ST. ANGER

"St. Anger" is the 8th full-length studio album by US heavy metal/ thrash metal act Metallica. The album was released in June 2003 by Vertigo Records. Bassist Jason Newsted left Metallica shortly before the sessions for the album began. Details about the split are documented in the "Some Kind of Monster (2004)" documentary. The recording sessions for the album began on the 24th of April 2001 but a couple of months into the sessions Metallica had to take a lengthy break from the studio as lead vocalist/ guitarist James Hetfield went into rehab for alcoholism. The break lasted about a year before a sober James Hetfield returned and the sessions started up again. Producer Bob Rock plays the bass on the album as the band opted not to hire a new bassist before after the release of "St. Anger".

The music on the album is the most aggressive the band has released since "...and Justice for All (1988)", so the title of the album suits the music well. Metallica made a deliberate attempt at trying something new on the album. There are for example no guitar solos on the album and influences the NU-Metal/alternative metal end of the metal spectrum are obvious IMO. This is still unmistakably the sound of Metallica though. Something is not right though and overall "St. Anger" is not the most interesting/successful album in the world. For starters the 11 tracks on the album overstay their welcome by a couple of minutes and while the tracks do hold some strong elements (they are few but there) they come off as rather weak in comparison to the songs on earlier releases by the band. A way too long playing time of 75:01 minutes doesn´t do anything to save an already weak release. Why Oh why release a 75 minute long album when you only have quality material (well... almost decent material) for 35 minutes?

The worst thing about "St. Anger" is the production though. It´s messy and noisy. Quite the abomination if you ask me. I don´t think I´ve ever heard a snare drum sound as atrocious as the one of this album. It sounds like Lars Ulrich is beating an oil barrel to death. So while the music has some redeeming qualities there´s nothing positive to say about the sound on the album. It really drags my rating down a lot.

When I listened to "St. Anger" upon it´s release I remember I was greatly disappointed. I was more positive after listening to it again before this review but it is still the weakest album in Metallica´s discography and the last album by the band that I would advice people to listen to. A 1.5 - 2 star rating is warranted.