Megadeth at Terminal 5 NYC 3/17/16

This past St. Patty's day, I had the luck to attend the second of two straight days of the mighty Megadeth's NYC dates at Terminal 5. They have been one of my personal favorite bands since I was a young teen, but this was my first time seeing them in concert. And, I can honestly say that the show fucking ruled!

The first band I got to see their full set was another one, I had wanted to see perform live for ages, Finnish melodic death metal masters, Children of Bodom! They played a couple of songs off of their latest release, I Worship Chaos, including the kick ass title as well some classics. Among those was a blistering live performance of one my favorite songs of theirs: "In Your Face". That song is so fucking badass! Their performed amazingly on this night. CoB are such a technically awesome band, with talent that just drips out of every instrument that they touch. And, their signer/ guitarist Alexi Laiho, has long been one of my heroes.

 

 

Up next is the only band, I had seen before live, coincidentally at the very same venue a couple of years back: crossover thrash metal legends Suicidal Tendencies! From the first song, the classic "You Can't Bring Me Down" to the closing song, "Pledge Your Allegiance" (one of my favorite songs, of all time!), they killed it onstage!! And, there is no denying that front-man Mike Muir is the fucking man. He spent the whole show running and moving around from one side of the stage to the other. Not to mention he said some pretty cool/ inspirational things between songs. Former Slayer and legendary drummer Dave Lombardo played for them about a song or two into the set. It was AWESOME to see him with ST!! They'll be back for a headliner show, in the fall, I think he said. I hope to be there!

 

Soon it was time for one of the greatest metal bands of all time, a member of The Big Four: Megadeth!! The set opened with the technically awesome "Hanger 18", while alien autopsy footage played in the background. They ran some cool video images with all their songs. The set-included songs of off their awesome new album Dystopia, including the title track, "The Threat Is Real", my favorite track off the album- "Post American World", and others. Of course, they played classics, too, like "Trust", "Wake Up Dead", "Sweating Bullets", "In My Darkest Hour", and more.

They closed off the night with "Holy Wars... The Punishment Is Due". Throughout the whole, they proved that they are one of most technically amazing bands in all of rock and metal, and that they are just so amazing live. My only complaints are that they never played the last part of "Peace Sells", instead going right into the aforementioned "Holy Wars", and that they didn't play something off of Youthansia. Alternately, thank God they played nothing off of the preceding two albums (TH1RT3EN and Super Collider) or Risk. Anyway, the point is they are metal gods and played as such that night. A great tour, that if you can catch, you simply have to!

 

 

 

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The Top 10 Thrash Metal bands Ever

Like I said over on my myspace, thrash metal is my absolute fav type of metal. So, here then is my comprehensive list of the Top Ten thrash Metal bands of all Time:

1. When, Dave Mustaine was fired from Metallica it was the best thing that could happen to metal. Because, Megadeth is not just the best thrash metal band, ever, but my personal fav band in the whole world. Mustaine is one of the greatest guitarists the world has ever seen. And, Megadeth have made some many classic albums and songs; as well being one of the most technically sounding bands, ever. Plus, they have some of the coolest covers, ever! Their best album remains Rust in Peace, a technically ferocious godlike work that leaves your jaw dropping and your headbanging away till it falls off.
2. They sign about Satan, hell, the occult, evil, Nazis, war, atrocities, death, murder, serial killers, horror, and other unsavory subject matter, with amazing power and viciousness. Their mosh pits are legendary in their brutality. Their music controversial, but loved by both fans and critics. No list of great metal bands would be complete without them. Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman play the twins guitars with amazing speed and quality. While, Lomabardo is one of the finest drummers, ever, in any genre. Many will swear by Reign in Blood, but I prefer Season in the Abyss. Why? Because that is one of the albums that truly changed my life. Slayer has amongst the most ardent fan following anywhere, and rightfully so.
3. Listening to filth like St. Anger, Load, and Reload, it is many times hard to believe that, in the first four Metallica albums lie four of the greatest thrash metal albums ever. Kirk Hammet has said that Metallica invented thrash metal. While, this is debatable, what is not debatable is the magnificence of their early work. One of the first thrash metal bands to not be afraid to slow things down in masterpieces like Fade to Black and yet play blistering music like Creeping Death, Damage Inc, The Four Horsemen, etc, Metallica were metal gods. Master of Puppets remains their best work, as well as the best metal album, ever, thrash or otherwise.
4. Mixing heaviness without right fun Anthrax rounds the big four of thrash metal, with the aforementioned three other bands. Yeah, they were one of the first bands to bring rap to metal, and their work with John Bush had a different feel that the Joey era stuff. But, the real point is that when it came down to it they made some killer music. And, they help bring moshing to metal. So, now you did not just bang your head, but you thrash around and got busted up. Fuck yeah! I actually prefer John Bush signing and Sound of White Noise is one of my fav albums, but the Joey era is more in tune with classic sounding thrash metal, and some purists will say that is all that matters. For them, I pick Persistence of Time, the best album of that era. And, by the way, is Charlie Bennatte an amazing drummer or what?
5. Often underrated, and unjustly so, the best damn band to ever come out of Jersey (it sure as hell ain’t Bon Jovi!), Overkill are fucking heavy as hell and, when the song fits it, fast as fuck. With songs filled with badass attitude Overkill destroy much of the competition. Horrorscope is their best work, being immensely heavy and utterly and completely awesome.
6. What can be said about the band that made THE definitive song about mosh in the form of The Toxic Waltz? Yeah, they have had three different signers, but guess what? The quality of the music has never, ever suffered. Their debut Bonded by Blood is one of the greatest and most influential thrash metal albums ever put on this Earth. Exodus, at their best, make you wanna beat the crap out of someone. All hail!
7. Chuck Billy truly has one of the best voices in all of thrash metal. He can sign a ballad (The Legacy) or rip your fucking head off with his ferocity (Dog-Faced Gods). The same can be said of the band. Souls of Black remains my fav album, a great mix of melody and brutality, but arguments can be made for the viciousness of The New Order.
8. Germany proved they can thrash with the best of them. In fact, Kreator’s heaviness would be influential in the creation of death metal. Coma of Souls is one fucker you can hear a million times and never tire. And, guess what? They still have it. See the amazing Enemy of God for proof.
9. by mixing hardcore punk and thrash Suicidal set themselves apart from the rest of the thrash metal heap. Their later day work incorporated more melody and more metal, and me thinks, their best work, as evident by Lights, Camera, Revolution.
10. Much like the rest of the supposed second tier thrash metal bands like Exodus and Testament, Nuclear Assault don’t get the respect they deserve, but if you listened to stuff like Something Wicked, you would know they deserve to get much more respect.

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