Megadeth
About the Show:
Released by UMe on September 2, 2022, The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! further establishes Megadeth as a band that has both defined and repeatedly redefined heavy metal since formation, and which follows up 2016’s Grammy®-winning Dystopia , which debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 (Megadeth’s highest chart position since its 1992 classic Countdown to Extinction).
Megadeth has crafted a record with a visceral energy, heaviness, and sometimes paranormal pace that few would expect from such a seasoned band with so little to prove. The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! melds the ultra-frenetic riffing, fiercely intricate guitar solos, and adventurous spirit of the quartet’s groundbreaking early output with the musicality and melodicism of its ‘90s songwriting, all laced with signature virtuosity and precision – plus, of course, Mustaine’s singular vocal snarl and wry, take-no-shit lyrical vitriol.
Both defying Mustaine’s recent battle with throat cancer and celebrating his defeat of the disease, The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! counterintuitively thrived on delays and cancelled tours resulting from both his illness and the worldwide pandemic.
After his departure from Metallica, having co-written many songs that would appear on their first two albums, the ultra-hungry 21-year-old Mustaine conceived a new band, Megadeth, which would harness the cinematic songcraft of the new wave of British heavy metal to radically faster tempos, heightened technical agility, complex arrangements, and punk’s primeval aggression.
Mustaine’s rare gift for guitar (ranked #1 in 2009 book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists), ahead-of-his-time sonic ambitions, and superhuman drive put Megadeth among the legendary pioneers of thrash metal, known as the “Big Four.” Establishing themselves immediately with the release of their legendary debut Killing Is my Business… And Business Is Good , a series of platinum-selling album soon followed, earning them household-name status. To date, Megadeth has sold over 50 million albums globally, including the double-platinum Countdown to Extinction , and received twelve Grammy® nominations. The band’s uncompromisingly fierce yet fastidious live shows have become benchmarks for heavy metal performance worldwide.