DEATH MAGNETIC

Metallica

Prog Related

3.31 | 464 ratings

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Zitro
Prog Reviewer

An admirable attempt at returning to their glory years.

The opener tells you immediately that this is not the Metallica of the 90s nor St. Anger. The first minute is influenced by prog, having two distinct creepy motifs playing in harmony and then having two new bone-crushing riffs on top. Best introduction I ever heard on a Metallica album and the song itself is fast-paced, complex, unpredictable, and with a sense of musicality and melody. This song is a classic, almost as good as their best songs from the 80s.

Unfortunately, this is the best song here, but most of the songs here keep the complex song structures and should please Metallica fans. You can notice Hetfield returning to his roots, Hammett playing solos and trash riffs again. The closer "My Apocalypse" should please almost everyone: a brutal tune with excellent guitars and a very fine performance by Hetfield.

Some of their weaknesses come back tho: the inaudible bass *sigh*, and Ulrich sounding mediocre, especially in the second half of the One-inspired "The Day that Never Comes" where he plays a boring beat for almost four minutes. Also, there is not a lot of variation in the album, but I can say the same thing for any of the classic-era albums. You'll also notice atrocious production where it really seems like they played really loudly then tried to compress and compress. I know it's supposed to sound raw, but with a bit of polishing and common sense, you can make the album sound meaner, darker, heavier, without losing the rawness.

In Summary:

The excellent: "That was Just Your Life"

The very good: "My Apocalypse"

The good: "The End of the Line", "The Day That Never Comes", "Cyanide", "The Judas Kiss"

The decent: "Broken Beat and Scarred", "Unforgiven 3", "All Nightmare Long", "Suicide and Redemption".

It is a flawed album, but this is still a step in the right direction for Metallica and trash-metal fans should try it.

Zitro | 3/5 | 2009-6-30

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