Mandatory Megadeth #11 · 11:14pm Nov 15th, 2018
Well, here we are at the eleventh and final track of ‘Countdown to Extinction.’ I hope you folks enjoyed this series as much as Coffee Minion and I did. 
Before I post the song, I think it’s only fair that I give a shout-out to YouTuber Kelvin Monteza for uploading the original version of this album in its entirety. At some point, many of these older songs were remastered, and to be honest, they sound pretty unnatural to me, having grown up listening to the original versions. Kelvin has a pretty wide selection of metal albums on his channel; go check it out if you’re interested.
Ashes in Your Mouth
I’m not gonna bother saying much about this one, other than what a way to end a great album! This one pretty much speaks for itself, so I don’t think that much really needs to be said about it. Give it a listen, enjoy, and thanks for hanging out with me for the past twelve weeks!
As for MLP EG Forever, I apologize for my inactivity as of late; although this cold of mine is improving, it is doing so at a snail’s pace, and it has taken a major toll on my ambition to write. Hopefully I’ll be back on the pony before too long.
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Oh, all right. Jesus!
I first got introduced to Ashes via a live version on the single CD of Train of Consequences (the song). It’s such a bleak track either way, but something about the live version made it even bleaker... kinda like how And Justice For All nukes the bass, leaving the rest sounding very “dry.” My first reaction was to write it off as interesting but unremarkable, until the brief but crazy drum solo at the end. Something about that solo just injects a bit of artistry and beauty into the song, as if to remind us that Dave & co. are doing it on purpose.
The album version sounds so much warmer by comparison. I find it more listenable and intrinsically enjoyable. But in my head, whenever I think of Ashes, I think of that live version.
For whatever that’s worth.
I meant to reply to this yesterday, but I had to work first thing in the morning, and then I went home early
and went to bed for the rest of the day.
Anyway, I love that ‘Ashes in Your Mouth’ reverts back to the older, faster, more underground Megadeth style to close the album with.
The guitar harmony at the 3:40 mark is gorgeous, and the way they end this one (with the drum solo you mentioned) by dragging it out as if they never want it to be over is just awesome, especially with that final chord that you think will be the end, but ends up echoing a bunch of times—anything to keep it going as long as possible. Such a great way to end a great album.
Earlier on on this series, I was thinking about taking a break for a couple months after finishing ‘Countdown to Extinction’ and then doing ‘Rust in Peace’ next, but the traffic on these last few entries here were pretty dismal so I don’t know if I’ll bother with it.
4972281
Aaaaaand I forgot to hit reply again.
4972714
I’m glad you did this series, but I’m not shocked that the response might be kinda smallish.
Brony metal is a niche within a niche, man.
If you do another, I’ll certainly enjoy it. Otherwise, you could consider channeling some of that metal enthusiasm into fics that mix Pony and metal more directly? I enjoyed doing that once, and I have ideas for doing it again.
So many fic ideas, so little time.
4972717
Interesting point.
In my current and only story, the Eq Girls are in their mid-twenties and haven’t played together as The Rainbooms for several years. Currently, as a side plot, I’ve slowly been working them back together to play again. And what kind of music would a guy like me have them play? Gee, I wonder. Not that it’s a major plot point or anything, just some side-fun, and also a way to sneak in some exposition. That’s about all I’ve got so far in terms of metal in a story, aside from a few lyric references in the dialogue.
Mandatory Megadeth started off deceptively strong; the first two had abnormally high view counts compared to a typical blog of mine, and because of that I thought that trend would continue and it would be fairly popular. It wasn’t, but oh well. It was still pretty fun, although I admit my ambition wavered at the end a bit.
‘Rust in Peace’ would be the next logical choice to for me to do. ‘Countdown’ is a great album, but it was definitely meant to be more ‘radio friendly,’ or ‘Black Album-‘esque.
‘Rust in Peace?’ Now that shit is just nuts; one of the craziest and best metal records ever. Really top tier stuff, the kind of thing that happens when they turn the proverbial tempo dial up to ’cocaine.’
4972746
Rust would be a pretty wild ride.
Nothing wrong with trying stuff sometimes, even if it doesn't always work out.