Riffage: Megadeth - "...The Punishment Due"

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Riffage is dedicated to riffs: the perfect ones, the special ones, the weird ones – any notable permutation of the basic molecular unit of metal. Each column presents a transcription and an in-depth analysis of the riff in question.

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This month’s riff is the main verse theme from “…The Punishment Due”, the second half of the opener to Megadeth’s Rust In Peace.

This riff knocked me on my ass when I first heard it eighteen years ago, and it’s stuck with me ever since. It’s relatively easy to play, but the trick comes in expressing it right. You really have to put effort into letting those open strings ring without clouding the other chords that follow. Focus on your right and left hand positioning to dampen strings when necessary. That will make the difference between playing the notes and expressing the complex sentiment of this riff.

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Mastering this riff reveals the schizoid mindset of its composer, Dave Mustaine. Part of the magic of music is its ability to overlap contradicting emotions. Metal is often noted for its directness rather than its emotional complexity, but I adore the moments when I find the latter in metal. This is one such gray moment: triumphant power chords upset by a keening open string figure, all tucked away by a muted chromatic descent. This complements the lyrics’ anguished soliloquy of a hired killer who is at once professional and vengeful (allegedly the comic book character “The Punisher”). Cosmo noted previously that these lyrics don’t have much to do with the “Holy Wars” half of the song, and that’s absolutely true. That disjunction, however, makes this song special.

Dave Mustaine seems to be equally charmed and hexed. Consider the man’s Milton-ian career arc: cast out like Lucifer by the monotheist point men of thrash, ruling down below with his own band (although apparently suffering, drugged and unable to enjoy the fruits of his success), and finally opting for born-again Christianity, a family, and a band full of ringers playing note-perfect versions of his back catalog. Publicly he oscillates between being one of the baddest rhythm guitarists in metal and a vulnerable, self-destructive addict. It’s appropriate, then, that after the irrepressibly thrash-y opening salvo of “Holy Wars”, Mustaine gets personal for a second, setting an almost operatic tone for the rest of the album. “…The Punishment Due”‘s riff perfectly encapsulates his duality. With its string skips, varied techniques, and odd time signature, there’s no way you’d pick up a guitar and accidentally stumble upon it. That’s what makes it Megadeth.

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Megadeth – “Holy Wars…The Punishment Due (official video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsAZEK1bc0U
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