"Soldier On!" is a song by American

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

band

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

. It was released as the third single from their sixteenth studio album, The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! on August 12, 2022. It is more mid-tempo and melodic than other songs on the album, and contains some elements of

groove metal Groove metal, sometimes also called neo-thrash or post-thrash, is a subgenre of heavy metal music that began in the early 1990s. The genre is primarily derived from thrash metal, but played in slower tempos, and making use of rhythmic guitar pa ...

Music and lyrics

"Soldier On!" features much military imagery, both in the lyrics, and in the official visualizer. In an interview with

Kerrang ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

, frontman

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is best known as the co-founder, frontman, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the thrash metal band Megadeth and for his time as the lead guitarist of Met ...

said: "Is Soldier On! a song about war? No. It's about how you need to be brave when walking away from a relationship. It's like that Irish poem about turning your collar up against the wind and having the sun shine on your face. It's about being in that relationship, knowing that something is not right, and understanding that you need to leave." "Coming to the realization that you need to walk away from a relationship that's very toxic, and how hard it can be to start down that road. But you know you need to, and just taking that first step is the hardest part," comments Mustaine, "Whatever your leaving does to them, you have to block that part out, stay the course and do what's right for you. It will be hard in the beginning, but you have got to live for yourself to be worth a damn to anyone else. You've got to Soldier On!" The ending of the music video features a military foot drill, which features service members from

Fort Campbell Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astride the Kentucky–Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee (post address is located in Kentucky). Fort Campbell is home to the 101st Airborne Div ...

Charts

Personnel

Megadeth *

– lead and rhythm guitar, lead vocals, additional bass *

Kiko Loureiro Pedro Henrique "Kiko" Loureiro (; born 16 June 1972) is a Brazilian guitarist. He has been a member of several heavy metal bands, including Angra and Megadeth. Career Loureiro began studying music and playing acoustic guitar at age 11. He stud ...

– lead guitar, backing vocals *

Dirk Verbeuren Dirk Verbeuren (born 8 January 1975) is a Belgian musician and the current drummer of American thrash metal band Megadeth, amongst other projects. He previously was a member of the Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork. Verbeuren recorded f ...

– drums Additional musicians *

Steve Di Giorgio Steve Di Giorgio (born November 7, 1967) is an American bass guitarist. He is known for his work with numerous heavy metal bands such as Sadus (of which he was a co-founder), Death, Testament, Megadeth, Sebastian Bach, Iced Earth, Autopsy, Ob ...

– bass * Brandon Ray – additional vocals *

Eric Darken Eric A. Darken is an American percussionist, composer, and programmer. Biography Drawing inspiration from his grandfather, a band leader. Darken began playing drums at age 12, and played timpani and mallets in high school. Darken attended ...

– percussion *

Roger Lima Rogério Lima Manganelli (born October 31, 1973), commonly known as Roger Lima, is an American musician, best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist of the ska-punk band Less Than Jake. He also performs as the lead singer and rhythm guita ...

– keyboards and effects * John Clement – voices * The Marching Metal Bastards – voices Production * Dave Mustaine – co-production, engineering, art concept * Chris Rakestraw – co-production, engineering * Lowell Reynolds – assistant engineering * Maddie Harmon – assistant engineering * Rick West – drum technician * Josh Wilbur – mixing *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

– mastering

References

External links

Music video
{{Megadeth Megadeth songs 2022 songs 2022 singles Songs written by Dave Mustaine