Megadeth

Dave Mustaine's voice (a scale-climbing, almost alien howl) has pitched itself as one of the most recognizable and unique touchstones of heavy metal over the past three decades, matching up perfectly with the melodic thrash leanings of his pet project, Megadeth. "Sweating Bullets" is a stop/start examination of Mustaine's ego and id; "Symphony of Destruction" is an ominous, ever-relevant commentary on war; and "Wake Up Dead" is rife with interlocking riffs. Megadeth adds extra sulphur to "Devils Island" in Next Steps.

The further you venture into Megadeth's stylized world, the easier it is to realize there's way more to the outfit than skull-and-crossbones imagery. Take the band's second studio album (and first for a major label) [i]Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?[/i] (1986) which plants its standard somewhere between the apocalypse and purgatory, and seems to harness the steeds of the four horsemen for standouts like "Devils Island" — check out that galloping bass line and Tommy-gunned guitar. Get lost in the fog of battle, Megadeth-style, in Deep Cuts.

Megadeth has made a habit of chanelling the good ol' days in the purest way possible. And by the good ol' days, we mean thoroughly [i]rawking[/i] tracks like "Take No Prisoners" from 1990's [i]Rust In Peace[/i], which is as uncompromising as anything by Sepultura in its prime. So, on 2007's politically uncompromising [i]United Abominations[/i], we get Mustaine cranking out "Gears of War" (featured as an instrumental in the video game of the same name) like there's no tomorrow. Hell, on this evidence, maybe there won't be a tomorrow.

Like the kid who got banned from the playground, only to return later in life as a high-flying lawyer, Dave Mustaine got the last laugh after exiting an early lineup of Metallica in 1983. Commercially, his new band Megadeth enjoyed a string of gold-plated records, as well as the one-two platinum punch of [i]Youthanasia[/i] and [i]Rust In Peace[/i] in the early '90s. Musically, Megadeth has maintained its trademark hooky-thrash aesthetic for two decades, while other heavy metal acts of the '80s struggled to remain relevant, or even be heard at all. This overview of their pleasurably head-splitting output, up to and including [i]United Abominations[/i], is packed full of diabolical highlights. Our favourite? The spot-on, metallic cover of the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy In the U.K.", featuring a guest guitar solo from original Pistol, Steve Jones.