Megadeth - United Abominations (2007)

United Abominations ushers in the 'Drover' era of the band, with Dave picking up brothers Glen and Shawn from the consistent Canadian power/thrashers Eidolon, about as perfect a fit that he was going to find from that scene north of the border outside of drafting Jeff Waters of Annihilator into the fold (which I still think should happen). The duo lends an instant seriousness and edge to the material which catapults this record right back to what might have been a follow-up for Rust in Peace, not that the riffs ever reach that same level of immortal, blazing catchiness, but this is clearly the product of much more effort than almost anything in the 15 years before it, with any cobwebs shaken out of the joints and the band sounding, I daresay it, 'young' again.

That's not to say it's the 'best' material in that timespan, but it joins the records sandwiching it as a sort of 'second wind' for Megadeth. Dave's vocal soar over the opener "Sleepwalker", as he shifts between a melody and more of his snarling, sneery attitude through the verses, with a busy lattice of thrash riffing and lead-work below that holds your attention, occasionally giving me a "Take No Prisoners" vibe. And it doesn't really apply the breaks, ever, I mean there's plenty of variation in tempo, but like its predecessor The System Has Failed, there's no real wimping out to honor some midlife crisis or emotional side of the creator's ego. A few tracks here don't work for me, like the title track on which the chorus of the title sounds a little obvious, repetitive and lame. Or "Amerikhastan" which also had some cheesy sounding vocals and political raving, not that I necessarily disagree with all his points but it just comes off in that cringeworthy "Sweating Bullets" intonation at some points.

The decision to revisit "A tout le monde" is also a strange one, though comparing this with the original from Youthanasia, it's got more pep and energy, lacking that version's darker, drearier mood. But both of them do fit within their surrounding track-list and production style, even though I don't need the guest vocals from Christina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil, and I'm half-wondering if that affected the decision to re-record it, because they needed a tune she should contribute to? Probably not. However, I'd rather have included the cover of Zeppelin's "Out on the Tiles", a bonus track from other releases of the disc, which is pretty well-rendered, although not as kinetic as the version Toxik did on their 1989 masterwork Think This. If there's one other complaint, I still don't think the bass playing is where it needs to be, because it lacks Dave Ellefson. James LoMenzo joins in here, coming over from various Zakk Wylde projects, and he's certainly a decent presence, but he just lacks that strength in his lines which could complement and even rival Mustaine in places; he's just a solid support.

For me, United Abominations is probably the weakest of the 'trilogy' in this particular Megadeth surge, since I thought the tunes on the glorified solo album The System Has Failed were catchier, and Endgame triggers all the Rust in Peace nostalgia in all the right ways. That said, it's still largely a quality album, and the one of the three that most feels like it could have had an original release in the 90s after Rust and Countdown. There are definitely some subtle callbacks, when you're listening to a tune her and remembering enough, for instance some of the low end in "You're Dead" brought back thoughts of the thrash/groove in "Architecture of Aggression", or the other I mentioned earlier, but no real direct rip-offs. It's a decent one, the Drover brothers were definitely the right guys for the job, and that would become even more apparent two years later.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

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