Death Magnetic - Magnetically Attractive To Old Fans Or The Final Death Of Metallica?
Written: Sep 12 '08 (Updated Sep 12 '08)
Product Rating:
Pros: The thrash is back, some excellent solos, good drumming, some great songs.
Cons: Sometimes convoluted songwriting, becomes repetitive after a while, occasionally spotty vocals.
The Bottom Line: While not without its flaws, Death Magnetic is a worthy comeback for the godfathers of thrash metal. And an album no Metallica fan should be without.
marty1982's Full Review: Death Magnetic by Metallica
Be prepared for a typically long review.
No album this year has been hyped more than Metallica's latest opus Death Magnetic. It's been 20 years since the band has released a true thrash metal album. And since then, we've had three semi-metallic hard rock albums (The Black Album, Load and ReLoad), an all-covers compilation (Garage, Inc.), an orchestra-driven live album (S&M), a bizarre movie soundtrack song (I Disappear), and of course, 2003's dismal St. Anger. An album that was supposed to be Metallica's big heavy metal comeback, but was instead an underproduced mishmash of wasted ideas and self-indulgent lyrics.
Death Magnetic, however, was supposed to be Metallica's true comeback. A lot happened after St. Anger. New bassist Rob Trujillo became a permanent member of the band, producer Bob Rock was out and famed rock/metal producer Rick Rubin was in, Metallica announced that Kirk Hammett's guitar solos would not be cut from the record, Metallica decided to revert back to standard E-tuning (after using Eb tuning on the Loads and dropped-C tuning on St. Anger), and there were even rumors of a subtle middle eastern influence in several of the songs.
And now, Metallica has finally bestowed upon us the fruits of their five years of hard labor. The big question on everybody's mind is, of course, "Was it worth it?" Fortunately, the answer is a resounding Yes!... but not without a few strings attached.
The good news is that Metallica has finally succeeded in "returning to their roots." Death Magnetic is, indeed, a bay area-style thrash metal album. Any traces of their 90's and early-00's output are minimal, and influences from their "classic trio" (Ride The Lightning, Master Of Puppets, and ...And Justice For All) are abundant, with an also obvious influence from more conventional thrash bands like Testament and Exodus. Kirk Hammett, after years of experimenting with all the different ways he could use the wah-peddle, sounds like his old self again. Specifically, his solos are mix of those on Ride The Lightning and ...And Justice For All. Epic song intros, biting guitar riffs, blistering speed. It's all here and in good form.
Now for the downsides. James Hetfield's vocals, while vastly improved over those of St. Anger, sometimes don't really fit the music. Sometimes, he sounds like his vocal chords are struggling to handle the loud and aggressive nature of the music, giving him a rather hoarse sound. And occasionally, his style of growling just sounds too happy-go-lucky to really match the music. Imagine Master Of Puppets with ReLoad-style singing, and you'll see my point. The other major problem is that some of the songs could really stand to be clipped to about 70% of their length. While several of the more epic songs are consistently entertaining, others sound like they've been unnecessarily stretched out for the sake of being long and epic. This problem isn't nearly as bad as it was on St. Anger, but brevity is definitely something Metallica should consider on their next record.
Opening track That Was Just Your Life wastes no time in screaming to the world, "We're Back!!!" The song begins with a nifty intro sounding a bit like a mix of Welcome Home (Sanitarium) and Enter Sandman (with a touch of the opening for the Dream Theater song Pull Me Under), before erupting into an all-out thrash fest reminiscent of Justice's Blackened, except even more aggressive. Unfortunately, problems begin once James opens his mouth, as his singing just doesn't fit the song (despite a fairly obvious attempt at sounding like he did on Puppets). Lars will also occasionally pick up the tempo and go into a Slayer-like drum track which, while a nice touch, seems unnecessary for this song. On the bright side, Kirk Hammett's solo in the middle is classic, and the song roles along just as a Metallica thrasher should (despite perhaps being a little longer than necessary). Overall, a flawed but fine album opener.
The End Of The Line continues Metallica's tradition of making their second tracks lighter and more straightforward than their first. It's a more groove-oriented thrasher with a cool main riff and surprisingly appropriate vocal performance. Not to mention a neat guitar solo in the middle. While Broken, Beat & Scarred sounds like a heavier Black Album track with a cool main riff and nice Anthrax-style guitar solo in the middle.
Lead single The Day That Never Comes is an interesting ballad in that sounds almost like Fade To Black, the middle part of To Live Is To Die, and The Unforgiven combined into one song. The melody during the first half suffers from that Unforgiven-sappiness but is rescued by James's surprisingly passionate singing. Much like Fade To Black and One, the song erupts into an all-out thrash fest during the second half, with some impressive guitar riffs and several great Ride The Lightning-ish guitar solos.
All Nightmare Long and Cyanide are my two favorite songs on Death Magnetic. The opening for ANL is reminiscent of Metallica's classic cover of Holocaust's The Small Hours. Thereafter, the song is a classic Bay Area thrasher with some mind-blowing guitar solos, interesting vocals, and even a small hint of Low-era Testament in the main guitar riff. Meanwhile, Cyanide is a nifty stoner rock-ish song (not unlike something Monster Magnet would write) with a cool bass melody, catchy main riff, and some more classic Kirk Hammett soloing.
The Unforgiven III is bound to turn a few heads, as it's the third song in what Metallica is probably hoping to make into a musical saga. Despite its title, the song doesn't bare much resemblance to the first two Unforgivens. It's a soft, piano and orchestra driven ballad, telling the story of a tormented and troubled man looking for an eventual light at the end of his tunnel. James puts on a decent vocal performance, and the piano and orchestra (while unexpected on an album like this) actually add quite a bit to the song. Nice guitar solo in the middle, too.
The Judas Kiss is probably the weakest song on the album. While the drumming and guitar riffs are reminiscent of what was on Justice, the lyrics (rumored to be an indirect tribute to classic rock/metal bands like Judas Priest and Kiss) are downright cheesy, and compared to the other songs on the album, TJK sounds rather dull.
Suicide & Redemption has the honor of being the first Metallica instrumental in over 20 years. And while it's no Orion or To Live Is To Die, it's still a noble attempt at adding a little diversity to Death Magnetic. Kirk Hammett puts on an as-usual excellent performance with his many guitar solos. James's rhythm guitaring is also in top form. Unfortunately, the song should really have been clipped to about 6 1/2 or 7 minutes (as opposed to its 9:58 playtime), as it becomes very repetitive after a while.
Finally, in the grand tradition of Puppets and Justice, Metallica closes Death Magnetic with what's arguably its thrashiest song. My Apocalypse is a classic Bay Area thrasher reminiscent of Damage, Inc. and with a hint of modern day Exodus. James puts on his most aggressive vocal performance yet on Death Magnetic, and Kirk Hammett's solo should definitely take you back to the band's Master Of Puppets days. The song's ending is a little disappointing (after such a drastic musical build-up, you'd expect more than just a weak-sounding guitar chord to end it), but otherwise, this is one of the best songs on the album.
Death Magnetic, overall, is a great album. And as many have pointed out, it really does sound like the missing album between ...And Justice For All and The Black Album. Unfortunately, the occasionally rusty vocals and somewhat convoluted songs keep it from reaching "Classic" status. If Metallica plans on releasing another album after this, here's to hoping they polish James's vocals a little and clip the songs to about 5 minutes on average. Nevertheless, if you've been longing for Metallica to finally return to their glory days as a bay area thrash metal band, then Death Magnetic shouldn't disappoint you. It easily outshines 2003's St. Anger, and while it may not be quite at the level of Puppets or Justice, it fits snuggly into Metallica's illustrious thrash catalog and is a must buy for any Metallica fan.
Metallica, the world s biggest hard rock band, returns with their ninth studio album Death Magnetic. It is every inch the record they needed to make: ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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