I Am War: Some thoughts on the final Megadeth album, Anarchy and Epstein's USA in 2026

 

For mainstream metal at least, unless the Slipknot 'Look Inside Your Asshole' record lives up to all the Avengers: Goonsday level hype, the metal event of the year has already happened. Nothing is more important to the wider and to be debated for years metal scheme of things than the final Megadeth album. Like 'em or not, they are a huge institution and Mustaine has carved his smirk into the halls with one sharp-edged riff after another for decades. So, here we are. 

Vic Rattlehead was always my favorite mascot. My friends and I would debate if he could beat Eddie or Dio's Murray in a fight. Seeing him burning in effigy like the (cough) Wicker Man on the cover of the final Megadeth album is a bold image. In the USA of 2026 it reminds me however that we recently had Aaron Bushnell self-immolate against genocide (someone who really died for his convictions), or that the AI that Megadeth recently used in a small capacity is truly going to hurt us all via global warming. 

Mustaine has always been a controversial figure. I have no problem with Christianity helping him stay recovered (while I'm well aware faith-based recovery models can sometimes be coercive and hierarchical/cult-like) and it is great his injuries healed and he was able to play for more years than expected. I saw Megadeth steal the show on tour with Slayer and Testament a number of years ago now (despite me generally favoring the other bands, bigly) and it was pretty epic. Megadeth were pretty much my gateway to thrash back in the day, so I will always hold a soft spot for them. 

"Trump is mentioned more times in The Epstein Files than Metallica has been mentioned by Dave Mustaine. But only just."

That said, the political ambiguity of Mustaine is a controversial topic. But as anyone who has seen in the Epstein files, there is an intense propaganda war being waged to stop the lower class from uniting. Like, over interest rates.

 While identity politics and intersectionalism certainly and always matter, and while some MAGA chuds def deserve to be shamed and beaten down by a crowd of kids ala the witch in Weapons, we have to reckon with the fact that we need a real Fred Hampton style rainbow coalition and class war to oust the billionaire class. That will take some anarchist discussions with some folks who we have small areas of overlap with but where we otherwise diverge because of propaganda. It is hard work and emotional labor, but important. It is still ok to have boundaries with anyone who makes fun of the concept of "Turtle Island" and calls it "conquered not colonized". Or who thinks a fucking huge statue of Columbus is a good idea, like Trump. 

I keep thinking of the album name United Abominations and how people dismissed it. The irony is that the UN is a worthless body that arbitrarily decides who to villainize and yet turns a blind eye to horrors committed by favored nations like the USA and the zionist occupation entity. 

In places the LP even feels kind of punky in a way that I think the band pull off better than Metallica did on 'St. Anger', especially since I will always contend that that record would've been a lot more re-listenable with (not punk) guitar solos. 

Listening to perhaps my favorite song "I Am War" on this final Megadeth LP and David Ellefson saying that the album didn't "sound to him like Megadeth" really sounds like sour grapes. I get there is a rift between the dudes, but it is literally one of the most Megadeth sounding cluster of riffs I have ever heard. Dave's dark sense of melody and weird arrangements are all over it. The title also made me think of how we all sociologically are beaten down and deal with bias and collective brain rot. "Knowing every fear of each of my enemies" is a deeper lyric than maybe Mustaine even noticed. Hurt and Pain and stratification of resources has perhaps doomed the human race, but hopecore may yet prevail. The youth are really seeing through the drone culture bs, despite what Turning Point would have you believe. And yes, I think supporting Rick Santorum is a disgraceful act. 

That said, the youth can take some lessons from some of the old guard here and there. Some older musicians treat music as a hobby. It was never that for Mustaine. It was always a conviction. And nowadays it has become, by design, the stomping ground of trust-fund brats who often stand for nothing, so to be a true hardcore punk or metalhead and not a poseur in 2026 is an act once again of rebellion.  

I don't mind that his vocals sound aged on this album. It is kind of like choosing a Linda Hamilton over a fakeTerminator (another reason to back off the AI, Mustaine). I would rather that than hear Vince Neil overly drenched in auto tune like ranch dressing smothering a salad. 

Dave's vocal weakness is too jarring on the "Ride The Lightning" Metallica cover, however. We are all too imprinted with a hearty and ferocious Hetfield's vocal take. The chorus on this Megadeth one sounds absolutely limp, even though the music sounds great. A lot of people said Dave should've just thrown more reverb on it. IDK. 

All I know is that a lot of society has been deeply propagandized and that the Epstein class laugh more than ever at our division. Our culture (holy) wars create room for them to stretch their legs on the latest pervo pdf island and to co-ordinate with surveillance tech creeps. I'd like to think at least some of us on different ends of the political spectrum could agree that is wrong.