Death Magnetic Review

Some time back I wrote a piece about the Heavy Metal Renaissance and how the early indications of Metallica's forthcoming album were good due largely to the demo track "The New Song". I can now say "Yes", they have succeeded...




YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE WHOLE FREAKIN' ALBUM HERE!!!!!! FOR FREE!!!!!

http://metallica.com/index.asp?item=601231

1. That Was Just Your Life


2. The End of the Line


3. Broken, Beat and Scarred


4. The Day That Never Comes


5. All Nightmare Long


6. Cyanide


7. The Unforgiven III


8. The Judas Kiss


9. Suicide and Redemption


10. My Apocalypse

Let's face it, St. Anger blew a lot out of its..ye know. And Load and Reload weren't all that great either. Finally, after so many years, I think they've got it right again. Death Magnetic is the first Metallica album I've listened to since the Black Album where I liked every single song upon its first listen. I couldn't do that with the other 3 mentioned above. I guess in part the anticipation leading up to Death Magnetic influenced how I would judge the album and God forbid I am no expert when it comes to music in any regard, but I know what I like - and I like Death Magnetic.



Rather than discuss each individual track (okay, I can't because I really know nothing about the technicalities of music) I'll instead just mention my experience of it. Metallica fans are familiar with the concept that Metallica can potentially sound very different from album to album. Part of what makes the first 5 albums so good and so successful is that...broadly speaking...they all had a similar sound/tone/whatever that people LIKED. All their work after that till now has had varying sounds, with a more mellow Load and a highly aggressive yet ultimately bland St. Anger. The first thing I thought after listening to Death Magnetic (in actual fact it's the second thing after saying to myself "That was freakin' savage" was that it was a return to form for the lads. Death Magnetic - to me - sounds like it could have slotted anywhere in the Metallica timeline between Ride the Lightning and the Black Album. In fact, The Judas Kiss feels to me like the closest thing Metallica have written to the song ...And Justice for All.



One flaw with the songs off St. Anger was that they never felt nor sounded like they would be suitable for a live performance. Metallica's first 5 albums all feel natural for a live performance, and Death Magnetic certainly feels like the whole album could be played live aswell. The line "Show you scars!!" in Broken, Beat and Scarred is just screaming to be played in front of an audience to let everyone sing, much like the low-key chants of "Luck....runs...out...." in All Nightmare Long. The chorus for Cyanide and The Judas Kiss feel like they could be sung much in the same way as the chorus for Master of Puppets and Creeping Death. That interaction between the live performance and the crowd is what helps the success of Metallica songs in the fan's eyes, yet another element to why St. Anger failed.



You will also notice that Metallica have reintroduced complex riffs and variations in sound throughout the songs, much like they did in their early work, again annexing themselves from the overly simplistic and repetitive nature of St. Anger. There is a sense of continutity between this album and the better previous ones with The Unforgiven III - a song I highly anticipated prior to the release - the only song on the album which could possibly be called a ballad. It doesn't necessarily sound like The Unforgiven and The Unforgiven II but it feels like them. My suggestion is that you listen to all 3 (probably on Youtube) to see what I mean. Suicide and Redemption is also the first instrumental Metallica have written since To Live is to Die from ...And Justice for All. It is as though the band listened to the cries of the fans for a return to glory and I personally feel they have answered those cries exceptionally.



I could continue to waffle on for longer but I personally recommend listening to the album at the link above. If I was to grade Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice for All and the Black Album with 5 out of 5 stars, St. Anger with one, and Load and Reload with 3 stars, then Death Magnetic would certainly garner 4 (if not 5) stars from me. Hopefully this is a harbinger for future albums to come from the boyz...and not have to wait 5 years for the next one!



~The Damo