Megadeth, cabeza de cartel
del Leyendas del Rock
European Carnage Tour – 29.03.2011, Coliseum de A Coruña
+ Slayer
Crónica y Fotos Andrés Abella - IndyRock
Tarde lluviosa en A Coruña, aunque ya desde tempranas
horas, con gente haciendo cola en la puerta para entrar a éste Coliseum,
espacio polivalente, que lo mismo hace de plaza de toros como de recinto
de conciertos. Ante todo, sorprende su tamaño (11000 personas de
capacidad) y su calidad en cuanto a sonido e iluminación, perfecto
para éste tipo de eventos.
Si bien a las 8 de la tarde en punto las puertas se abrían tal
y como figuraba en la entrada, no fue así para el resto de las horas,
ya que poco antes de las 9 saltaban al escenario los Angelus Apatrida,
cuando estaba escrito que la velada empezaría a las 21:30, con lo
que mucha gente se perdió el concierto de los albaceteños.
Ésto dió bastante que hablar entre los asistentes que, según
iban llegando al recinto, al filo de las 21:15, se encontraban con un setlist
ya en su recta final y la pista y gradas a tres cuartos de su capacidad.
En cualquier caso, los representantes del thrash nacional no defraudaron
a nadie, y ejecutaron con precisión temas como Clockwork, Blast
Off, Give 'em War... Un setlist que se hizo ciertamente corto (escasa media
hora de concierto), pero muy agradable.
Con bastante puntualidad (apenas pasaban unos minutos de las 9 y media
de la noche), con todo el aparataje montado, salen al escenario Mustaine,
Ellefson, Broderick y Drover, o lo que es lo mismo, el primer cabeza de
cartel de la noche: Megadeth. Con una iluminación perfecta, un sonido
bastante más que correcto, y una actitud por parte de Chris Broderick
totalmente impresionante (no así la de Dave Mustaine, que apenas
sí le hizo carantoñas al público en todo el concierto),
van dejando atrás tema tras tema: Trust, In My Darkest Hour, Hangar
18, Wake Up Dead, Poison Was The Cure, head Crusher.... sin darnos ni un
solo respiro. Con She-Wolf el público se volvió aún
más loco de lo que ya estaba, e incluso se empezaron a ver los primeros
remolinos en la arena, aunque muy comedidos, y poco a poco, nos íbamos
acercando a la mitad del concierto. A Tout Le Monde (tema con el
que intentaron bajar un poco el ritmo, sin conseguirlo), y unas breves
palabras de Mustaine, diciendo que A Coruña es un sitio precioso,
que lo ha visto desde la ventana del hotel... para arrancar con 1,320'
y acto seguido, Sweating Bullets y la ya mítica Symphony of Destruction.
Dejaron para el final Peace Sells, con un Vic Rattlehead trajeado incluido,
y, tras un amago (sin conseguir ni siquiera asustar al personal), arrancan
con Holy Wars... The Punishment Due, para dejarnos un respiro, ir a por
un par de cervezas, y volver a la carga con Slayer.
Éstos tardan un poco en subirse al escenario, quizás por
el aparataje de los ágilas colgados, o por el muro de sonido. Se
llena la pista de humo y focos rojos, y cuando salen a escena Dave Lombardo
y Kerry King, la multitud ya destila ansia por escucharles. Al momento,
salen Tom Araya y Gary Holt (sustituyendo a Jeff Hanneman, tras la picadura
de una araña en su mano), y da comienzo el show. La gente intenta
conseguir como sea la primera fila. Gary Holt se porta bien, teniendo en
cuenta que Slayer no es Exodus, y aqui está un poco "por acompañar".
No destaca, en ocasiones, su guitarra apenas se nota, pero hace un buen
papel, como no podía ser de otra forma para un guitarrista de su
nivel.
La verdadera estrella del concierto fue Kerry King, moviéndose
y tocando con su estilo inconfundible. Saludos en español de Tom
Araya, que da las gracias una y otra vez. A éstas alturas de la
noche, los remolinos empiezan a ser cada vez menos discretos, y en mitad
del concierto, hasta Araya señala y asiente. Van dejando atrás
tema tras tema, hasta llegar a Dead Skin Mask, el cual Tom tuvo que repetir
varias veces el ya clásico "dead" "skin" "mask", ya que cada cual
coreaba lo que más le apetecía, o se le asemejaba. Silent
Scream, The Antichrist, Americon, Payback, Seasons in the Abyss, Snuff,
South of Heaven, y por fin, el ya conocido por todos Raining Blood, momento
en el cual el auditorio estaba ya extasiado, tanto por la caña que
ofrecieron, como por la calidad del sonido e interpretación.
Dejaron para el final Black Magic y Angel of Death, y con ésta
última, se encendieron las luces para irnos todos a casa (o al bar
más cercano), con un regusto inmejorable del mejor Thrash Metal
que ha pisado la península en los últimos años.
Setlists:
Megadeth
01. Trust
02. In My Darkest Hour
03. Hangar 18
04. Wake Up Dead
05. Poison Was the Cure
06. Head Crusher
07. She-Wolf
08. A Tout Le Monde
09. 1,320?
10. Sweating Bullets
11. Symphony of Destruction
12. Peace Sells
---
13. Holy Wars… The Punishment Due
Setlist: Slayer 
--
MEGADETH presentan en directo Presentarán su último trabajo
de estudio "ENDGAME"
Con su anterior trabajo “United Abominations” (2007), Megadeth nos
deleitó con un arsenal de afilados temas heavy metal solo comparables
a la crudeza de Killing is My Business...And Business is Good!, el mordiente
político de Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?, la búsqueda
de lo oscuro de So Far, So Good...So What!, la majestuosidad metálica
de Rust in Peace, la aplastante maquinaria de Countdown to Extinction y
el exorcismo de Youthanasia y Cryptic Writings.
La huella dejada por Mustaine se deja ver en una forma de ataque sobre
la guitarra y una forma de cantar las verdades sobre como afrontar el presente
y seguir hacia adelante. Un luchador nato, siempre a contra corriente luchando
contra todos.
Con unas ventas mundiales cercanas a los 20 millones de copias, una
web galardonada como la mejor página de rock en la red, varios lanzamientos
considerados pilares del metal contemporáneo y todo ello compaginado
con la majestuosa gira Gigantour convierten a Dave Mustaine en una leyenda.
Ahora, junto a Slayer, en la gira European Carnage Tour 2011, nos presentan
su doceavo álbum de estudio, “Endgame”. Y lo presentan con nuevas
incorporaciones en sus filas, Chris Broderick a la guitarra y David Ellefson,
al bajo. Grabado en el nuevo estudio propiedad de la banda, Vic's Garage,
situado cerca de San Diego, este nuevo trabajo refleja los detalles técnicos,
la ferocidad y los gruñidos que son sinónimos de Megadeth.
“Endgame” muestra como el cerebro de Megadeth, Dave Mustaine, vuelve de
nuevo a sus raíces, y de nuevo se ve el resultado, un disco espectacular
que se sitúa no solo entre los mejores trabajos de Megadeth, sino
entre los mejores que puede ofrecer la música metal actual.
//Dystopia bio//
It was over 30 years ago that Dave Mustaine founded Megadeth, in the
process pioneering the sound that would become known the world over as
thrash metal. And from the very beginning, the band proved to be the most
lethal and audacious unit on the heavy music scene, pushing thrash to the
limits of musical ferocity and instrumental virtuosity on early efforts
like their 1985 debut, Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good! and
1986’s seminal Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?.
In the decades since, Megadeth have taken their place as one of metal’s
most influential and respected acts—not to mention among its most successful:
Over the course of their career, the band have sold 38 million albums,
notched six consecutive platinum efforts—including 1992’s two-million-selling
Countdown to Extinction—and garnered 11 Grammy nominations. And onstage
they continue to be a world-dominating metal force, shaking stadiums from
the U.S. to Bulgaria as a key component of the recent milestone Big 4 concerts,
as well as playing their own shows to massive crowds in every corner of
the globe.
Now, in 2016, Megadeth have reinvented themselves once again. The legendary
metal outfit, led by visionary singer, guitarist and songwriter Mustaine,
has announced the release of their 15th studio effort, Dystopia. The album,
which sees Mustaine once again joined by stalwart bassist David “Junior”
Ellefson, is the first Megadeth effort to feature new guitarist Kiko Louriero
and drummer Chris Adler, the latter on loan from Lamb of God. Together,
they inject new levels of musical venom and instrumental dexterity into
what was already a wickedly potent brew.
The result is an offering that shows Megadeth at a new peak of their
powers. “We wrote a really heavy, riffy record,” Mustaine says proudly.
“And there’s an excitement right now that I haven’t felt in a really long
time.” That excitement is at the core of each of Dystopia’s 11 tracks.
The album bristles with a renewed energy and intensity, from the pile driving,
“Motorhead-y” thrust of “The Emperor,” to the epic stateliness of “Poisonous
Shadows”—which finds Loureiro adding both acoustic guitar and classical
piano flourishes to the mix—to the labyrinthine riffing and pummeling rhythms
of “Death From Within,” a song that, Mustaine says, “just continues to
build and climax. There are riffs in there that come at you once and then
you never hear them again.”
In a similar vein is the intricately structured “Bullet to the Brain,”
which, Mustaine says, “has a few different twists to it, rhythmically.
It starts in one gear and then downshifts to another, and it’s not what
you would expect. Most songwriters stay in this same-y sounding thing from
beginning to end, but I wanted to do something that followed a weird kind
of pathway. I think those unexpected surprises are a really important facet
of this band, and one that we haven’t really been doing lately. It was
nice to try that again.”
In fact, much of Dystopia sees Mustaine musically pushing forward while
also looking back. “We’re turning toward our roots, but with a fresh new
feel,” he says. To that end, leadoff track “The Threat is Real” begins,
Mustaine points out, “innocently enough, with some little finger cymbals
and interesting Middle Eastern percussion,” before exploding in a bout
of fierce riffing. “When the song takes off, it’s just like a ‘Rattlehead’
or ‘Loved to Deth’ kind of thing,” he explains, referencing two classic
cuts from Killing Is My Business. First single “Fatal Illusion,” meanwhile,
“is really similar in feel to ‘Bad Omen’ and ‘Black Friday,’ that kind
of stuff,” he says. “It totally reminds me of the Peace Sells era, with
a lot of guitar soloing going on and the double-kick drums just pounding
away.”
Those guitar solos and pounding drums, of course, are of particular
interest this time around. For one thing, the lead guitar slot in
Megadeth has always been a highly coveted, if also intensely scrutinized
position, and one that Mustaine has through the years filled with some
of metal’s top players. In the fleet-fingered and highly versatile Loureiro,
a 20-year veteran of Brazilian progressive metal act Angra, he may have
found his ideal foil—a player who is equal parts stunningly virtuosic technician
and aggressive, from-the-gut shredder.
As for how Loureiro came to Mustaine’s attention, the frontman recalls,
“When we first started our search, I received a list of guitar players
from several friends, including Chris Adler. I looked into every one of
those guys, and they all were fabulous. And compared to a lot of them Kiko
was relatively unknown, even though he’s famous in Brazil and Japan. But
he had the most points in the end. He’s a young and exciting guitarist,
and just very, very thick with talent. And he has an exotic style that
dovetails really nicely with my own playing. I mean, listen to something
like ‘Conquer or Die!’ on the new album—the first solo he did on that one
really snapped my head around.”
More than just a skilled player, Loureiro also proved to be a surprising
creative force in the studio. “He was offering a lot of suggestions while
we were recording, which is something I haven’t had come from stage left
in a long time,” Mustaine says. “Like, ‘Hey, let’s maybe change this bass
part…’ ” He laughs. “I mean, the guy’s here for one album and he’s already
written four songs with me! So he had a big influence on the sound we were
getting.”
As did the other new addition to the band, drummer Chris Adler, who,
according to Mustaine, “brought some passion back to the music.” This was
partly a consequence of the fact that, in addition to being one of modern
metal’s top drummers, the Lamb of God skinsman is also, like most metal
musicians who came of age in the Eighties and Nineties, a rabid Megadeth
fan. “What’s interesting about Chris is that he’s really into Gar,” Mustaine
says, referencing late Megadeth drummer Gar Samuelson, who played on Killing
Is My Business and Peace Sells. “And in the studio Chris’ knowledge of
and love for that time period kept reminding me of the magic we had in
the beginning of the band with Gar, who was a jazz-type drummer. Back then,
we weren’t trying to sound like anyone else—we were just trying to sound
like Megadeth. And if you study Chris’ drumming on this record, you can
really tell it has some of that jazzy, Gar flair to it. He made me fall
in love with that sound again.”
But as much as Megadeth is known for their inimitable sound, they are
also equally recognized for Mustaine’s distinct, incisive vocal style and
characteristically penetrating lyrics—both of which are on abundant display
on Dystopia. Lyrically, “The Threat is Real” is one of several songs in
which the singer unleashes his pointed social and political attacks with
lethal precision, railing against a “culture made of cover-ups” where “no
one cares anymore.” It’s a sentiment that continues on the title track,
where Mustaine sings about how “useless thoughts of peace are met with
rage.” Meanwhile, on “Lying in State,” he warns, “there’s one playing by
the rules anymore,” and asks, “How will history portray us?”
But despite all the understandable frustration baked into the words,
Mustaine says there’s still hope in these songs: “They’re not so much about
me saying this is what I think the world is like; they’re more about me
saying this is what I think the world is going to become,” he explains.
“Unless we get some people in positions of influence and power that are
going to kind of bring the ship home.”
Elsewhere on Dystopia Mustaine tackles more personal topics, from obsession
(“Poisonous Shadows”) to relationships gone wrong (“Bullet to the Brain”)
to betrayal (“The Emperor”). He caps the whole thing off with a furious
run through Fear’s rampaging hardcore punk classic, “Foreign Policy.” Why
that particular song? Mustaine lets out one of his characteristic snickers:
“Why not?”
The whole thing is wrapped up in stunning album art conceived by Mustaine
and brought to life by artist Brent Elliott White. Merging the past with
the present, the cover image places longtime Megadeth mascot Vic Rattlehead
within the dystopian world depicted in Mustaine’s lyrics. “I told [White],
‘I want something that looks like Planet of the Apes or 12 Monkeys—where
everything’s just all fucked up,’ ” Mustaine says with a laugh.
The end result is an album that, from the music to the words to the
artwork, stands as one of the most cohesive, hard-hitting and dynamic entries
in Megadeth’s storied catalog. Indeed, more than three decades after the
release of Killing Is My Business, and following through benchmark metal
masterpieces like Peace Sells, 1990’s Rust in Peace and 2009’s Endgame,
the thrash legends, with Mustaine firmly at the helm, are showing no signs
of slowing down.
For Megadeth, the future starts now. Prepare for Dystopia.
MEGADETH NUEVO ÁLBUM DE ESTUDIO ‘DYSTOPIA’
22 ENERO 2016
Los pioneros del Trash Metal MEGADETH publican el próximo 22
de enero su álbum de estudio número 15, Dystopia con Universal
Music / Tradecraft / T-Boy Records.
Con Dave Mustaine, arquitecto musical y visionario, a la cabeza, Dystopia
se ha grabado en Nashville y ha sido mezclado por Josh Wilbur (Lamb of
God, Gojira, Avenged Sevenfold).
El resto de la banda está compuesto por David "Junior" Ellefson
al bajo, el nuevo miembro Kiko Loureiro (antes en Angra) a la guitarra,
y el batería Chris Adler, que sacó tiempo de su grupo Lamb
of God para grabar Dystopia. El resultado marca una verdadera vuelta, añadiendo
nueva sangre e inyectando savia nueva a la energía creativa de su
nuevo álbum.
“No me había sentido tan entusiasmado en siglos”, dice Mustaine.
Con 11 temas nuevos, Dystopia se publica en formato CD y LP, así
como en digital. “Fatal Illusion” fue el primer single en extraerse del
álbum, y ahora llega “The Threat Is Real”.
Dystopia teje el intrincado y único estilo de componer de Dave
Mustaine, su voz y los enérgicos riffs con precisión armónica,
rindiendo tributo a las raíces de MEGADETH mientras que se embarcan
en nuevos y duros territorios.
MEGADETH aparecieron hace treinta años, inventando virtualmente
un género con su álbum de debut Killing Is My Business… And
Business Is Good! (recientemente reconocido por VH1 como el Mayor Álbum
de Trash Metal de Todos los Tiempos) vendiendo más de 38 millones
de copias en todo el mundo, ganando numerosos premios incluyendo 11 nominaciones
a los Grammy®, ganando cinco discos de platino consecutivos – incluyendo
Countdown to Extinction (1992) con dos millones de venta en todo el mundo.
www.megadeth.com
