Warner
2008
1. That Was Just Your Life
2. The End of the Line
3. Broken, Beat & 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
This review is brought to you by insomnia and boredom as I sit here unable to sleep. Really there's probably little else that would motivate me to listen to a Metallica album these days. Count me among those who have always considered them overrated even at their best and that was some time ago. However, after the colossal failure that was St. Anger I suppose this band has nowhere to go but up and if I could listen to that one all the way through then I must be able to make it through just about Anything. Granted it did take several tries...
With that out of the way, onto Death Magnetic which features new producer Rick Rubin as Bob Rock and his trash can drums got their pink slip. The sound improvement was expected and obvious from the start which has got to at least make this album a step up. The sound of St. Anger rendered it unlistenable even if their were good songs (but that's a big if). This album did shock me from the get go though as the first track actually rips in pure thrash fashion. Not since And Justice For All has Metallica released anything that remotely sounds like That Was Just Your Life and it actually got my head moving. The song is memorable, thrashy, the leads are good, and Hetfield doesn't try to "sing"... excellent. The End Of The Line and Broken, Beat, & Scarred inject more groove into the mix but also come off as heavy and have their faster moments. Tracks like these are definitely better than they've been doing and I can't complain. These two songs basically sound like something that could be from a mid to late 90s thrash album. From there The Day that never comes slows things down a bit with a semi-ballad that sounds more familiar in terms of recent Metallica with a load/reload whiff about it. Unsurprisingly this is the single and even less so is the fact I don't really care for it. All Nightmare Long picks things back up though which another thrashy number that is pretty unrelenting and worthy, if not quite as old school sounding as the opener.
With a pretty decent first half out of the way, things kinda take a down turn from here as Cyanide and The Judas Kiss don't really keep up the intensity/heavy sound of the first half and feel more like the heavy Attempts of the load/reload era. Neither of these songs is actively bad and certainly don't match the worst on either of those, but they're more or less just there. Wedged inbetween is the track Unforgiven 3 which is a slower number and about as inspired as the name. Following these tracks is Suicide & Redemption which isn't a bad instrumental but is very bloated at nearly 10 minutes and mostly feels like filler. Closing out the album is My Apocalypse which tries to pick up the heavy speed again, but more or less drops the ball and sounds forced.
I don't normally go into the track by track bit, but with the varying touches of newer and older I thought Death Magnetic merited the attention to detail. So with the review varying in praise and boredom from track to track where does this one finish? Well nothing on here annoyed me and I actually enjoyed some tracks which is way more than can be said for a Metallica album since The Black Album for me. I can't say this is a total return to form and we'll likely never see Metallica as a 'pure' thrash band again, but this should still be pretty pleasing fans who were able to endure load & reload. This could even bring back some disenchanted fans of the thrash era if you're willing to accept some change. I don't think anyone will really rank this with the classics, but it's a positive turn for the band if nothing else. Basically, I think some Metallica fans will just be happy they put out something that doesn't suck.
Highlights: That Was Just Your Life, All Nightmare Long
Rating - 3.0/5
2. The End of the Line
3. Broken, Beat & 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
This review is brought to you by insomnia and boredom as I sit here unable to sleep. Really there's probably little else that would motivate me to listen to a Metallica album these days. Count me among those who have always considered them overrated even at their best and that was some time ago. However, after the colossal failure that was St. Anger I suppose this band has nowhere to go but up and if I could listen to that one all the way through then I must be able to make it through just about Anything. Granted it did take several tries...
With that out of the way, onto Death Magnetic which features new producer Rick Rubin as Bob Rock and his trash can drums got their pink slip. The sound improvement was expected and obvious from the start which has got to at least make this album a step up. The sound of St. Anger rendered it unlistenable even if their were good songs (but that's a big if). This album did shock me from the get go though as the first track actually rips in pure thrash fashion. Not since And Justice For All has Metallica released anything that remotely sounds like That Was Just Your Life and it actually got my head moving. The song is memorable, thrashy, the leads are good, and Hetfield doesn't try to "sing"... excellent. The End Of The Line and Broken, Beat, & Scarred inject more groove into the mix but also come off as heavy and have their faster moments. Tracks like these are definitely better than they've been doing and I can't complain. These two songs basically sound like something that could be from a mid to late 90s thrash album. From there The Day that never comes slows things down a bit with a semi-ballad that sounds more familiar in terms of recent Metallica with a load/reload whiff about it. Unsurprisingly this is the single and even less so is the fact I don't really care for it. All Nightmare Long picks things back up though which another thrashy number that is pretty unrelenting and worthy, if not quite as old school sounding as the opener.
With a pretty decent first half out of the way, things kinda take a down turn from here as Cyanide and The Judas Kiss don't really keep up the intensity/heavy sound of the first half and feel more like the heavy Attempts of the load/reload era. Neither of these songs is actively bad and certainly don't match the worst on either of those, but they're more or less just there. Wedged inbetween is the track Unforgiven 3 which is a slower number and about as inspired as the name. Following these tracks is Suicide & Redemption which isn't a bad instrumental but is very bloated at nearly 10 minutes and mostly feels like filler. Closing out the album is My Apocalypse which tries to pick up the heavy speed again, but more or less drops the ball and sounds forced.
I don't normally go into the track by track bit, but with the varying touches of newer and older I thought Death Magnetic merited the attention to detail. So with the review varying in praise and boredom from track to track where does this one finish? Well nothing on here annoyed me and I actually enjoyed some tracks which is way more than can be said for a Metallica album since The Black Album for me. I can't say this is a total return to form and we'll likely never see Metallica as a 'pure' thrash band again, but this should still be pretty pleasing fans who were able to endure load & reload. This could even bring back some disenchanted fans of the thrash era if you're willing to accept some change. I don't think anyone will really rank this with the classics, but it's a positive turn for the band if nothing else. Basically, I think some Metallica fans will just be happy they put out something that doesn't suck.
Highlights: That Was Just Your Life, All Nightmare Long
Rating - 3.0/5
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