Megadeth

Released: September 14, 2004

Songwriter: Dave Mustaine

Producer: Jeff Balding Dave Mustaine

[Verse 1]
The flag that I once planted
As a king I abandoned
And now, I reclaim this banner by God
My sword and my name
In a truce sealed by blood within this metal skin
And all that I own
Blood, bone and courage in my veins
And the heart that pumps it

[Chorus 1]
Drink from the chalice and be reborn and the land with me
It will change and transform

[Verse 2]
A fighting man sworn to the quest
It is the doom of man that they forgot
I have awoken the dragon
And all around me the mist of his breath
Good and evil, there never is one
Without the other, his brother
Always there where I least expect it
It will burn me to cinders

[Chorus 2]
The future's taken root in the present sun
Don't look into my heart, least of all your own

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 3]
No man who is false can win
In combat against the truth
When he lies, he murders
Some part of the world
We must find what was lost
Heart and home, wife and child
Were not for me, I was not yet done
I never knew how empty my soul was
Until it was refilled

[Chorus 3]
Mad distemper strikes both beggars and kings
The necromancer's hard teachings of war and quest

[Outro]
I am given the right to bear arms
And the power to meet justice
I have lived through others for far too long
And carried my guild, my causes, my sins
I hope in the hereafter
When I owe no more to the future
That I can be just a man

After being kicked out of Metallica, Dave Mustaine decided to form a Thrash Metal band that not only rivaled his former band, but played faster, more technical Metal. Along with bassist David ‘Junior’ Ellefson and a revolving door of guitarists and drummers, Mustaine set the world afire as Megadeth became known as the world’s state-of-the-art Speed Metal band throughout the 80s and the early 90s. One of the Big Four of Thrash Metal, Megadeth remains one of Metal’s most popular acts today.

However, Dave Mustaine’s fledgling band got off to a shaky start. Initially unable to find like-minded individuals, it was not until an altercation with his (underage) downstairs neighbours Dave Ellefson and Greg Handevidt, that led to him buying them beer and forming the first incarnation of the band with drummer Dijon Carruthers in 1983.

The band was named after a political pamphlet that referred to a “megadeath” (one million deaths by nuclear explosion):

more tracks from the album

The System Has Failed

From the album

The System Has Failed (2004)

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