So, here we are, well and truly into 2009. After a lengthy wait of 5 years since Metallica's previous and widely criticised effort, 'St Anger', the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse finally return with an album that gives more than anyone could have ever imagined.

I had ordered my copy of the album in August via the band's clever marketing/promotion website for 'Death Magnetic' called 'Mission:Metallica'. Again, just as the leaked MP3's, 'Mission:Metallica' has certainly helped boost sales of the new album by showing us brief snippets of guitar & bass riffs, drum parts, vocal lines and an insight into the mastering and recording process of 'Death Magnetic'. My version of the album happens to be the limited edition Coffin Boxset, which I will review as a whole package following my detailed analysis of the tracklisting further into my review. Suffice to say, it arrived at my door promptly before 9am on the 12th, I must say I felt like big kid as I tore the packaging apart when I got home from work that day.

Over the next few years Metallica spent a mixture of time in the studio, and plenty of tours around the world. They briefly played two new songs in some of the 2006 dates, which the fans and myself had VERY mixed feelings towards (Small parts of these two songs have been used on 'Death Magnetic', but the tracks were mostly scrapped). Things really picked up around May 2008 when 'Mission:Metallica' finally went live. The album's release suddenly seemed much closer, with a tentative September 2008 release date scheduled, and a minute of palm mutted riffing via a teaser trailer (From the track 'The Judas Kiss'). Then, much later at Ozzfest 2008 after 'Mission:Metallica' had really hit it's stride, Metallica debuted 'Cyanide', one of 'Death Magnetic's' 10 tracks. Interest in the band quickly increased at this point, the forums were bursting at the seams with comments in response to a fan having uploaded his personal footage of the new song on YouTube. To say 'Cyanide' is one of the weaker tracks is more than quite right, it's a superb song in the context of Death Magnetic, but it sits in the lower tier of this CD. So when this album hit, people really weren't expecting the shocker of an album I have here in my hands (Shocking in both very good and bad ways)!

'Death Magnetic' has an overall feel of the band back in their stride, much as they were on '…And Justice For All' and most critically 'Master of Puppets'. But, to say this album is a classic like 'Master of Puppets' would be a wrong assumption, as it is in a much different league of it's own (But it will certainly be a Classic album, both for positive and negative reactions, no doubt there). Metallica have grown since their 80's incarnation, and have released an album that encompasses everything they have learned in the 25+ years they have been around.
There are moments of Thrashed out metal akin to the feisty 'Kill Em All', 'Ride', 'Puppets' and 'Justice' era, believe me the album opener is the best since 'Blackened' and comes close to it's majesty. Then there's bag's of dual guitar harmonies akin to Iron Maiden, Kirk Hammett is absolutely on fire on this record, like he's been locked in a closet and found some way of getting out, unleashing the most brutal twisting harmonies and solo's I've heard from him in a long time, even though he does seriously abuse the WAH WAH.
Then there's Rob, who rather unfortunately only adds colour and warmth to the songs, and is a little hard to distinguish once things get going (Due to a significant issue with the CD that I will be explaining much later!) but there is no doubt he is a great basist and has much to add to Metallica's sound and future as a unit.
Lar's drum sound is far greater than that of 'St Anger' although still mixed a bit too high up in the mix (Some of the double bass kicks fade off in the background, whilst other hits or slams are louder than a roar of thunder). I'm pleased to say there's none of that abysmal headache inducing pounding reverb from the St. Anger mix, and finally the Snare's are back on.
James Hetfield fires off a barrage of intense 'Justice' like moshpit riffola almost right through the albums 75 minutes, and his vocals are top notch on this one with gruff aggressive tones, harmonies and some lighter delicate singing. There are a multitude of interwoven Load/ReLoad like segments and beautifully melodic clean guitar parts that break up the lengthy thrashed out bits and even some Hellish 'Slayer' like riffage in some areas. There are fantastic harmonies and a chorus as big, if not bigger than 'Enter Sandman' in the song 'All Nightmare Long' when it shockingly kicks in and unexpectedly knocks you off your feet.

But it's not all perfect, more on this specific, and very irritating problem much, much later….CLIP

Metallica are back boys and girls, and are about to prove they are the most important metal band on the planet with their new statement 'Death Magnetic' (It's debatable, but after hearing this or seeing them live, you'll be stupid to say they aren't back at the top of their dominating game once again, just as they were in their live shows between 1988 and 1992).

'The End Of The Line' blasts out of the stereo lasting 7 minutes and 52 seconds, not quite 'The End Of the Line' then? It almost immediately follows hot on the heels of 'TWJYL'. The mightily heavy intro riff is just about the only part of 'The New Song' that was performed during Metallica's tour in 2006 that appears on the album in any shape or form. Luckily this was the best part of the song in question, as the original quickly fell silently under the radar once the intro was out of he way.
At 43 seconds into the song, the main riff crashes in and then bursts into rushing pace and fury "Need…more and more, tainted misery. Bleed…battle scars, chemical affinity…" These are some great lines from Hetfield, he continues to wonder "Scorch…kill the light, incinerate celebrity. Reaper…butchery, karma amputee…" aggressive, angry, nasty…that's what this is, and it's great to hear this channelled at the listener. You'll be moshing in your bedroom, with that air guitar or headbanging on your headphones, annoying your boss!
Again, twin guitar harmonies shatter the remains and butcher the rest of the song, then as if something evil lurks, torturous tormented twisting harmonies from Kirk absolutely stun and impress, wow shock and awe, shock and awe!!!
At 5 minutes 51 seconds things calm down to a delicate Load/ReLoad level, like a clever lullaby you fall into its trap as it slides back into the aggressive pounding metal "Say good bye, cause you've reached the end of the line." Oh yeah!!!!

'The Day That Never Comes' was the first single off of 'Death Magnetic', it is very similar in composure to 'One' from 'Justice'. It begins with an elegant clean guitar on higher notes which will send shivers down your spine. Eventually Kirk adds a layer of sweet melodic fuzz, and then James rolls into the verse with much lower but still clean notes from his guitar. It has an 'aftermath of war' feel, which fits the topic of the song perfectly. Soon Lars joins and after a short instrumental, James finally open's his lungs and begins singing "Born to push you around, better just stay down. You pull away, he hits the flesh, you hit the ground…" in the verse which is chock full of melody, but about a soldiers battle on the field with his emotions and dealing with what is or isn't a possible enemy or innocent bystander, an instant decision could be disastrous.
Roll on the chorus, and we get our first taste of crunch from the guitars in this track "The day that never comes, when you stand up and feel the warmth. But the son shine never comes. No, the son shine never comes." We get some clever word play from James here, although most thought this was an overlooked spelling mistake in the lyrics, thinking it was intended to be 'sunshine' not 'son shine'.
Just as the classic 'One' eventually erupted in it's second half with the legendary "Landmine…" part, we get a metallic riff from the boys at around 4 minutes in like a sudden swing of the mighty old battle axe that's layered with Lar's pounding drums "Love…Is a four letter word, and never spoken here." Wow, this is very uplifting and headbang inducing, getting right under your skin! This is another lengthy one, and that lucky number seven has cropped up once again, we get 7 minutes and 56 seconds of this marvellous song, made more visceral via its lyrical content and the accompanying video which marks a departure from some of the bands older videos.
One issue many will have with this song is that the latter part of the track gets itself far beyond the capabilities of the waveform at several points and the sound near enough collapses under the stress in what could be attributed to the sound of a thousand mumbling tramps. That ain't so good!

'Cyanide' is a great modern sounding 'Metallica' song, what we should expect if Metallica hadn't decided to look back into their past for their inspiration on 'Death Magnetic'. It stands out a little though as there's nothing else quite like it on here. Beginning with a riff that can easily be described as a metal version of an S-O-S distress signal, the song thunders in after Robs bass and Lars's drums have pounded out a brief segment together following that S-O-S riff. James comes in at this point, with a descending riff that ends in short bites after a few power chords and finally spits upon the mike "Sleep and dream of this, Death Angel's kiss, Brings final bliss…" we get some movement after the verse in the shape of several drum fills from Lars, then Hetfield cries "Ohhh… Call your name." We are battling in this segment, then a barbed Slayer like riff calls out to you as Hetfield declares "Suicide…I've already died. You're just the funeral I've been waiting for…Cyanide…Living dead inside. Break this empty shell forever more."
At three minutes there are a vast number of repeating drum fills and staccato bites, before we're finally sent off on a clean guitar riff with a beautiful 'Middle Eastern' sound reminiscent of Load/ReLoad "Say, is that rain or are they tears? That has stained your concrete face for years. The crying, weeping, shedding strife. Year after year, life after life…" This is really great, we get some repetition of some of the earlier parts of the song, even a near blast beat from Lars Ulrich! Eventually the song comes to a close with Hetfield singing the following "It's just the funeral I've been waiting for." over the dying S-O-S riff.

'The Judas Kiss' is another song from the album which is already being heralded as an instant classic, sounding like the early 'Metallica' we love, but with a rawness that has been missing since Kill 'Em All. It contains what will surely be regarded as one of James Hetfield's classic vocals in the shape of "Bow Down, sell your soul to me, I will set you free, pacify your demons, into abyss, you don't exist. Cannot resist, The Judas Kiss." his delivery of these lines is like a punch to the stomach, it's absolutely awe-inspiring. The 'Bow Down' segment rides on one of the greatest riffs 'Metallica' have written in a many a year, almost riding right back to the sparkly roughened 'Kill 'Em All' days with the bands highly aggressive attitude….
Ok back to the opening of the song, and we get some very 'Justice' style guitar harmonies opening into a pummelling biting palm muted riff segment that is astonishing to hear. The verse riff kicks off, with it's start stop features. Then we build up to our arrival at that "BOW DOWN" destination after 1 minute and 43 seconds of flight time, WOW put simply!
The Judas Kiss is filled with drum fills and groove riffs. It feels progressive, like some of the 'Justice' songs which is a nice comeback.
A riff version of a heartbeat pumps away with Lars and rob providing the blood setting Kirk going at 4 minutes and 30 seconds on a trend kill, he's out and hunting all over the place tapping here, licks there on and on for a full minute before James roars "Judas lives, recite this vow. I've become your new God now." Lars fires off a fill, then at 5 minutes and 39 seconds Kirk gets another burst of pent up aggression and takes the solo to even new highs until 6 minutes and 20 seconds of the track have elapsed, my God, that's almost 2 minutes of soloing, bar the brief pause!

'My Apocalypse' finishes the album in a similar style to Metallica's previous album closing tracks through the 80's like 'Damage Inc.' and 'Dyers Eve'. This song is probably the best example of Metallica sounding very much, or as near as damn-it like 'Slayer'. The pace is quickened to within an inch of its life, seriously distorted palm muting rages away in the room/car/office or wherever you'll be blasting the thing Lars thundering away like a storm hellbent on hitting something important.
Surprisingly, James Hetfield's vocal delivery in 'My Apocalypse' is just like 'Tom Araya's', as franticly paced lyric's spout from James's mouth over those intense palm-muted riffs (Distorted and heavily compressed riffs….urgh!!!!). The album's title is sung in one of the verses "Deadly vision, Prophecy reveal, Death Magnetic, pulling closer still." and the battering metallic stomp of this apocalypse continues battering like 'Metal Militia' a fingers up to the critics as James shouts with furious power "Split apart…Split apart…Split apart…SPIT…SPIT IT OUT….!!!!" Followed by harmonies, a solo and guitar interplay between James and Kirk. The next section is far more aggressive than the initial verses with pounding fills, building to annihilate as James declares "Suffer forever My Apocalypse…"

Tracklisting for the 'Death Magnetic' Digipak as follows:

These songs are alternate and very early rough versions of the tracks that made it onto 'Death Magnetic', hence 'Demo Magnetic'. They have different sections, different riffs and harmonies that were omitted from the final release or were re-worked to sound better. But, for the most part these are the exact same songs except for some heavy alternate lyrics in some places. This CD is an absolute gem for anyone that can get hold of a copy!