THE JUDAS KISS

Of what I've heard off of 'Death Magnetic,' this is definately one of the highlights. At a length of eight minutes, there is definately some real development going on here, and a real improvement from the sort of material we've come to expect from Metallica the past few years. Some speedy riffs and atonal guitar harmonies make for a great way to start an 'epic' song. There's even quite a bit of odd time work here during the instrumental sections.

Listening to 'The Judas Kiss,' it actually sounds alot like what Dream Theater (specifically 'Constant Motion') would sound like if they were fronted by James Hetfield. While the song is primarily fast-paced and heavy, a good vocal hook or two is still allowed to come through and give the song a more memorable dimension.

The second half of the song is splattered with guitar solos at the hand of Kirk Hammett. While I usually find his soloing style very dry and inconsequential, he manages to throw in some recurring themes in his work at the axe, which makes the soloing more effective.

With Metallica finally beginning to adopt complex song structures and longer lengths into their mix, it's exciting to think what might lie in store for the band.

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