When last we trumpeted the virtues of a conservative musical artist here aboard the Good Pirate Ship RedState, we looked at John Ondrasik, i.e. Five for Fighting. Great for the mellower moods, but what about those times for when something more aggressive is suggested? Fear not; we’ve got you covered. And how.

Dave Mustaine, leader in all areas of metal royalty Megadeth, has never shied away from expressing his conservative political views in print or through his music. For example, consider this lyric from “Dystopia,” released in 2016 yet eerily foretelling where we are today:

Demoralized and overmastered people think
The quickest way to end a war is lose
Dictatorship ends starting with tyrannicide
You must destroy the cancer at its root

(Warning: video is quite violent)

Mustaine is one of rock’s most fascinating, multi-faceted personalities. Having survived a dysfunctional home, dabbling in black magic, serious chemical abuse, and most recently throat cancer, Mustaine — who is a Christian — personifies perseverance. And proving that getting fired from Metallica isn’t the end of ones musical career.

Anyway, Mustaine on politics. In 2012 he supported Rick Santorum. He openly despises the UN. Much to the music press’ disdain and horror, Mustaine freely speaks his mind regardless of how others may react.

Mustaine can also be a surprisingly gentle voice of reason, as was the case in this appearance on FOX Business Network following Donald Trump’s 2016 victory:

Quoting Mustaine:

”I’m hoping that the nation gets past all the bickering right now, and gets back to being the nation that we’re all capable of being. I’ve been through ten Presidents in my lifetime, and traveling the world as much as I do — you know that I travel a lot — and seeing all these other different places … like you know we’ve played in Venezuela. Communism. And going into the Eastern Bloc back when they’d just had the (Berlin) Wall go down. Stuff like that. We’ve had it really great here. And I’m hoping that everybody comes together.”

Let’s get back to where Mustaine best communicates, namely lyrics. Take for example the aforementioned “Symphony of Destruction”:

You take a mortal man
And put him in control
Watch him become a god
Watch peoples heads a-roll

Or this from “United Abominations”:

Poverty in their kitchens
Held hostage by oil-for-food
Yet their own plates are full off the fat of their lands
There’s no blood on their hands, right Kojo?
They promised to tell the truth
Without leaving a fingerprint,
They will lose the U.N. one way or another
The victim, I fear will be us, sisters and brothers

Final example from the song “Post-American World”:

When you walk away from that which makes you strong
You only fool yourself; you only weaken your cause
There’s creeping hate if you resist the false narrative
Crushing all the dissenters who still think for them selves

If you don’t like where we’re going
Then you won’t like what’s coming next

What will we look like?
In a post American world
Why cower to all those
Who oppose the American world?

You get the picture.

So, if you like your music on the crushing side and your politics served with unblinking passion, check out Megadeth. If you were already a fan, now you have even more of a reason to love the band. In either case, Dave Mustaine is an artist worthy of support.

Can’t complete this without including my favorite Megadeth tune: