in fact , a heavy metal Lady Liberty , fighting for America ’ s freedom , is kidnapped and beheaded in front of Rattlehead , the band mascot , who goes on a rampage to bring her killer to justice ( Figure 8 ).
The racially specific terrorist depicted here , clearly of Middle-Eastern origin ( Figure 8 ), is on a nefarious mission to kill Lady Liberty herself , which he rather graphically does via the style of ISIS ’ s frequently filmed beheadings . The overall sense of these videos is not just of impending nuclear doom , but also the post-apocalyptic landscape of an America without liberty and freedom . This is not limited to “ homegrown terrorism ,” per say ; the video alludes to a heavily armed police state , in which drones hunt and kill , tanks roll through the streets , body-armored police execute pedestrians with explosive headshots . Mustaine notes of the virtual reality animated videos :
I ’ m really exited about this . I don ’ t know anybody else who has done virtual reality performances in metal . . . I thought it would be really cool to show this , where you don ’ t have a particular antagonist . You don ’ t have somebody to be the bad guy just because he ’ s a bad guy , but somebody who could be so innocuous that he could be anything . He could be an arms dealer . He could be a human trafficker . He ’ s the bad guy . And Vic [ Rattlehead ] and this person , he ’ s the person who is gonna be the cyborg who is on the cover [ of the album ] with the metal Mohawk . That ’ s Vic ’ s sidekick who ends up fighting through the videos . 12
Several critics have noted that Mustaine ’ s lyrics are offensively xenophobic ; 13 Mustaine , meanwhile , shirks the responsibility of the political mantle on this album , saying :
12 Childers , Chad , “ Megadeth Continue ‘ The Threat is Real ” Story with ‘ Dystopia ’ Video ,” Loudwire , 21 January 2016 . Retrieved 20 December 2017 . http :// loudwire . com / megadethdystopia-video /. 13 Aspray , Benjamin , “ Megadeth : Dystopia , Slant Magazine , 22 January 2016 . Retrieved December 22 , 2017 . https :// www . slantmagazine . com / music / review / megadethdystopia .
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