Death Magnetic

Metallica

Death Magnetic

I first heard Metallica right after I started listening to Black Sabbath, who are the Godfathers of Heavy Metal, hands down. Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple just simply were not that HEAVY. Black Sabbath made the skin crawl and the blood curl. It sounded like you were in an actual horror movie and the goose bumps were starting.  Metallica just amplified Black Sabbath and made metal even rawer, faster, louder and gave the impression that they were purely insane.

I thought Death Magnetic could be louder, a LOT louder.  Sure, we’re all going to endlessly compare it to Kill Them All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets and even …And Justice for All and I could just simply turn the volume up, but sometimes I wanted that beautiful noise back.

 “That Was Just Your Life” is a rumbling and charging song that got me moving with excitement that Metallica is making music again. The guitars are here by full force just like they should be and Kirk Hammett has rightfully brought back his amazing solos in “The End of the Line”. These first two songs have gotten me more excited for their ‘return’ in 2008: Thunderous and loud, finally! There was a nice break in the middle of the song too, sounded a little psychedelic there.  “Broken, Beat, & Scarred” gives a nice reminder of what Metallica sounded like in the album …And Justice for All. The guitar work here is nice and simple, and the solo is so clean!! “The Day That Never Comes” is very similar to “Fade to Black” and “One”.  It builds slowly with lyrics about death, a little bit of hope in the face of darkness; criticizing war which Metallica is known for. There is a slow start to this song that goes into a charging beat that gives you the feeling this is going to get even bigger. I like the restraint in James Hetfield’s voice as he is trying to control his anger. The distorted riffing and the chugging get the song going, but there is no loudness, no extreme Metallica like there used to be! I must admit it’s a great song for what it is.

“All Nightmare Long” just confirms that Metallica have some of the best openings in all of Metal and Rock music. They know how to set you up and get you going.  “Cyanide” has a good beat and all, great riff, the kind of old school feeling that I haven’t heard from Metallica in a while. It grows on you. But I don’t like Hetfield’s howling, or whatever you want to call it, even though the lyrics are slick. The riff is killer and Kirk and James are slamming it. This song, like “The Day That Never Comes” gets better after the middle part. The boys are on their way to getting so much better, I can feel it. Just another album or two and they will be back in business.  “The Unforgiven III” has that classical music touch that Metallica occasionally dabbles in, like on their S&M album. This song is a nice break, and shows Metallica flexing their instrumental muscle because they have so much more to offer than just metal. I can hear Metallica do thrash from beginning to end, but for newcomers trying to get into Metallica, it is an intermission worthy of their talent.

“The Judas Kiss” sounds like a lot of other recent Metallica songs, where Metallica is just trying to stay above water, stay current, but they unfortunately just sound like their countless spawn. All they have is Hetfield’s voice to make them stand apart. I have to say that the great opening and the Wah Wah pedal really helps this song.  “Suicide & Redemption” has a chuggy riff that brought Black Sabbath to mind, and this one is nice and dark!! My head is definitely nodding to this one and I’m so glad instrumentals have returned to Metallica’s repertoire! The guitars are REAL good, probably the best solo on the whole album (?) and this is what the band is about.

Again, “My Apocalypse” brings in the great rolling, beating drums that everyone knows, courtesy of Lars Ulrich. The solo guitar work is sick, and this track shows you the high-level of production that Rick Rubin has brought to this album. My only qualms are that there could be a heavier and louder bass, one that looms over the song, and takes over the song. It just could be heavier.

Their 80’s work was simply amazing, but here I am, trying to listen to their music while not comparing them to their older counterpart. Thrash should evolve and not stay in the 70’s/80’s where it was born, but I couldn’t help but ache for that sound when I listened to their new album. Let us be grateful that Metallica is still around, recording and holding on to their true sound. We just have to see where they take their sound next.