Metal Underground.com

Gigadth "general" Timothy Marc writes on the band's website that he is a successful Las Vegas business owner who can basically do what he wants. And what Marc wants to do is record his very own Megadeth album — hence "14.6 Billion Years," which borrows nearly every ounce of its style from Dave Mustaine.

The songs may be originals, but that doesn't keep Gigadth (who removed the E from "deth" in the same way Mustaine removed the A from "death") from sounding like a cover band. Every Mustaine-ism is there, especially in the way the lyrics are growled out. It's to Marc's credit that, at least most of the time, he doesn't crib licks from any specific Megadeth songs, though there are parts of the overly long opening track (most specifically, the last third, "Skull-1470") in which he's obviously lifted parts of "Holy Wars ... The Punishment Due."

Marc and the band most successfully emulate the Megadeth formula on "Psycho Micro Processor," which, in parts, sounds like it could've been a throwaway track from "The World Needs A Hero." Unfortunately, Marc's a little too fond of a recent Megadeth trend — the inclusion of sampled sounds. In fact, the opening track is basically a 14-minute sonic landscape of sounds ranging from what sounds like cows or pigs being slaughtered to sirens and shotgun blasts, punctuated by bursts of heavy metal.

The sound quality on the disc is quite poor. The opening of "Blatant Lies" has an almost bass-blown speaker feel, and just about every guitar solo on the album becomes a bunch of incoherent noise.

The goal of trying to pay tribute to one of thrash metal's greatest movers and shakers is an admirable one. Unfortunately, Gigadth's "14.6 Billion Years" falls short on nearly every level.