LOKEREN, BELGIUM – AUGUST 6: Dave Mustaine of Megadeth performs at Lokerse Feesten Festival on August 6, 2023 in Lokeren, Belgium (Photo by Elsie Roymans/Getty Images)
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The thrash titans are back with their new single “Tipping Point,” which gives fans the first look at the band’s fiery new lead guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari. “Tipping Point” is the first single for Megadeth’s upcoming final studio album slated to release in 2026. The End Is Near was originally what fans thought the new album was called based on the teaser for the album, however, it appears the band hasn’t officially confirmed the title yet.
Megadeth’s New Single, “Tipping Point”
After the band dropped a short teaser for their new single last week, there wasn’t much to go off of as far as what fans could expect to hear on this new track. Now with the full track out, it appears Megadeth aren’t taking any big swings with their last album, but instead they’re giving fans the turbo charged thrash riffs they’ve come to expect. Instrumentally “Tipping Point” features some pristine guitar playing between its riffs and shreddy leads, courtesy of the band’s new lead guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari. It’s the first song Mäntysaari has released with Megadeth and already his musical chemistry seems to fit the band like a glove – the three guitar solos on this track are reminiscent of the memorable melodic solos from the revered Marty Friedman era.
Mäntysaari certainly has his own unique approach to lead guitar playing, and it’ll be interesting to see what other licks and fiery solos he’s prepared for this highly anticipated LP. Former lead guitarist Kiko Loureiro laid down some incredible guitar work on the bands’s 2016 and 2022 LPs, although those records were generally met with lukewarm impressions among fans.
The weakest part of Megadeth over recent years has most certainly been singer/founder Dave Mustaine. While he’s adopted a grittier low toned vocal that has some charm, his lyrics, especially on this new single border on sounding platitudinous. In previous decades Mustaine had written powerful anthems with thought provoking themes on authoritarianism and war. However, at a the time where there’s great uncertainty around the U.S. government and new geopolitical conflicts rising every day, the best Mustaine has to offer is vague hackneyed lyrics like “Push me, I push you back.”
Hopefully there’s more to this new Megadeth LP on the lyrical side of things. The band’s 2022 album The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!, featured great performances but ultimately it had its legs cutoff by Mustaine’s poor lyrical writing. If “Tipping Point” is anything to base this next record off of, chances are Megadeth’s final LP will likely follow in the same footsteps of the previous record.