Metallica - Death Magnetic

Metallica
Death Magnetic
2008 Warner Bros.

Full disclosure: I watched Some Kind of Monster and didn't come away thinking the band was full of douchebags; I came away thinking that my idol, the reason I started playing guitar, James Hetfield, was a douchebag, but not the rest of the band. I still listen to 4 of the songs on St. Anger on a fairly regular basis. Why am I saying this? Just so you know that you're not exactly reading the most objective, unbiased review of a Metallica album, as they were the band who got me into metal and playing guitar and pretty much influenced me more as a person than any other musical act going.

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about their new album, Death Magnetic. The reactions to this album have been pretty humorous, I must say. I frequent heavy metal blogs and sites on a pretty regular basis and, surprisingly, the reactions to this album were split down the middle. Why is that surprising? I honestly thought that the metal community that turned its back on Metallica after Load (or Metallica, depending on who you ask) would never admit to liking the album, even if it were a masterpiece. While I did see a lot of posters on sites with that same outlook, a large amount of underground metalheads actually seemed shocked and were claiming "Metallica's back! Best thing since AJFA!" (Again, if you don't know what AJFA stands for, stop reading.) Even in the mainstream media the album was well-received; commercially, too, as the album sold over half a million copies in its first week and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts, breaking some record about consecutive No. 1 album debuts that I'm too lazy to look up the details of.

So, how would a die-hard Metallica fan like me approach this album? He must love it, you say. Honestly, going into the album I was a little apprehensive. First of all, the song titles that came out still reeked of post-rehab Hetfield trying to be profound. "All Nightmare Long" made no sense to me, and was an awful pun, to boot. The first song they debuted live, "Cyanide," sounded like Metallica playing And Justice for Load. Was it better than anything on St. Anger? Pretty much, but it wasn't particularly fast or heavy, and the riffs were a little boring and funky for my liking. Then I heard first single "The Day That Never Comes," and at first listen it sounded like the band trying to write "Fade to Black" or "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" part 2. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, however, as the last 4 minutes of the song are full of great riffs and solos, something I honestly thought Metallica had lost the ability to write. I was starting to get hopeful, excited even, but I still was apprehensive.

Then I sat down and popped the CD into the player and was slowly blown away. I'll try to be brief with breakdowns of a few favorites:

"That Was Just Your Life" - This is how you open an album. The slow build was reminiscent of past openers "Fight Fire With Fire," "Battery" and "Blackened," and the song just picked up from there. Speed, aggression, guitar harmonies, powerful vocals by Hetfield, great Hammett solo, tight drumming by Ulrich (believe it or not), and a monster of a chorus to bring it all home, this song rules.

"Broken, Beat & Scarred" - This song didn't grab me tremendously at first, but the almost-Eastern main riff brings to mind a heavier "Wherever I May Roam," and the call-and-response vocals throughout are really strong and powerful. A slower, more methodical pace (think "Sad But True") lends itself to more vocal dynamics and melody, and more great riffs throughout this one.

"All Nightmare Long" - The title may have seemed dumb out of context, but Jesus Christ, this is not only my favorite song from this album, but maybe my favorite Metallica song since "Blackened" in 1988. This song is 100% Metallica, but also 100% new. It's heavy, fast, creative, and most of all, powerful. Best song on the album, best song they've done in 20 years.

"The Unforgiven III" - If you're rolling your eyes at the song title, I don't blame you. Let me assure you, however, this song is heavier than either of the previous "Unforgiven" songs, and also has that Western vibe, but in a dirtier, almost Johnny Cash-esque way on the clean parts. Hetfield said he took a lot of inspiration for this album from Rick Rubin's (he produced it) stories about the man in black, and that's pretty evident on this song. Hammett lays down maybe his best solo on the album, one where he just goes for the jugular out of a great Hetfield scream. I was pleasantly surprised by this one, and it's actually probably my favorite Unforgiven of the 3, and definitely the rawest.

Bottom Line: Metallica's best album in 20 years. If you're a Metallica fan and you don't like this album, I don't think I'll ever be able to understand why. If you still are apprehensive, listen to "All Nightmare Long" and tell me that Metallica doesn't have it in them any more.


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Matt Steele