Death Magnetic - Metallica

...was St. Anger. So yes, Death Magnetic. It's a stonking album, one that clearly puts Metallica right back on the top of the metal tree. At 75 minutes long, this is about as epic as your going to get, with all of the songs being 5 minutes plus, and some straying very close to the double figures minutes mark. This album is significant as it marks the first time new bassist Robert Trujillo, joins the usual line-up of James Hetfield on vocals and rhythm ...
...distant memory. The announcement of Death Magnetic didn't exactly have me clicking on pre-order instantly as a result of the last 3 albums. Nevertheless, I was intrigued. When I did go out and get it on release date and first put it into my CD player (didn't have the patience to wait until I got home and put it on iTunes) I was transported back to the good ol' days. The riffs are heavy, some of the bridges sound like entirely new songs and it does ... more

James Hetfield howls the title of this review at the very beginning of 'Broken, Beat and Scarred'. Pretty appropriate if you ask me after the disappointment that was St. Anger. So yes, Death Magnetic. It's a stonking album, one that clearly puts Metallica right back on the top of the metal tree. At 75 minutes long, this is about as epic as your going to get, with all of the songs being 5 minutes plus, and some straying very close to the double figures minutes mark. This album is significant as it marks the first time new bassist Robert Trujillo, joins the usual line-up of James Hetfield on vocals and rhythm guitar, Kirk Hammet on lead guitar and Lars Ulrich pounding the pig skin on drums. I'm not normally one for doing structured reviews, but I want everyone to buy this CD so I'm going to try and make this as helpful as possible.

----General Overview----

It's really been a long time coming - 1991 in fact - since we last had a decent Metallica album. The lingering feeling that there still was another decent record within Metallica was beginning to fade after Load, ReLoad and St. Anger. St. Anger in particular was very disappointing. It was more of a counselling session sold in a CD form, with Kirk Hammet practically switched off and the crazy riffs of 'Master of Puppets', 'Ride the Lightning' and '…And Justice for All' a distant memory. The announcement of Death Magnetic didn't exactly have me clicking on pre-order instantly as a result of the last 3 albums. Nevertheless, I was intrigued. When I did go out and get it on release date and first put it into my CD player (didn't have the patience to wait until I got home and put it on iTunes) I was transported back to the good ol' days. The riffs are heavy, some of the bridges sound like entirely new songs and it does so simply what St. Anger failed to do - go back to doing what Metallica do best. The production (with Rick Rubin now at the helm) sounds immense and the general sound of it echoes quality and as though this was recorded in a recording studio, rather than a shed which St. Anger seemed to be recorded in.

----Band Members Input----

James Hetfield is once again howling down the mic again, but in a slightly more 'gruff' tone than we're used to. Whether it's the age slowly catching up with his throat muscles, it still is a cracking voice. Some hardcore Metallica nutcases may be off put by the fact it's a really different voice to the ones heard from the albums in the '80's, but it still compliments the anarchy that is happening behind him from the other guys. The lyrics aren't really what you'd call top notch. You only have to look at the title of 'All Nightmare Long' to notice that writing the lyrics clearly took a back seat compared to writing the music. And trust me, that's not a bad thing when you do hear the music. And besides, Metallica never really have been about storming lyrics. Asking Metallica to write great words in songs is like going to a KKK meeting and asking them to take the moral high-ground.

Kirk Hammet is quite literally on fire. The speed of his fingers must cause him to burn up - like a space-shuttle on re-entry. On a more serious note, Hammet is the best thing about this album. He really is the driving force of each of the 10 songs, and we finally get some solos, with each one being brilliant. The levels of consistency in the solos are mind blowing, with clear influences being Jimmy Page and Tony Iommi in many of the solos. Although they don't quite reach the seismic levels of the likes of 'One', they still are worth buying the album alone for, just to hear Hammet going ape sh*t with his axe.

Robert Trujillo is a great bassist and is no wonder Hetfield and co. were so impressed when he played at the auditon. The bass lines are thumping and are way more clear and present than any other Metallica album and especially in 'Suicide and Redemption' where he really does drive that instrumental. Some may consider the drummer to be the glue that keeps a band together, but in Death Magnetic's case, it's the long haired, crab-walking 4 string player who fills that role; and how he fills it.

Lars Ulrich has never has been a technically proficient drummer. Ulrich is more of a slogger and the reckless abandonment he shows on this record is incredible. The drum beats rarely stay the same for more than a minute and a half, with the inclusion of the double bass to speed things up, or the vicious crash cymbal that Ulrich uses to really add some edge to proceedings. My Apocalypse highlights the madness of this guy's pigskin pounding, although on the odd occasion, he does resort to a very simple 'oompah' style of drumming. But it's only a minor criticism over 75 minutes of what is mind-bendingly mental drumming.

----The Songs----

That Was Just Your Life (7:08) This is a fantastic way to start the album. There's a slow, almost teasing build which roars into life up into a cracking riff with Hetfield struggling to keep up with the speed of the lyrics. Hammet is awoken like a sleeping volcano from the St. Anger days with blistering solo. The drums are mental, and it's a typical Metallica style opening to an album, much like Battery on 'Puppets' and 'Blackened' on 'Justice'. Off to a cracking start.

End of the Line (7:52) It's a very similar track to That Was Just Your Life, but the riffs are super aggressive, sounding as though this could have quite easily been on 'Kill 'Em All'. Another excellent track.

Broken, Beat and Scarred (6:25) Continues a similar style pattern set by the first two tracks, but with a very comparable style to the song '…And Justice for All'. If you're a fan of that track then by track 3 of Death Magnetic, you'll be convinced that Metallica are firmly back to their roots.

The Day That Never Comes (7:56) The 'headline' track of the album and it's probably the most downbeat on the entire album. The structure almost mirrors the Grammy award-winning 'One' with its rock ballad style opening with slow rhythmic guitars to the galloping riff ending in a massively complex and multi-layered Hammet and Hetfield solos.

All Nightmare Long (7:57) The finest song on the album. It's an 8 minutes of total seismic thrash. It's the song every Metallica fan has been waiting for. The drums are nothing short of brute force and the 2 minute instrumental at the beginning could quite easily have been a comprehensive song on its own. Hetfield growls the 'Luck. Runs. Out' which signals the rampant riff to initiate blowing our brains out of our ears. It's such an amazing track, and expect 'moshes' the size of a city-wide riot when they play this badboy live.

Cyanide (6:39) If you've seen Metallica live recently, chances are you might have heard this song already as they've been playing it live recently. Following All Nightmare Long is tough, but Cyanide holds it's own. The bridge sounds like a different song keeping listeners interested in what is a fairly average Metallica song unfortunately.

The Unforgiven III (7:56) This is a really strange song. So far it's been 6 thrash tracks and this starts off with…James Hetfield playing the piano?!?!? Hold your flaming torches people, because this still winds up being fairly decent. It's a bit odd that this really slow ballad is sandwiched between several mental heavy metal songs. This has a full-blown orchestra in it for Christ's sake (I apologise to all over-sensitive Christians) and the vocals in this track don't really match up to Hetfield's piano skills - which aren't great either.

The Judas Kiss (8:01) Some reviewers have quoted the quality of the lyrics in this track, but the musical element is still brilliant. The riffs again are thundering and Hammet's solos continue to be consistent throughout. There's a 'One' moment with Hetfield roaring down the mic "Judas lives recite this vow, I've become your new god now" and transporting me back to the times when I used to howl over and over again "Darkness, imprisoning me…" - Metallica fans will know what I'm talking about.

Suicide and Redemption (9:56) Although not quite up to the quality of 'Orion' from 'Puppets', you'll still wonder why songs need words to be awesome. Trujillo bass can actually be heard on this song (a jaw-dropping moment as a Metallica fan) and he solely drives this song. The bass line is terrific, and the thought of how much more awesome this album would have been had he been able to unleash his 4 string on us like he has on this song. The drums take a very simple "oompah" rhythm but the multi-layered madness of the guitars mean that the 10 minutes fly past.

My Apocalypse (5:01) The shortest song on the album concludes the record. Although Hetfield randomly shouts out the title of the album in an erratic manner, this song is all about thrash. The drums are anarchic and Hammet finishes on a high with a mental solo. It's a cracking end to the album, although not quite up to the insanity that is 'Damage Inc.' from 'Puppets'.

You've seen me compare the songs to older albums. The problem with Death Magnetic is that while it totally eclipses St. Anger and the Load albums, it never reaches the giddy heights of Master of Puppets or …And Justice for All. Still, if you're a Metallica fan or want to rock out (like proper rock out - not any wimpy Fall Out Boy nonsense) then this is one of the finest metal albums available today. 

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