Hot damn! Some of metal’s most influential guitarists are coming down to Fort Canning Park, Singapore to play.

Megadeth – United Abominations Tour Of Duty (26th October 2007)

Heaven And Hell – The Reunion Of Black Sabbath And Ronnie James Dio (27th October 2007)

I love Megadeth, and how they stick to being true to thrash metal. At the same time, they have more complex song structures, with varying parts and beats, and unique riffs. And yet, despite the changes, each riff is so catchy you can memorize an entire song and sing it aloud ala Jack Black.

I have to profess that despite all this, I don’t have any of their albums, and I would be very lost if they just played stuff from their latest United Abominations album.

Dave Mustaine particularly drew my attention, from his little skit in the second DVD of the Metallica – Some Kind Of Monster documentary. Plus, I like what he put into Metallica back with Kill ‘Em All (their first album) and some stuff he claimed to have written that was used in later albums.

Sadly, he was fired from Metallica, due to uncontrollable alcohol and drug abuse. Apparently, he also kicked James Hetfield’s dog.

Read his Wikipedia entry!

Check out his story, and his Feuds And Rivalries section.

While at it, here are some cool videos on YouTube:

Dave Mustaine On Jeopardy Part I (thanks Syefri for telling me)
Dave Mustaine On Jeopardy Part II
Dave Mustaine versus the lazer!

I wonder what would happen if I shouted “FREEBIRD!”

Megadeth almost played in Malaysia. Dammit.

Black Sabbath is one of my favorite bands, since I am way too familiar with their first 4 albums and can hum out Tony Iommi solos from any of the songs. Ozzy Osbourne quit the band, and was replaced by Dio, but they continued being called Black Sabbath and recorded a few albums. Somewhere later, the original lineup returned and called themselves Black Sabbath, while the lineup with Dio and Vinny Appice on drums was renamed Heaven And Hell.

However, since I prefer Ozzy Osbourne to Ronnie James Dio, I have not really heard any of Dio’s stuff with Black Sabbath. Off the top of my head, what songs by Black Sabbath have Dio in it?

Uh… Heaven And Hell?

Yeah, I couldn’t name any more songs myself.

The Mob Rules and Neon Knights apparently were with Dio, too. A common trait would be the steady chugging rhythm first featured on the song Paranoid. It gets tiresome when they all sound like Survivor – Eye Of The Tiger, heh.

Still, Tony Iommi, the guitarist who invented the heavy metal guitar sound (he had to downtune his guitar due to a machining accident that left him with plastic fingertips) is in Heaven And Hell, and that warrants me going down to join balding or white-haired men in worship of the man with gothic cross inlays who made the Gibson SG sexy.