"Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" is the opening track of thrash metal band Megadeth's 1990 album Rust in Peace. The song has an unusual structure, shifting at 2:26 after an acoustic bridge by Marty Friedman to a different, slower and heavier section called "The Punishment Due", before speeding up again. The entire song is commonly referred to as "Holy Wars".The lyrics deal with the Northern Ireland conflict.