Megadeth - The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead! [2LP]

Megadeth came roaring back in 2022 with The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!, their sixteenth studio album, spread here across two 180 gram LPs.

The road to this record was rough. Dave Mustaine was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2019, and the lineup shifted before the album was done, yet the finished product sounds like a band with everything to prove. Mustaine leans into dark, plague-haunted imagery and pointed social commentary, delivered with the snarling conviction that has defined Megadeth since the 1980s.

The title track sets the tone with galloping riffs and a grim, theatrical edge, while Night Stalkers brings in Ice-T for a menacing tribute to the elite helicopter pilots of the US Army's special operations. Dogs Of Chernobyl stretches out into a brooding, slow-building epic that shows off the band's patience as well as its speed.

Kiko Loureiro's lead guitar trades blows with Mustaine throughout, a reminder of how much fire the dual-guitar attack still carries, while Dirk Verbeuren's drumming stays relentless and precise. The production is crisp and heavy, giving every palm-muted chug and every soaring solo plenty of room.

For thrash fans who thought the glory days were behind them, this is a ferocious late-career statement, and the double vinyl format gives it the weight it deserves.