Since David Ellefson unsuccessfully sued his former Megadeth boss Dave Mustaine, he has been busy with a new band: F5. This second release, called The Reckoning, is an attempt to boost up his career. No longer as a side project, Ellefson had his full focus now on this band. It is quite a solid effort, although debut album A Drug For Every Season is way better. That said, I can’t say it was the album of the year either.

 

So what is exactly the matter with this album? Drummer Jimmy DeGrasso and vocalist Dale Steel are very much present in the mix. David Ellefson’s bass and both guitarists are not equally balanced on this album. It gives the album a kind of …And Justice For All feel. The album of Metallica of course. Furthermore F5 have lengthened the songs out a bit. All of the songs on A Drug For All Season clocked in at right around three minutes in length. I’m not saying that I’m against longer songs though. But if Degrasso and Ellefson, who both have been in Megadeth, really want to be a force to be reckoned with, they should try to shorten their songs. For with this band, that just simply works better. Why else call the album The Reckoning?

 

Well, I’d never have sued the boss and head out on this new adventure with heavily out of date and out of fashion music. A song like ‘I Am The Taker’ is pretty much in the vein of Megadeth, U.F.O. and other classic metal bands. It is nice up-tempo metal, with melodic vocals, solid guitar playing, in fact the works. Guess they don’t really care what’s going on now in the metal scene. The least you could do is make more interesting songs. Thrash metal band Legion Of The Damned isn’t around to win the innovative music award either, but they know how to deliver the goods. I seriously doubt anyone under 30 years would even be remotely interested in this album. I’d rather put my money on Megadeth.