Your Back…”) are much stronger and along with “Kingmaker” and “Dance in the Rain” really highlight the album. The chorus to “Forget to Remember” almost reminds me of an older ‘80s hair band track, but not in a cheesy way. Like one of the few you still proudly admit to liking. “Don’t Turn Your Back…” is the heaviest, fastest, most Megadeth-y song here aside from the album opener. “The best advice that I can lend/Don’t turn your back on a friend” does sound pretty positive for the usual dark music of Megadeth, but the more you listen to it, it sounds more as a threat than encouragement, so that’s cool. The album ends with the Thin Lizzy cover “Cold Sweat.”
Though there are a few good songs here, Super Collider has to be a severe disappointment for Megadeth fans. Personally I’m all for a band branching out and exploring themselves musically instead of just rehashing the same old shit year after year, but this album sounds watered-down, almost as if it’s just trying to gear itself for wider audiences and more radio play. It may work in the end with Dave Mustaine and the boys converting several medium-to-slow-speed hard rock enthusiasts into new Megadethers, but they may lose some longtime hardcore fans by doing so, too.