Megadeth - The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!
- FaceOff - עימות חזיתי
- Sep 2
- 4 min read
Released on September 2, 2022, this album marked the sixteenth studio release by "Megadeth".
After six years of silence since "Dystopia", and through storms of personal struggles, health battles, and lineup changes, Dave Mustaine returned with an album that feels like both a reckoning and a resurrection.
In 2019, just as the band began preparing new material, Mustaine was diagnosed with throat cancer. While he fought for his life, the world itself collapsed into the pandemic, delaying tours, recordings, and forcing the entire creative process into fragments of stolen time. Sessions stretched from 2019 to 2021, scattered and haunted, giving the record a darker weight that seeps through every riff.
And then came the rupture. Longtime bassist and co-founder David Ellefson, the familiar anchor of "Megadeth’s" sound for decades, was dismissed in 2021 after a public scandal and controversy that rattled the fanbase. For many, it felt like the breaking of an old brotherhood. Yet instead of collapsing, Mustaine chose survival. "Testament’s" Steve Di Giorgio was brought in to re-record all bass parts, delivering technical ferocity and precision that honored "Megadeth’s" legacy. Soon after, James LoMenzo returned to the fold, restoring a link to the band’s 2000s era and giving new life to their touring lineup.
The lineup changes did not end there. "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" marked the first full studio appearance of drummer Dirk Verbeuren, whose machine-gun precision and creative power elevated the music to new heights. It also became the swan song for guitarist Kiko Loureiro who co-wrote most of the music on the album with Mustaine.
After a short intro, the title track "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" sets the stage with grim atmosphere, starting with slow arpeggiated chords, turning into razor-sharp riffs and pulling the listener into a narrative of plague and decay. Mustaine’s voice, gravel-edged from both age and illness, carries defiance in every word. (And No! Mustaine claimed that the song was not specifically written about the coronavirus pandemic).
Then comes "Life in Hell" and charges forward with relentless thrash intensity, corresponds with "Metallica" and echoing the band’s classic ferocity. Mustaine said that the song was written about all the turmoil that took place in the band, not just his cancer.
"Night Stalkers", featuring Ice-T, becomes a cinematic ride through covert operations. It's about the 160th Battalion secret helicopter division of the U.S. Army, and it's all the black-ops helicopters that go in at night. Verbeuren’s drumming spits flames of artillery fire beneath Mustaine’s snarling delivery and Kiko Loureiro's haunting guitar playing. And how beautiful is the instrumental and melodic transition that elevates this song to an epic level..
The haunting "Dogs of Chernobyl" is a centerpiece. Beginning with mournful acoustic guitar melodies, it builds into catastrophic thrash, conjuring images of love lost in radioactive wastelands. It is both brutal and poetic, and one of the finest songs in the band’s late-era catalog. The song was based on the 2012 horror movie "Chernobyl Diaries".
"Sacrifice" follows with venomous riffs and lyrical bite, a track that feels like Mustaine channeling both fury and prophecy about dark magic - a writing topic that Mustaine has tackled in the past.
Then comes "Psychopathy" the short instrumental intro for "Killing Time", one of the catchiest songs on the album. No wonder it was planned as the leading single from it, but then after the album release date was delayed, the band decided to release "We'll Be Back" instead.
"Soldier On!" takes a steadier, groove-driven march, embodying persistence in the face of collapse. It's more mid-tempo and melodic with groove elements and although it features much military imagery, it is actually about how you need to be brave when walking away from a relationship.
"We’ll Be Back", the first single, delivers pure thrash devastation. Its battle cry of vengeance and survival earned a Grammy nomination, proving "Megadeth" can still wield fury like few others.
This song also opened a new chapter in the visual legacy of "Megadeth". "We’ll Be Back" became Chapter I of a five-part short film telling Vic’s origin story—violent, apocalyptic, and relentless. "Night Stalkers" served as Chapter II as Vic awakens as a vengeance figure, while the album’s title track became Chapter III, pushing the saga into plague-ridden warfare. "Life in Hell" expanded the myth as Chapter IV, and finally, "Killing Time" closed the series as Chapter V, tying the threads of betrayal, revenge, and survival with Vic’s redemption and rescue. For the first time in the band’s history, Vic wasn’t just an icon on the cover—he became a living, breathing character in a cinematic narrative. It was also a deliberate throwback to the mythology of "Rust in Peace", when Vic was more than just imagery—he was the band’s alter ego.
The record closes with a playful nod to punk and rock roots with covers of "Police Truck" ("Dead Kennedys") and Sammy Hagar's "This Planet’s on Fire (Burn In Hell)" (featuring Sammy Hagar himself).
When the album finally emerged from years of uncertainty, it soared to number three on the Billboard 200, topping charts worldwide. Critics hailed it as a return to form, comparing it to "Endgame" and even "Countdown to Extinction". For fans, it was more than music—it was proof of resilience, a reminder that even after cancer, scandal, and a global standstill, "Megadeth" could rise again.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music
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