Dave Mustaine is like a movie studio, in that every so often, he does a reboot of the franchise. When Shawn Drover and Chris Broderick left the band last year, he filled in the gap with Angra guitarist Kiko Loureiro and enlisted Lamb of God’s Chris Adler to drum on the band’s forthcoming Dystopia. If “Fatal Illusion,” the first song we heard, suggested that his new lineup change was a good one, “The Threat Is Real” confirms it. Starting off with an ominous chant, it quickly turns into a riffy shredfest that sounds like the most old-school thing the band’s done in a while. It feels like Mustaine and friends knew they had to up the ante. Given the musicianship of all involved, you knew from the get-go that it would sound good, but there’s a sense of urgency on this.

You’ll be able to pick up Dystopia on January 22. A black friday 12″ vinyl version of “The Threat is Real” will be released as part of Record Store Day this Friday (27).

[via Metal Injection]