"This Day We Fight!" is a song by American heavy metal band Megadeth, which appears on their twelfth studio album Endgame, which was released on September 15, 2009, written by frontman Dave Mustaine.[2] It is the second song on the album, and has been played live together with album's first track, "Dialectic Chaos",[3] which has brought positive comparisons to the two opening tracks "Into the Lungs of Hell" and "Set the World Afire" from Megadeth's 1988 album, So Far, So Good... So What!.[4]
The song, like a vast majority of Megadeth's songs, was written by Dave Mustaine, and was lyrically inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, particularly Aragorn's speech at the Black Gate of Mordor during the Battle of the Morannon, as well as Théoden's speech at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.[8][9] "This Day We Fight" is actually a direct quote from the film version of The Return of the King.[10] The song was also further inspired by "warrior creed from the great Sun Tzu with the use of drums and flags in ancient war".[9] Another song from the album, "How The Story Ends", drew inspiration from the same sources, with both songs containing what was considered a "brutal, blood-thirsty and aggressive" aesthetic which drew inspiration from violent fantasy films.[11][12][13]
Cropped view of the This Day We Fight! shirt
Many reviews have complimented the synergy of the track with the one before it on the album.[4][15] Adrien Begrand of Popmatters stated that he felt "With its furious back-and-forth solos, opening instrumental "Dialectic Chaos" wastes no time in showcasing that dynamic between Mustaine and Broderick, and combined with the pure speed of "This Day We Fight!", longtime fans will be instantly reminded of the bracing "Into the Lungs of Hell"/"Set the World Afire" one-two punch that kicks off 1988’s great So Far, So Good... So What!."[4] Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic agreed, and wrote that "This Day We Fight! was cut from the same bloody cloth as "Set the World Afire".[16] Indeed, "Dialectic Chaos" and "This Day We Fight!" have only been played live together, similar to the symbiotic nature of "Into the Lungs of Hell" and "Set the World Afire".[citation needed] The reason for this is that having an instrumental lead directly into an additionally heavy song, as an opening is a great way to engage the audience's attention, creating tension between the two songs.[17][18]
Composition
"This Day We Fight!" is 3 minutes, 27 seconds long. ScrewAttack reviewer Prattz reviewed the song in full detail, and described the song having an "opening riff, that was reminiscent of Rust in Peace" which begins with "fast palm-muted notes that feel aggressive and complex. This intro is surprisingly powerful."[19] "After the opening verses, the song shifts into a different riff, more melodic but still as aggressive. When the last lyric on the verse ends the first solo starts."[19] The song then progresses, containing "a breathtaking, high-pitched bend followed by some insane shredding that shuffles through licks ending with a last, lower-pitched note. A short solo made to introduce you to the chorus." Finally, the song culminates with a "solo that finally ends with Dave traveling from High-pitched to low-pitched notes really fast" and "standard triplets followed by some fast shredding that lowers the pitch slowly. Then he repeats the lick and the song ends with one last "THIS DAY I FIGHT!"[19][20]
In other media
Chris Broderick received high acclaim for his guitar contributions on "This Day We Fight!" and "Dialectic Chaos".
The song was featured in the 2010 video gameGuitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, alongside "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" and Mustaine's brand new game-only composition "Sudden Death".[5][7] This is not however the first time a Megadeth song was found in one of the games of the franchise, as "Symphony of Destruction" was featured in Guitar Hero, and "Hangar 18"[21] was featured in Guitar Hero II, with both songs beings released as downloadable content for Guitar Hero 5. "This Day We Fight!" is featured in one of the hardest levels of the game, during level 10, or the "Battle with the Beast" conclusion, alongside both "Sudden Death" and "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due".[22] In the game, all three songs are classified as very difficult songs to play, requiring much skill with the series.[22] A T-shirt was later released with the title of the song featured on it.[14]
Reception
Endgame was very well received, and some of said praise was directed to "This Day We Fight!".[4][23][24] In a song by song review of the album, Terrybezer of Metal Hammer praised the song and remarked that "lyrics inspired by Lord of the Rings and riffs inspired by fighting for your frigging life as a horde of hellbeasts bare down on you, this track is at once vintage and future Megadeth. You’ll hear remnants of the same hyperaggression of "Rust in Peace... Polaris", "Take No Prisoners" and "Poison Was the Cure" from Rust in Peace, but fed through the more modern approach of tracks like "Kick the Chair" from The System Has Failed and "Sleepwalker" from United Abominations.[25] Peter Hodgson of "iheartguitar" was positive of the song and wrote that "The pace of it, the unrelenting aggression, the insane fret-work – Mustaine sounds beyond pissed-off and this is going to kick all kinds of ass when it’s blasted out live. The shredding on this track will melt your face and blow your mind."[11] Bob Zerull of Zoiks! Online remarked that "the album kicks right into "This Day We Fight." What a great metal song. I can already picture the guys in the pit bouncing off the walls. It has everything I like in a song, a monster riff, great lead guitar and a tight rhythm section."[26] "This Day We Fight!" has also been described as "possibly Megadeth's best song of the past 20 years, with speed, ferocity and anger that even younger bands would have trouble keeping up with".[27]
"Dialectic Chaos" is the opening track of Megadeth's Endgame.[28] It contains no lyrics, making it the only instrumental track on the album, and is considered to hold a kinship with "This Day We Fight!",[4] similar to "Into the Lungs of Hell" and "Set the World Afire" from Megadeth's 1988 album, So Far, So Good... So What!,[15] so much so, that the songs have only ever been played live together.[3] Thus, "Dialectic Chaos" was the song used to open several live performances.[3][29] The two songs combined total 5:54.[3] The song is Megadeth's first fully instrumental track since "Silent Scorn" from The World Needs a Hero in 2001.[30]
Reception
"Dialectic Chaos" has however been able to find its own identity as a song, and has been described as "the epic instrumental", "the gateway to this record" and "fast, rude and in your face" by reviewers.[19][31] In a song by song review of the album, Terry Bezer of Metal Hammer described it as a "truly epic 2-minute instrumental crammed with blazing solos opens Endgame! Mustaine has recently been telling all and sundry that former Nevermore and Jag Panzer man Chris Broderick is the best fellow axeman he’s ever had in Megadeth and on this blistering opening (and throughout the album), the lead trade-off’s between the two are nothing short of mind-blowing."[25] It has also been described as "superb" and has been favorably compared to "Wake Up Dead".[27]
Megadeth is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist David Ellefson. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along with Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer, responsible for the genre's development and popularization. Their music features complex arrangements and fast rhythm sections, and lyrical themes of death, war, politics, personal relationships, and religion.
So Far, So Good... So What! is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth, released on January 19, 1988 by Capitol Records. It was the band's only album recorded with drummer Chuck Behler and guitarist Jeff Young, both of whom were fired from the band in early 1989, several months after the completion of the album's world tour. So Far, So Good... So What! features music performed at fast tempos with technical ability; lyrically, frontman and guitarist Dave Mustaine addresses a variety of topics, including nuclear holocaust and freedom of speech.
Rust in Peace is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth, released on September 24, 1990 by Capitol Records. It was the first Megadeth album to feature lead guitarist Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza. The songs "Hangar 18" and "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" were released as singles. A remixed and remastered version of the album featuring four bonus tracks was released in 2004.
David Scott Mustaine is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth. Mustaine has released fifteen studio albums with Megadeth, sold over 50 million albums worldwide, with six albums platinum-certified, and won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2017 at the 59th Grammy Awards, for the title track of their fifteenth studio album, Dystopia.
Chris Poland is an American guitarist, best known as the former guitarist of the thrash metal band Megadeth. Since 2002, Poland has been the guitarist of the instrumental rock/jazz fusion bands OHM and OHMphrey, among others, and has appeared on several projects and albums from a variety of different genres.
Christopher Alan Broderick is an American musician, best known as the former guitarist of the heavy metal band Megadeth. He is also formerly the lead guitarist and keyboardist for Jag Panzer, appearing on four of Jag Panzer's albums The Age of Mastery, Thane to the Throne, Mechanized Warfare and Casting the Stones before moving on to Megadeth, replacing Glen Drover. Before joining Megadeth and while still in Jag Panzer, he was also a touring guitarist for Nevermore between 2001 and 2003 and then again between 2006 and 2007. He is now the lead guitarist for Act of Defiance, which he formed with fellow ex-Megadeth bandmate Shawn Drover.
Vic Rattlehead is the illustrated mascot of the American thrash metal band Megadeth. Vic is a skeletal figure wearing a suit who embodies the phrase "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" as well as a symbol of censorship. His eyes are covered by a riveted-on visor, his mouth is clamped shut, and his ears are closed with metal caps.
Shawn Drover is a Canadian musician, best known for his work with the American heavy metal band Megadeth.
"Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" is a song by American thrash metal band Megadeth. Released in 1990 it is the opening track off the band's fourth studio album Rust in Peace (1990). The song has an unusual structure: it opens with a fast thrash section, shifting at 2:26 after an acoustic bridge by Marty Friedman to a different, slower and heavier section called "The Punishment Due", interspersed by two guitar solos played by Friedman, before speeding up again with a third and final solo played during this segment by Dave Mustaine. The entire song is commonly referred to as "Holy Wars", with "The Punishment Due" referring to the heavier slower section.
"Symphony of Destruction" is a song by American heavy metal band Megadeth, released as a single from the band’s fifth studio album, Countdown to Extinction (1992). The lyrics explore the hypothetical situation where an average citizen is placed in a position where he runs the country while the public is led by a phantom government. Penned by vocalist and frontman Dave Mustaine, the song received significant radio play and charted in various territories, making it one of Megadeth's best known songs.
"Angry Again" is a 1993 heavy metal song by Megadeth, written by frontman Dave Mustaine. The song was written exclusively for inclusion in the 1993 satirical action film Last Action Hero, directed by John McTiernan which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, and appeared on the film's soundtrack. "Angry Again" never appeared on any of the band's official studio albums, but appeared first on their 1995 EP Hidden Treasures and several later compilations.
Anthology: Set the World Afire is the third greatest hits album by Megadeth. It was released on September 30, 2008, through Capitol Records. It is a two-disc set with additional songs not offered in previous compilations including demos, live performances and unreleased tracks. The album's name refers to the second song of the band's third studio album, So Far, So Good... So What!.
Endgame is the twelfth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth. It was produced by Dave Mustaine and Andy Sneap and released through Roadrunner Records on September 15, 2009. Endgame was the first album to feature guitarist Chris Broderick, following Glen Drover's departure in 2008, and was the band's last studio album with bassist James LoMenzo until his return in 2021 as touring musician. Original bassist David Ellefson rejoined the band several months after the album's release.
"Head Crusher" is a song by American heavy metal band Megadeth. It was released on July 7, 2009, as the first single from their studio album Endgame. According to Roadrunner Records official website, a download of "Head Crusher" was available for 24 hours on July 7. The track was previously available for listening by calling Dave Mustaine's number, through the TheLiveLine.com, a service he launched that enables musicians to connect to their audience over the phone. The song was played live for the first time at the "Canadian Carnage Tour" on June 24, 2009. On December 3, 2009, it was announced on the official Megadeth homepage that "Head Crusher" had been nominated for "Best Metal Performance" for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards, the band's first nomination in 13 years, since "Trust".
"The Right to Go Insane" is a song by American heavy metal band Megadeth, written by Dave Mustaine. It is the final track and second single from their twelfth studio album Endgame. The song was commercially released as a single on April 9, 2010, and a music video was released directed by Bill Fishman, who produced the music video of the band's previous single, "Head Crusher". The music video was based on the real-life events surrounding Shawn Nelson's descent into madness and the famous tank rampage he engaged in which led to his death.
"Sudden Death" is a song by American heavy metal band Megadeth. It was written by Dave Mustaine for inclusion in the 2010 music video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, which was released on September 28, 2010 in North America. The song itself was released as a single with cover art on iTunes on September 24, 2010, and on September 28, Roadrunner Records made the song available for streaming on its website.
Thirteen is the thirteenth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth. It was first released in Japan on October 27, 2011, and worldwide on November 1, 2011. It is the first Megadeth studio album since The World Needs a Hero (2001) to feature bassist and founding member David Ellefson, who returned to the band in 2010. Th1rt3en debuted at number 11 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 42,000 copies in its first week. The album broke into the top 20 in several other markets as well. It has sold about 120,000 copies in the United States as of December 2012. The album has received positive reviews from critics.
Super Collider is the fourteenth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth. It was released on June 4, 2013, and is Megadeth's first album to be released on Tradecraft, a Universal label created for frontman Dave Mustaine. In the U.S., a special edition of the album was made available exclusively through Best Buy retailers. The album features a guest appearance from Disturbed and Device vocalist David Draiman. On April 23, 2013, the title track was released on iTunes as the album's lead single.
Dystopia is the fifteenth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth. It was released on frontman and guitarist Dave Mustaine's Tradecraft label via Universal on January 22, 2016. It is the first Megadeth album to feature guitarist Kiko Loureiro. The album was produced by Mustaine and Chris Rakestraw and features cover artwork by Brent Elliot White.
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