Certainly one of the last great metal album's to emerge as the genre gradually bowed down to the irritating march of grunge and alterno-anarchy. For me, 'Rust...' and 'Peace Sells...' ARE Megadeth's finest record's but for different reasons. 'Rust...' was a super-charged display of technical brilliance, whereas 'Peace...' conjured up dark images amongst its sneery musings. 'Countdown...' sees the band slowing down, but remaining heavy and far more cool than Anthrax and Metallica. Dave Mustaine is bang on form, his vocal attack one of the most recognisable in metal as his rusty spit wields together Megadeth's punchy, vibrant and pummelling sound. Musically this is a truly devastating record, superbly produced, and elevating the genre of thrash to new levels' as the band now reach a maturity to suggest that this should really be as valid stadium rock as anything more chart friendly.
The album is full of Megadeth classics, the squirming 'Symphony Of Destruction' complete with mammoth chorus which sticks in your head immediately. Each instrument on the opus shining through, reminding me of the precision once spewed out by more progressive acts, whilst the mechanics of the record recalls priest at their most intricate and furious. 'Foreclosure Of A Dream' is effortlessly monolithic, but it's back to thrash mania with 'Skin O' My Teeth' and chugger 'This Was My Life'.
Hard to fault a record with so many notable moments. Megadeth remaining a dominant force but never (unlike Metallica) selling out or losing their thrash facade.
Megadeth were never really part of a scene as such, for they, like Slayer (well, Slayer's classic records) stand alone as metal giants who with such ease batter the alleged opposition with complexity and self-confidence that most band's can only dream of.
9/10
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