Artist: Metallica 
   Title: Death Magnetic
   Label: Mercury Records

There’s three ways to judge this album. You can judge it in comparison to the band’s back catalogue, you can judge it in comparison to other bands around today or you can judge it in the context of how much hype it has been given in the lead up to its release. In reality, any album by Metallica, not least one as important as ‘Death Magnetic’ needs a combination of all three approaches. Given that this album is (next to ‘Chinese Democracy’ of course) the most hyped album of the decade, it would be somewhat unfair to judge it in these terms, just as it would be unfair to judge it in comparison to Metallica’s own history, for example looking at whether or not this album is better than their last effort (surely that was a given?) or being obsessed with comparing it to their ‘80’s albums both miss the point entirely. This is a band that has always been about constantly moving forward and never being pigeon-holed into one particular genre or style.

Contrary to popular belief, Metallica really ceased being purely a thrash band after ‘Kill ‘Em All’, despite what the lazy purists, who latch onto the first four albums like they were oxygen and disowning anything that came after, will tell you. ‘Ride The Lightning’ had some great, straight-forward thrash songs but also had moments of brilliance that went beyond thrash such as ‘Fade To Black’ and the same can be said for ‘Master Of Puppets’ and ‘…And Justice For All’. 

Metallica did not become the world’s biggest metal band (maybe even the world’s biggest band, period) by trying to sound like a particular band or genre. Instead they made sure that they were the benchmark so that the question was “does x band sound like Metallica?” and undoubtedly this is what will be asked of all other new releases in the near future as this album puts young pretenders like Trivium into their place with tremendous force.  Just as Metallica did with their second, third and fourth albums, they have produced a record with some great, fast thrash songs as well as fantastic songs that move beyond the thrash genre proving that what really matters is whether or not the songs are good, not whether or not they comply with some sort of genre rulebook, something the band sadly forgot when they made ‘St. Anger’. And the songs themselves deliver on all counts.

On ‘Death Magnetic’ there are great thrash songs (‘My Apocalypse’, ‘That Was Just Your Life’), great songs that have been intricately arranged to the point of perfectionism (‘The Day That Never Comes’, ‘The Unforgiven III’) and great all-out Metallica songs (‘All Nightmare Long’, ‘Cyanide’) and there’s no doubt that in years to come, this album will be spoken of in the same breath as Metallica’s early releases.

That Was Just Your Life – The album starts with an intro reminiscent of ‘Battery’ which at about the 90-second mark morphs into a mammoth thrash monster of a song with an awesome riff and James Hetfield’s distinctive mighty vocals. It’s clear from the start that Metallica are back to claim their throne and they’re not taking any prisoners. It’s fast, it’s got a great rhythm, a great riff, a great chorus and a great solo (yes, Kirk Hammett is back to full employment after ‘St. Anger’). This is Metallica back to doing what they do best – thrash songs with that Metallica twist that has always set them apart from the rest.

The End Of The Line – Again, another song with a mighty intro that leads into a huge riff and the tightest rhythm section in metal virtually daring you not to bang your head at the sound of a band knowing just how good they are and playing their arses off to show it. Just like the track before it, the song doesn’t stand still for long – time changes and riffs bouncing back and forth abound to leave you astonished that the band can spew forth this much talent and (well founded) confidence in just one song. After the one-two punch of ‘…Life’ and ‘…Line’ one cannot help but be reminded of the classic one-two of ‘Battery’ and ‘Master of Puppets’. In what turns out to be a bit of trend on this album, one can hear the confidence in the chorus of this song. There’s a certain swagger about it which lets you know that the band realise just how good the song is that you’re listening to and that’s something that many bands imitate but few fail to emulate convincingly, the difference being that Metallica have earned that swagger.

Broken, Beat And Scarred – In the musical equivalent of an imperial army on the march this track jumps out of the speakers and pounds your eardrums for six and a half gloriously metal minutes and is yet another in a long line of Hetfield war-cries that will soon be shouted back at him in arenas around the world. Rick Rubin has clearly transformed this band into the sort of tight, well-oiled machine that produced ‘Ride The Lightning’ and if this isn’t already evident to the listener, this track really gives the impression that Metallica are blissfully unaware of the sort of pressure they were under to deliver on this album. The band just seem to be concentrating on doing whatever they want and giving it their all without any rules follow or boxes to tick and that’s the secret ingredient on ‘Death Magnetic’ – that Metallica don’t have to care what anyone thinks and this allows them to really show what they can do.

The Day That Never Comes – An odd choice for the first single, clocking in at eight minutes long, it deals with the injustice and tragedy of war, a subject Metallica are no strangers to (having dealt with it almost 20 years ago on ‘Disposable Heroes’ on ‘Master Of Puppets’). And as if to further prove Metallica’s status in the music world, the track was given to radio stations in its entirety, not in an edited version and was played regardless – Metallica are one of the few bands that are needed by the radio, not the other way around. After the truly majestic guitar at the beginning of the song, it becomes clear that this is just building up to the second half of the song which explodes with another one of Metallica’s trademark, crunchy riffs that you just have to bang your head to and what is probably the best Kirk Hammett solo in two decades. What gives this song such a great edge is the contrast between the first four minutes and the last four with the band reminding anyone who may have forgotten after the last three songs that they are capable of evoking just as much as emotion in a song when they take the tempo down a notch.

All Nightmare Long – The next single (due for release on 15th December) and, just, wow. Words barely do justice to how good this song is. After another intro which almost teases the listener as its clear that the band are about to unleash something special, one of the grooviest metal songs this reviewer has ever heard jumps forth from the speakers. I defy anyone not to hear that riff and not headbang with a stupidly huge grin on their face and not to hear the chorus and not want to scream it from the rooftops. It would appear that Metallica have inexplicably left this song out of their setlist on the tour so far, hopefully its choice as the next single will mean that those of us the UK get to hear it in February when the band’s tour rolls into town as it just begs to be played in arenas and stadiums. As with the whole album, the band (in particular Kirk Hammett) sound like they’re playing like their lives depended on it yet at the same time making it seem so effortless. Every guitar stroke, drum beat and bass line is executed to perfection and never have Metallica sounded tighter than they do here.

Cyanide – The first song Metallica made available to the masses back in August of this year starts with an interesting little part that showcases the rhythm section of Lars Ulrich and Rob Trujillo – a man who (and no disrespect to Jason Newsted) may finally be the successor to Cliff Burton that Metallica have been long been looking for – which is then matched by the superb rhythm playing of James Hetfield. As with ‘The End of the Line’, ‘Cyanide’ has a definite swagger about it and it’s on songs like these that Metallica seem to have added a real groove element to their music.

The Unforgiven III – After a piano intro (yes, a piano) and like its predecessors of the same name, the song turns into a mini-epic with Hetfield at his most emotive and haunting, both lyrically and musically. After 6 minutes of metal balladry the only way Metallica know how, the song reaches a mighty crescendo with a minute-long Kirk Hammett solo of epic proportions.

The Judas Kiss – As with many other tracks on the album, the song clocks in at over 8 minutes and is almost prog-like in its rhythm and time changes – don’t like the riff? Just wait 20 seconds. But make no mistake, for all its complexities, the song is a true Metallica thrasher. Some people may have thought that Metallica have a lot to prove on this album, and while there’s evidence to support that, the only people Metallica sound like they have anything to prove to, is themselves. The song is an absolute beast and even though Metallica are making music as unconventional and un-commercial as this, they still went to No.1 in more countries than your average redneck could point to on a map. That’s why when Hetfield roars “I’m your new god now” it’s hard to argue with him.

Suicide & Redemption – At nearly 10 minutes, this track is entirely instrumental, harking back to the old days of Metallica’s first three albums when the inclusion of an instrumental was standard fare. And just like ‘Anaesthesia’, ‘Call of Ktulu’ and ‘Orion’, the song draws you in and makes you take notice and listen in awe of the talent that is being displayed. Quite often, instrumentals serve little purpose beyond flattering a band’s ego and are of little interest to people who don’t play instruments but not so with Metallica. This is as introvert and appealing as any of the other songs on ‘Death Magnetic’.

My Apocalypse – The shortest song on the album at exactly 5 minutes long, this song is classic thrash à la Metallica and wouldn’t sound out of place on any of Metallica’s ‘80’s albums or any Slayer album for that matter. This song alone should put to rest any rumors of a slip in Metallica’s ability and should serve as notice to all the young pretenders out there (yes Trivium, that means you) that no matter how good or ‘thrash’ they think they are, as long as there’s life left in Metallica they will continue to out-do them at every turn. After 80 minutes that seems to have gone by in a flash, the realization sets in that Metallica have unleashed an absolute belter of an album that will be often imitated but very rarely emulated.

Review by: Adam G

Tracklisting:

  1. That Was Just For Life
  2. The End Of The Line
  3. Broken, Beaten & Scarred
  4. The Day That Never Comes
  5. All Nightmare Long
  6. Cyanide
  7. The Unforgiven III
  8. The Judas Kiss
  9. Suicide & Redemption
10. My Apocalypse 		                  

 

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