Megadeth and Disturbed together have proved quite the draw, packing out five arenas in the UK and Ireland leg, the two heavyweights from the US bringing raw power and confrontation to South London’s The O2 on a memorable night.
Disturbed – Megadeth
The O2, London – 26 October 2025
Words: Liz Medhurst
Photography: Robert Sutton
Billed as support even though they have the ability and the following to be headliners in their own right, Megadeth, the LA-originated purveyors of the finest Thrash Metal, took to the stage to a packed out floor and a rapturous welcome despite the early 6.30 pm start.
Megadeth
Megadeth in 2025, over forty years from their genesis, stick to a simple but quality recipe. No complicated staging or tricks required here, only a simple backdrop with their name and a solid twelve tracks delivered with power and strength.
The engine room of James LoMenzo and Dirk Verbeuren provided a perfect counterpoint to the speed and technicality of the guitarists, Dave Mustaine, precise and razor-sharp, and ex-Wintersun Teemu Mäntysaari, with lightning-fast fingers and complex solos.
Mustaine’s vocals are on point, aggressive when required, and with an authentic emotional resonance that sells the messages of these anthems.
The setlist was drawn predominantly from the early albums, but also with a brand-new song, Tipping Point, blending perfectly with the older material and well received by the crowd, aided by excellent sound in the venue tonight.
There’s a cameo appearance from mascot Vic Rattlehead himself during Peace Sells, and naturally, the set would be incomplete without Symphony Of Destruction, an all-time classic riff that still has the power to thrill.
Holy Wars … The Punishment Due concluded matters, and it’s safe to say that the whole arena was on board by the strength of the reception and the fact that no less than four mosh pits of varying sizes broke out on the floor during this song. 
There is a new album coming out next year and one last tour. We have all heard the word final so many times from so many acts that it is tempting to take these statements with a pinch of salt. But it does stand to reason that no band lasts forever, and those who have been around for decades are best stopping while the quality remains high.
One thing is for sure, though. On this performance, if we only have one more tour of Megadeth, they will be leaving us wanting more.
Disturbed
A change in style followed when Disturbed took to the stage. The mood shifted to one of nostalgia as we are primarily here to celebrate a full twenty-five years since the release of debut album The Sickness. This five-times platinum was played in its entirety tonight.
The Chicago band know how to put on a show and build expectation beautifully with the intro music of Back In Time by Huey Lewis, and figures silhouetted behind a curtain, before strait-jacketed frontman Dave Draiman is wheeled on to the stage strapped to a stretcher.
The album was played chronologically to a dark industrial backdrop with dramatic lighting and liberal use of pyro. The quartet (Draiman along with guitarist Dan Donegan, bassist John Moyer and Mike Wengren on drums) produced a huge and heavy sound, the chugging Nu-Metal riffs pounding off each wall.
There was enough movement and animation from the band members to keep things interesting without deflecting from the main action.
Draiman was truly menacing at times, prowling around the stage and getting totally into the characterisation. An electric chair was brought on before the finale, and there was almost total silence in the arena during the death scene, which was genuinely chilling.
Even without the staging, The Sickness holds up well, the crowd roaring for the big numbers Down With The Sickness and Stupify. Yet taken as a whole, this served as a reminder that this album is an important landmark of the genre. 
The second set followed after a twenty-minute interval, after which the band returned with a selection of their greatest hits, quite literally, as Disturbed continued to have huge amounts of chart success and record sales, following their debut. 
As good as it was to hear songs such as I Will Not Break, Ten Thousand Fists and Bad Man, after the dramatics of the first act, the energy did seem to dip a bit, not helped by the disturbance in the music flow due to long changeovers between some songs.
Still, there were some great effects like the inflatable demon that must have been about thirty feet high, and the contrast of the flames on the piano brought out for The Sound Of Silence which was a sweet touch.
Overall, a great pairing of two enduring and important bands, a celebration of legacies and hope for the future.
