So, Metallica recently released their new album, entitled Death Magnetic. I love the cover, shown below, for the sole reason that as a EE it kills me that they included the flux lines flowing to and from the coffin/grave. It cracks me up every time.
Tracklist:
01. That Was Just Your Life (7:08)
02. The End Of The Line (7:52)
03. Broken, Beat, & Scarred (6:25)
04. The Day That Never Comes (7:56)
05. All Nightmare Long (7:57)
06. Cyanide (6:39)
07. The Unforgiven III (7:46)
08. The Judas Kiss (8:00)
09. Suicide & Redemption (9:57)
10. My Apocalypse (5:01)
The Metallica Problem: The History
As I was listening to this album, the first Metallica effort that has piqued my interest since 1996's predominantly abysmal Load (very appropriately titled), I found myself facing the same quandary that practically every old-school Metallica fan faces: the near complete inability to judge this album on its own merit, without mentally alluding back to the glory of the 80's, the disappointment of the 90's, or the utter PR nightmare and subsequent mockery of the early 2000's. Of all the bands I've followed, none have gone through such a huge change in public perception. Their fall from the heavy metal throne has been historic: they've been deified, vilified, and crucified, all with good reason. They defined and perfected a genre with sweat, drive, and uncompromising will, only to abandon it in favor of a few lucrative years with a business model where marketing and mass appeal outranked any kind of creative progression. And at the end of their day in the sun, as public interest predictably shifted towards younger, more highly advertised acts, they spurned the opportunity to rekindle that fire, lesson learned, and instead chose to play victim and lash out. The result was a muddled mess of a record and a disgraced reputation, which nearly caused the band to implode completely and seemed to finally mark their tragic end. It all sounds so melodramatic, I know, but the magnitude of their original greatness combined with the significant bitterness from this eventual fallout is exactly what defines the core of The Metallica Problem.
For fans such as myself, The Metallica Problem ultimately manifests as the inability to define exactly how we feel about the band. We can't hate them for what they've become, their early greatness and profound effect on the metal genre is far too great to deny; but we can't unconditionally love them as we once did, they've put themselves on a golden pedestal and have become far too detached from what originally made them so great. We can't automatically give their new attempts the benefit of the doubt, the disappointments of their blatantly watered down commercial ventures are too fresh in our memories; yet we find ourselves unable to give up hope that maybe, just maybe, they will come to their senses and return to their devastating form. We find it difficult to listen to their golden era material without feeling a sting of regret; and what little decent material they have managed to put out in recent years is tainted by the belief that, had the band simply chosen to do so, it could have been so much better. This kind of emotional baggage is exhausting. Its enough to make me want to grab the band by the throat and throttle some sense into them. "Dammit guys, what the hell are you doing?? STOP BEING LAME! JUST.......BE COOL! GAH!!"
So what does this have to do with anything? Well, mainly this historically-skewed and factually-biased rant serves to clear my own head before any kind of objective-ish assessment can be made of any new Metallica material these days (and I suspect this kind of continual catharsis is necessary for many old Metallica fans). I perpetually hope that their new stuff will be as good as I know Metallica can be, while simultaneously fearing that it will be as bad as I also know Metallica can be.
That being said, what do I make of Death Magnetic? Being as objective as I can be, I will say this: it is good. In some places its damn good, in some its damn bad, but overall I would say that the album is solid. Naturally, it doesn't come anywhere near the first four albums, but its certainly better than Load/Reload and St. Anger. I'm not sure where it stands in comparison to the black album, its better in some ways but a little worse in others.
Sonically, the album is the best Metallica has done since ...And Justice For All. Most songs are pretty fast with a good amount of prolonged thrashing. Hetfield's rhythm guitar riffage is pretty satisfying and Hammett is finally let off his leash to go completely shred it. There aren't a ton of progressions within the songs, but when there is a bit of a riff or tempo change the transitions do tend to be nicely executed. There are a couple moments where Trujillo's bass comes in as a bit of a lead for a transition or an intro, and when these happen they are pretty cool. Mostly, though, the bass doesn't really stand out, and instead just plays a supporting role for the rhythm guitar. The drums are energetic, and punctuate the heavy rhythm nicely. Metallica has never been much into odd time signatures or anything, so the drumming has never been a defining element to their sound, but Ulrich keeps time well enough and sufficiently maintains the energy of the songs.
I would say that the only slight downside to the sound of this album is that they still don't have that serious, menacing tone that they had on the 80's albums. They're rocking hard, they're tearing things up, but the music doesn't have that intense sense of purpose and drive like it had before. It sounds more like they are just rocking for rock's sake, kind of a looser cowboy'ish "woo-hoo yeah lets rock" type attitude as opposed to the "we're angry, we're going to unleash the fury and you're going to feel it" type of attitude like what they originally had. I won't necessarily ding them completely for this difference in feel, I just mention it because it is one tangible difference that does remain. (The tone is still much better than the watered down "pop metal" attitude of the 90's stuff, though).
Vocally, the album is OK. Hetfield approaches the vocals the same way he did on the 90's albums, mainly a barking style that in some undefined way is not quite as good as on the 80's albums, with a few attempts at singing completely cleanly in there. The vocals don't really bother me much, he doesn't have an awesome voice, but I don't find it to be terrible either. However, while the vocals themselves aren't horrible, they do open the door for the major fault of this album, which leads me to my next point.
The main problem with this album is that lameness just seems to somehow creep in at times. Almost every song has one lame moment or characteristic that keeps the song from kicking ass from start to finish. For the most part, the lameness in question presents itself in one of two forms:
So what does this have to do with anything? Well, mainly this historically-skewed and factually-biased rant serves to clear my own head before any kind of objective-ish assessment can be made of any new Metallica material these days (and I suspect this kind of continual catharsis is necessary for many old Metallica fans). I perpetually hope that their new stuff will be as good as I know Metallica can be, while simultaneously fearing that it will be as bad as I also know Metallica can be.
Death Magnetic: The Review
That being said, what do I make of Death Magnetic? Being as objective as I can be, I will say this: it is good. In some places its damn good, in some its damn bad, but overall I would say that the album is solid. Naturally, it doesn't come anywhere near the first four albums, but its certainly better than Load/Reload and St. Anger. I'm not sure where it stands in comparison to the black album, its better in some ways but a little worse in others.
Sonically, the album is the best Metallica has done since ...And Justice For All. Most songs are pretty fast with a good amount of prolonged thrashing. Hetfield's rhythm guitar riffage is pretty satisfying and Hammett is finally let off his leash to go completely shred it. There aren't a ton of progressions within the songs, but when there is a bit of a riff or tempo change the transitions do tend to be nicely executed. There are a couple moments where Trujillo's bass comes in as a bit of a lead for a transition or an intro, and when these happen they are pretty cool. Mostly, though, the bass doesn't really stand out, and instead just plays a supporting role for the rhythm guitar. The drums are energetic, and punctuate the heavy rhythm nicely. Metallica has never been much into odd time signatures or anything, so the drumming has never been a defining element to their sound, but Ulrich keeps time well enough and sufficiently maintains the energy of the songs.
I would say that the only slight downside to the sound of this album is that they still don't have that serious, menacing tone that they had on the 80's albums. They're rocking hard, they're tearing things up, but the music doesn't have that intense sense of purpose and drive like it had before. It sounds more like they are just rocking for rock's sake, kind of a looser cowboy'ish "woo-hoo yeah lets rock" type attitude as opposed to the "we're angry, we're going to unleash the fury and you're going to feel it" type of attitude like what they originally had. I won't necessarily ding them completely for this difference in feel, I just mention it because it is one tangible difference that does remain. (The tone is still much better than the watered down "pop metal" attitude of the 90's stuff, though).
Vocally, the album is OK. Hetfield approaches the vocals the same way he did on the 90's albums, mainly a barking style that in some undefined way is not quite as good as on the 80's albums, with a few attempts at singing completely cleanly in there. The vocals don't really bother me much, he doesn't have an awesome voice, but I don't find it to be terrible either. However, while the vocals themselves aren't horrible, they do open the door for the major fault of this album, which leads me to my next point.
The main problem with this album is that lameness just seems to somehow creep in at times. Almost every song has one lame moment or characteristic that keeps the song from kicking ass from start to finish. For the most part, the lameness in question presents itself in one of two forms:
- Lame lyrics: sometimes the lyrics do reach a level of cheese that is hard to ignore. The lyrics are by no means all bad all the time, there are just moments where you think "that's really the best Hetfield could come up with?" Not to say he's ever been a master poet, but in the hey-day his lyrics were at least relevant to the topic at hand and nearly always clever. He always at least sounded like he was a pretty intelligent guy. He wouldn't ruin a perfectly good rocking moment by bellowing some cheesy cliche.
- Lame chorus/verse melody: there are times where a song will have a decent intro, and some really strong riffage and solo'ing, but the melody during the verse/chorus "core" of the song is just super weak. "The Day That Never Comes" is a good example of this. I like the lighter intro well enough, and the last few minutes of the song absolutely destroy, but I cannot stand the core of the song. ("The Day That Never Comes" is also a good example of Lame Form #1, Lame Lyrics. Just listen to the part that starts with "love is a four letter word", you'll see what I mean. Good grief.)
- Death Magnetic: The Lyrically Erroneous
- Death Magnetic: Hetfield's Guitar (Yes!) vs. Hetfield's Mouth (No!)
- Death Magnetic: Pin The Tail (Lame Chorus) On The Donkey (Otherwise Ass-kicking Song)
- Death Magnetic: God, Kicking Ass Feels Good, But We Don't Wanna Lose All Those Reload Fans, Do We?
- Death Magnetic: The Amazing Instrumental Album That Wasn't
- 01. That Was Just Your Life: Good intro, good and thrashy rhythm, barking style vocals for the most part. Chorus is nothing special, but it doesn't stand out and ruin the song. Guitar solo is fairly short, and pretty much keeps with the rhythm and pace of the song. No surprises here, but a solid start to the album. Solid song overall.
- 02. The End Of The Line: Intro is a little choppy. Rhythm during the choruses is nothing special, but the choppy guitar at the end of each verse is cool. Vocals are a little more drawn out than the first track, the chorus is maybe a little dumber, but nothing too bad. The stuttering guitar work leading into the solo is cool, and the solo progresses pretty nicely a few times before returning to the stuttering guitar. Song gets mellow for a moment and the vocals get a bit dumb here, with something about the "slave becomes the master." Grrr, they kinda killed their own momentum with that. Returns to the rhythm of the song and would end strongly if only Hetfield would stop yelling "end of the line." Decently solid song overall, though.
- 03. Broken, Beat, & Scarred: Another choppy intro, with a pretty nice slippery rhythm leading into the verses, and good crunchy rhythm during the verses. Unfortunately, the dumb lyrics kick in pretty quick, "what don't kill ya, make ya more strong." Nice rocking during the chorus, but again the dumb lyrics "show your scars, we die hard." Good crunchy rhythm leads into the solo. Solo is pretty damn cool, pretty straightforward ripping by Hammett, interrupted a couple times by the whole thing quickly deconstructing and then resuming. Rhythm actually progresses a little here, with a slight key change thrown in. Actually feels for a moment like an old-school 80's Metallica moment. Returns to the chorus and ends on a strong rocking rampage. Solid song, would be really good if it was instrumental.
- 04. The Day That Never Comes: Lighter intro, don't mind it so much, but it leads into extremely lame verses and chorus, of the power-ballady variety. Lots of the famous grunty Hetfield "-AHH!" appended to the end of each verse. Through the core of the song, this sounds just like what a Metallica parody would sound like. Halfway through the song, the rocking starts to kick in, giving hope, but then leads into really lame lyrics about "love is a four letter word". After some nearly intolerable yelling about "this I swear!", the song jumps into a jackhammer rhythm, following by some dual guitar stuff, then alternates between higher solo stuff and good crunchy rhythm, all at a pretty fast pace. If the whole song was like this last couple minutes it would be cool, but unfortunately more than half of the song is really lame, so I'll most likely usually skip this track. Another good instrumental candidate.
- 05. All Nightmare Long: Lame title, but good bass intro, jumping directly into really fast thrashy guitar stuff. Reminds me a bit of something from ...And Justice For All for a bit. Vocals during the verses are good, reminiscent of old stuff. Vocals during the chorus are a little more annoying, but don't completely kill it for me. Guitar solo winds around a bit and back into the rhythm, which progresses a little bit before jumping into some good jack-hammering guitar. Big pause, then back into the chorus. A little lame for a brief moment, but whatever, it passes and gets back to some good thrashy stuff and winding guitar before ending. Solid song.
- 06. Cyanide: Intro is OK, nothing special, leads into some pretty generic rhythm stuff. Verses are pretty lame, guitar is nothing special. Chorus is annoying, guitar riff during it is OK but doesn't last long. Major 90's Metallica moment in the middle where the guitars mostly melt away and its just a mellow bass line with Hetfield singing. I can't get into this song, the guitars are sometimes cool-ish, but choppy and brief. The solo rocks out a little more for a short bit, but doesn't really seem to have anything to do with the rest of the song. Then back into the core rhythm and more vocals. Meh, this song does nothing for me. It doesn't even have the over-compensation ass-kicking at the end like "The Day That Never Comes" does. I'll end up usually skipping this one.
- 07. The Unforgiven III: Given the title of this one, I fully expect it to be terrible, but I actually end up liking it. The intro is atrocious, a very generic string arrangement with some piano, and a horribly misplaced horn actually coming in at about 40 seconds. However, the bass comes in nicely at about a minute, and leads into the first verse. The vocals of the verses are a bit of 90's Metallica-ish, but the guitar riff during it absolutely rips, it really hits me the right way. The chorus is mellow, and a little contrived. Some people will definitely dislike this song and identify it with some of their 90's watered down stuff, but it actually works OK for me between the ripping during the verses. A little bit of cheesy "forgive me, forgive me not" lyrics, but that leads into some absolute shredding by Hammett with the same kickass rhythm rip going on. Back into the mellower vocals before ending the song, but it doesn't bother me. The lyrics are not too bad, the melody is slightly on the cheesy side, but I find it tolerable. Overall, I surprisingly really like this song, although I'm sure a lot of people will not.
- 08. The Judas Kiss: Good intro, reminds me a bit of their earlier stuff. A bit stuttery, reminds me a little of "Leper Messiah". Decent rhythm, barking vocals for the most part, with a little melody going on at the end of each verse that I actually like. Stuttery guitar leads into some good thrashy rhythm during the chorus, which stutters again and goes back to the core rhythm. Solo starts with some sweet isolated guitar, joined shortly by some solid stuttery rhythm, and then everything launches into some fast-paced rocking. Brief interruption by Hetfield yelling something a little cheesy about "I'm your new god now", and then back into the rocking solo stuff. The sonic tone of this song reminds me quite a bit of ...And Justice For All. Good song, I like this one quite a bit too.
- 09. Suicide & Redemption: Hey now, an instrumental song! I'm glad that they've gone back to including an instrumental song, and as I've mentioned above I think they would have done well to include more. This song has some good solid riffage, although its a bit disjointed for the first couple minutes and its unclear whether the song is actually going anywhere. Slides into a mellow bit towards the middle, with some nice solo stuff going on over lightly accoustic-ish rhythm, then into some nicely building harmonizing guitar work. Builds nicely up and then drops into some pretty mean grindy rhythm guitar with some slightly eerie toned solo guitar with moments of feedback for a bit. For a moment it sounds vaguely Tool-ish, then into some good wailing guitar. This is some really good stuff here, progressing through different rhythms punctuated by double-kick drums and lead guitar popping in and out, then back to the original crunchy rhythm. Nice. Song kind of gets choppy and deconstructed, then back into the original crunchy rhythm again on the way out. Excellent song, once it really got started. I really really like this one.
- 10. My Apocalypse: Nice powerful intro, leading into some good thrashy rhythm. Good barking vocals, chorus is short and sweet, no issues. After a couple quick verses, rhythm continues at good pace, with some nice winding guitar woven in there. Some quick good vocals, then a good solid solo with the same break-neck rhythm going. Goes into some nice stuttery guitar, followed by alternating vocals and winding guitar. Back to the normal verse-chorus structure at the end, with more ass-kicking rhythm. Song finishes off with some nice jackhammer guitar going on. This is a good solid end-of-the-album rocker, much in the spirit of "Damage, Inc." or "Dyer's Eve", I really like this track.
Dare I say my faith in Metallica may be a bit restored, however slightly? Hmmm..... I am optimistic. Very cautiously optimistic, but optimistic nonetheless.
