Big 3/4 Thrash Roundup Action

I am unduly excited for whatever the next Metallica album is, and fully intend to see them live if at all possible. I am also excited to hear the new Voivod stuff, despite Blacky leaving again. It looks like a good year for old-school thrash in 2016. So, what are the non-Metallica 'Big Four' operations up to? I was finally encouraged to make this post given a ripping new Anthrax song I heard on the TV this morning. 'Evil Twin' from their forthcoming album For The Kings (2016). It seems a lot of thrash masters are frequently thinking about geopolitical stuff, and Scott Ian says that 'Evil Twin' is about his confronting Extreme Ideological Radicalism in general, and Radicalized Islamic Violence specifically. Whatever manifest content, this song shreds, and if I am not mistaken, I hear an explicit Megadeth reference and maybe a little Slayer influence, which is rad as all get out. I am so out of sorts I didn't even know Anthrax had a new album coming out until I saw this. Megadeth is also as always on the sociopolitical track, and has created an album based upon a Dystopian tyranny of corruption and violence. Although there may or may not be specific ideological complaints with the current administration's positions, it is true that David Mustaine has been making this sort of metal protest since the mid-1980's, and Dystopia (2016) is certainly in keeping with his overall body of work. This is probably the best Megadeth has sounded in nearly forever, with David Ellefson returning on bass, Kiko Loureiro from Angra on second guitar, and Chris Adler from Lamb Of God on drums, this is a Megadeth to be reckoned with, if the first three songs released are any indication. The legacies of Peace Sells/So Far/Rust In Peace are not being exhumed here, but reconsidered, and used as a building block for a new sound edifice. If all of Dystopia is as good as these three songs, I am on board for sure. I saw Megadeth pull off all of Rust In Peace live in 2010, alongside Slayer playing all of Seasons In The Abyss and Anthrax opening. Even though I wasn't feeling all that good, it was a righteous show, and I am so very glad I got to see Hanneman play one last time. Dave Mustaine was great that night, but he seemed a little out-of-sync with Megadeth as a whole, but this version of Megadeth sounds like they are working together organically and it really really works. Finally, as readers of this blog will note, I honestly have trouble countenancing a Slayer without Jeff Hanneman, no offense to Messrs. Araya, Bostaph, King, Holt, but I can't really think of this band as Slayer in the same way. That said, 'Repentless' is a fine tribute to Hanneman, and everyone involved is thrashing madly. This is a totally solid four minutes of metal. I am just still not OK. I would like to see Holt stretch out some more, but Exo-Slayer is not an inherently bad idea. Awaiting New Metallica, yrs. truly, nxww