September 11, 2008

  • Metallica's ninth studio album of original material; "Death Magnetic" is finally here, and it's really really good. The band's reputation as a metal band or as rock icons are pretty much riding on this release. Much has been scrutinized about the band and it's music, all the way back to their first slow song with "Ride The Lightning's" "Fade To Black," leaving their thrash metal roots behind with their self-titled album also known as "the Black Album," cutting their hair and embracing a more alternative sound with "Load" and "ReLoad," the napster file-sharing debacle, and ofcourse the negatively criticized 7th album "St.Anger" (which I actually liked, for what it was). Now enter Rick Rubin, who is the producer for Death Magnetic, and who replaced Metallica's previous long time producer Bob Rock. If there is one person who can make Metallica's newest album stand up against all the haters out there, it's the very eclectic and very respected Rick Rubin.

    The direction that Rubin wanted to bring to Metallica was to recapture the spirit of their '80s albums and it really shows. Death Magnetic sounds heavily influenced by their 3rd and 4th album "Master of Puppets," and "...And Justice For All" respectively. This is most apparent with the song "The Day That Never Comes," with it's slow rocking first half but thrashing solo second half that was also found with "One." The '80s was also heavy on the thrash metal sound and "My Apocalypse" definitely fits that sub-genre, and in fact sounds almost like another Rick Rubin produced thrash metal band; Slayer. To completely follow the formula of their albums from that era, Death Magnetic also contains the riff heavy "Suicide & Redemption," which is Metallica's first instrumental song since "To Live Is To Die" from 1988.

    Metallica's newest album isn't completely entrenched in the 1980s however, because bits of pieces from the past four albums are still present. Just look at the slowest (but still heavy) song of the album; "The Unforgiven III," which contains a piano and brass section, and connects back to their self-titled album and "ReLoad." Their previous album "St.Anger" has even left a mark in "Death Magnetic," because both albums seems to have the issue of having songs that may sound much longer than they have to be. Seven out of the ten songs go past seven minutes long, with the shortest song being five
    minutes long. A song like "The End Of The Line" definitely questions why some of the songs are so lenghty, what with it's seemingly false ending that leads
    to a portion that sounds like it could have been from another song.
    Add this with Metallica's tendency for long intros, or sometimes having two intros to a song, and the length of the songs
    becomes one of the first flaws to notice from this album. I have to admit however, that
    after the third, fifth, and tenth time listening to "Death Magnetic," the
    length of the songs don't seem to be much of a problem anymore, and in fact starts making sense as to why they are that long.

    As for the band members themselves, James Hetfield may be past his prime as a singer, but his unique metal voice still works like a charm, capable of handling some fierce immediate sounding verses like the ones found in "That Was Just Your Life."  Lars Ulrich's drumming doesn't stray far from what can be traditionally found in
    metal, but definitely great enough for mosh worthy drumming sections
    like in "All Nightmare Long." Kirk Hammett is back doing solo guitar work again, with a more spontaneous sound harking back to an album like "Kill 'em All," but still with a hint of some deliberate work as demostrated in the song "The Judas Kiss." Newest Metallica bass guitar player Robert Trujillo got to contribute some of his funky and groovy musical background to the album as well, as evidence by a song like "Cyanide."

    A fact that can't be ignored is the fact that these songs are going to sound really great in a live environment, especially with songs like "Broken, Beat, and Scarred" that should easily get the audience yelling "Show Your Scars!" Although I'm really loving the album (probably my most favorite of the year) what with it's catchy choruses, awesome riffs, and driving headbanging sound, it's still too early to tell whether Death Magnetic will stand the test of time as another must have classic metal album to add to all metal-heads' collections. One things for sure though, Death Magnetic definitely has more in common with Metallica's first four albums than the Black Album or any album past that ever did, and we have Rick Rubin to thank for that.

    - track listing for Death Magnetic -
    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 & Redemption
    10) My Apocalypse