Megadeth Thrashed Armory

Another week and another day of monstrous metal for the Minneapolis metalheads out there. The Armory was absolutely packed as true to life legends Megadeth packed in the crowd on their Destroy All Enemies tour, bringing ample assistance with them in metalcore veterans All That Remains and the nu metal titans Mudvayne, with riffs aplenty and a veritable smorgasbord of scowl-y growly vocals to span the ages and please fans of all genres!

Springfield (MA)’s old school metalcore brothers in arms All That Remains opened the massive stage, Phil Labonte taking command of the audience right away as they launched into “Now Let Them Tremble” and “Chiron” and then cutting all the way back to The Fall of Ideals for an incredible live rendition of their song “Six”, the opening tremolo section over the top of maddeningly furious double-bass from recently new drummer Anthony Barone colliding with Labonte’s feral screams – it set the tone for the evening to come and established an energy precedent that the band carried through the rest of their memorable but brief set, playing only 4 more songs but managing an enormous mosh pit in that time frame.

Incomparable Mudvayne came on next, and what an instant impression it was. Fans were able to see the production they had set up throughout the opening set, and it was used to immediate effect as Ryan Martinie came out animalistically screaming his head off as he fingered the opening bassline to “Not Falling”, the rest of the crew shortly following – Chad Gray adorned in his trademark stark white with gunshot facepaint, screaming his head off, the rhythm section firing at breakneck speed and with mechanical precision – an awesome onslaught whose energy continued as they worked their way through their discography.

Mudvayne’s raw power as a band has long been their trademark quality, and their live sound is a perfect translation of the immediacy of their sound. Chad sounds like every vocal line might be his very last, McDonough’s drumming sounds ripe to destroy the head of snare at any given moment, Tribbett’s guitar ready to burn his hands with the fury of his playing. Many bands lay claim to sounding furious, but Mudavyne own and exemplify it to a perfect T. Only a ban with supreme confidence could play arguably their most intense and powerful track as the closer – a rendition of “Dig” sending the Armory audience into a fervor, salivating for more.

The enormous banner for Megadeth came dropping away as the opening notes to “The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead” rumbled through from Mustaine’s guitar, situated upon Dirk Verbeuren’s massive drum riser, and the venue was thrust into chaos from then on. Megadeth are true to the word legends, and the question when acts this old and celebrated play always comes down to – do they still got it?

Perhaps because of the injections of fresh blood in James LoMenzo & Teemu Mäntysaari, but far more likely because Dave Mustaine never has and never will lose his edge, but the answer to that question is a resounding absolutely they do. The production is grander, the flourishes more extravagant, but at their core they are the same Megadeth that has been delivering thrash’s greatest riffs for over 40 years and they have lost absolutely nothing live. “Hangar 18” sounds as fresh today as it did on Rust in Peace all those years ago, and not for nothing also still sounds like a ruthlessly intense track that can stand against the sounds of today (perhaps the intent of juxtaposing metalcore and nu metal against their venerated thrash sound?). So – yes, they still got it – and they are incredible performers, with Teemu spending more time twirling his guitar in the air than standing still, Dirk looking like he is having the absolute time of his life up there and as classic as ever Mustaine looking grumpy the entire time (in a way you can only love). 

Their setlist spanned the decades, with classics from across all 5 decades of their existence, a who’s who of Megadeth greatest hits, with a smashing encore of “Holy Wars” to complete the ascension to metalhead valhalla. An incredible show!