Countdown to Extinction (Remastered)

iTunes Review

By 1992, thrash-metal groups were making serious commercial inroads. Metallica had refined their attack with their “Black Album” and other serious metal contenders were forced to contemplate whether there might be someway to modify their approach without alienating their core audience. Always one of the most tuneful and virtuostic of the heavy metal groups — especially with the addition of guitar wizard Marty Friedman with Rust In Peace — Megadeth turned their attention toward finding the perfect middle ground. Long-time fans might miss the anarchic mania of the band’s earlier material, but Countdown to Extinction emphasizes the group’s progressive and more accessible side in a palatable, measured wallop. “Symphony of Destruction,” ‘Foreclosure of a Dream,” and the title track feature Dave Mustaine’s most carefully manicured vocals (compared to the prickly voicings of past years) and the meticulously harmonized guitars create a mannered aura that at times seems at odds with the band’s previous whiplash style. It’s not unlike the Metallica transformation.