Riff Police! Pull Over! #123: Megadeth Vs Death Angel!

1992 saw “Countdown To Extinction” from Megadeth land on our door mat, back when the cassette tape was still King. Some still refer to the bands then line up as the classic one of Dave Mustaine, Marty Friedman, David Ellefson and Nick Menza even though the album itself received mixed reviews, many citing a style shift to the more melodic and less complex as a reaction to the success of the “Black” album from Metallica the year before. Drummer Nick Menza even commented “Metallica has definitely opened the doors for other bands to step through. We’re obviously the next band to step through that doorway“. But it is not without it’s success stories, with “Symphony of Destruction” and “Sweating Bullets” both being huge singles and arguably among the bands most influential work.

Two years prior in 1990, Death Angel premiered “Act III” their cleverly titled third album via Geffen Records, the label that would later be home to Nirvana. Singles “Seemingly Endless Time” and “A Room with a View“, received a lot of attention and airplay on MTV’s Headbangers Ball while guitarist Gus Pepa is credited with bringing the funk element to “Discontinued“. Unknown at the time, it would be the last album from the band for a decade as drummer Andy Galeon was critically injured in a tour bus accident and during his year long recovery vocalist Mark Osegueda exited stage left. The funk of “Discontinued” clearly had an influence on Dave Mustaine, to the point that the riff can clearly be heard in “This Was My Life“.

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