Megadeth: Youthanasia : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

"I am a walking screaming hell/A thing of torture to behold" – it takes big stones to sell such lyrics, but burly Glenn Danzig proves pumped for the task. He has mastered both the yahoo manqué yell of Jim Morrison circa "Roadhouse Blues" and a Lizard King whisper that suggests dark ceremonies, torchlit rites. Danzig's tightest set, 4 uncorks John Christ's Black Sabbath-spinoff guitar on bluesy goth rock, but the whiplash sound effects on "Sadistikal" risk redundancy, and "I Don't Mind the Pain" hilariously understates their case.

Polychromatic guitar, touch-of-funk percussion and lyrics that skirt the genre's staple voodoo make the Cult the choice for conscious headbangers. Three years after the tepid Ceremony, superlunged Ian Astbury and co. pounce back hot. Their cosmic thirsts bubble up on "Universal You," and verses like "Riot girl, show me your truth" offer rare, nifty uplift.

Megadeth main man Dave Mustaine has a yen for the majestic – and with spooky consistency, he succeeds in erecting towering sonic obelisks. Working this Wagnerian tip is dicey, but Megadeth's secret weapon – an oiled precision that suggests Stygian rehearsals – is calibrated to kill. "Elysian Fields" and "Victory" are prime Mustaine: This is metal-machine music, indeed.