Post by Personnel Representative on Sept 8, 2008 1:56:31 GMT -5
CD Review: Metallica – Death Magnetic 2008
Track Listing:
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 and Redemption
10. My Apocalypse
As a whole, the album features mini riffs you’d expect to hear on at least one of their albums. Their progressing drum beats keep the music flowing well, while your foot continues to tap. Every song is done in true Metallica form, in the only way Metallica knows how to do it. The album sounds like a combination of the early days of Metallica “Kill ‘Em All” and “Ride the Lightning” mixed in with “Load” and “Re-Load”. A perfect combination, in my opinion, as I always felt Ride the Lightning and Load were the two best albums they released. But if you think you’ll be disappointed because it doesn’t have a lot of influence from the “Blackened” album, fear not, the breakdowns in every song sound like they were derived from that album. And yes, the solos are back, and they are back with a vengeance. The nice part is that not every solo is done specifically on a wah pedal, so it’s nice to hear Kirk go back to his roots a bit. This album wreaks of 80s metal. You can’t possibly ask for more as the band even had to cut 1 song from the album because the album was too long. The shortest song on the album is 5 minutes, and only that one song, My Apocalypse, is even in that minute time frame. The longest song reaches an incredible 10 minutes in length almost exactly. They put everything they could for their fans into this one. I hope this band still has 1 more album left in them, but in going every 5 years, we won’t likely see it until 2013. Thank you Metallica for delivering once again, and hopefully this will erase the memories of “St. Anger”. Overall: 8/10.
That Was Just Your Life:
A great introductory track that reminded me a lot of “Welcome Home/Sanitarium”. After their record producer had them listen to all of their initial records for months when writing this album, it’s safe to say they rediscovered themselves. This song pulls you into the album, immediately shaking any thoughts you had and making you focus on everything that is this band, and specifically, this album. It’s not an angry album by any means, but it’s more of a “we’re here, so shut the fuck up and listen” kind of album… the best kind. And yes, you’ll love Lars’ double foot pedal beats in this one. After the song kicks into its own, it takes on a bit of a power metal/thrash metal feel. I haven’t heard James sound this good since he performed with the San Francisco symphony. Then kicks in the double guitar solos and off the song goes again, driving itself into even more speed and kick ass solos. The song is 7 minutes packed of energy and awesome.
The End of the Line:
Definitely a song that should have been on the “Re-Load” album. It sounds a hell of a lot like “Fuel” crossed with “Sad But True”, and I know what you’re thinking. “It can’t possibly sound like that”, but I kid you not. These songs are so uniquely entwined with several different feels that I just have a hard time complaining about how they did it. They are certainly proving that they are not done in the music world. They clearly still have a lot of creativity left in them. So the song reaches its breaking point, and what’s there to catch it? How about another double guitar solo followed by a sick wah solo? Yeah that sounds about right. This song marches, yes marches, to the big secondary break down – a pull from the song “St. Anger” itself, with busting guitars and crushing splash crash grabs. Then they slow it down to a soft boiling point for the man singing. “Drop the hour glass of time, spinning sand we will not find. As we gather here today, we bid farewell, the slave becomes the master”. The slave becomes the master alright, and he busts out proving it with a chorus bursting with more energy and angst. How can you resist James yelling at you “you’ve reached the end of the line!”
Broken, Beat and Scarred:
It’s simply “Enter Sandman” meets “Battery”. I’m more and more impressed as the album progresses. The repeated lyrics of “rise, fall down, and rise again” is so damn fitting for this song, while the bass really drives the thick head banging power of the song. I never thought I’d ever hear Hetfield say “yeah, they rape me” in a song before followed by “we die hard!” And I think we all know what comes after a comment like that… yup, another power break down with a big time sweeping solo. The drums kick it up a notch, a kick ass breakdown during the solo for a few seconds giving it a real dark feel, and then jumping back into the speed of “Battery”. Hetfield reaching old high notes again, still informing you that they “die hard” right to the very end.
The Day that Never Comes:
In my opinion, the band led the album off with the wrong song. This sounds an awful lot like “Fade to Black” with solos from “One”, but including the words “love is a four letter word and never spoken here” just sort of fell off the block for me, and is the reason why I consider this to be possibly the worst song on the album. It’s got a nice feel, yeah, but it lacks heart. The breakdown in the song to when it turns to thrash again just falls off the block for me. This should have been the song they cut from the album. Hearing this one makes me wish I was able to hear the one they cut, because it could not have possibly been as bad as this song. It gets old very fast. Then they do this power riff scale run near the end of the song and drive right into another solo. Just more useless musical inclusion. I can’t stress how much this song just gets annoying after a while. Once you hear the rest of the album, as I’m sure many of you have at least heard this one from their video, you’ll get my point. This is the reason why I gave the overall album an 8/10. They truly, truly missed the boat on this one.
All Nightmare Long:
Sounds like a start to “Wherever I May Roam” branched into any song from “Kill ‘Em All”. Nice thick deep guitar and bass sounds run into thrash metal. Great start, brings the whole uncontrollable head banging back into play. A great recovery song after the miserable “Day that Never Comes” disaster. Hetfield plays the part of the character that I’m sure everyone has experienced during a nightmare before, a crazy guy chasing you for some reason that you just can’t figure out. This song is designed to emphasize the chase, and you’re who they are chasing after. Has a bit of an “Of Wolf and Man” inclusion to it with the little bit of low voice talking. It’s 8 minutes of terror. “Cause we hunt you down without mercy, hunt you down all nightmare long”. And what’s a terrorizing song like without a big fucked up solo? As soon as the solo ends, oh yeah, the chase is back on… and so too is another solo backed by furious double kick beats. James incorporates the whole feel of waking up from the nightmare. You feel that pause, and when you try to go back to sleep, you somehow fall right back into that damn nightmare. He waits a few seconds for you, and as soon as you fall back asleep, he’s right there to yell at you that he’s hunting you again. This song is well done, and your imagination runs wild with it.
Cyanide:
A lot of live versions of this song leaked over the last month, and guess what… none of them did this song justice in the slightest. I can’t stress how much Hetfield sounds amazing on this album. “Suicide, I’ve already died, you’re just the fuel that I’ve been waiting for”. This song oozes of pure intensity. It gives you chills knowing Hetfield is just calling death on in a battle and telling him to fuck himself in the process. “Death, call your name!” And yeah, it has a big break down where it’s almost like James is crawling through the dark discussing what he’s seeing in hell, mocking its lack of terror despite all of its depression and sadness. This is by far one of the most complete and best songs I’ve heard in ages. Everything is perfectly timed, and perfectly placed. And the double guitar solo just screams so high for the brief seconds it climbs into the song. This is the song that drives this album, and as I said, the live version just doesn’t cut it. If you’re into tattoos, get this title on you somewhere.
The Unforgiven III:
To me, this was the song I was waiting to hear. I’m a huge fan of the first 2, and wondering what this one would sound like was driving me crazy with anticipation. This is Metallica’s baby; a song that sagas their entire career. And how could they start it any way than a symphony and piano kicking it off ever so smoothly. It’s almost as if Michael Cane is alive again, it just feels right. [For those of you who have no idea who Michael Cane is, go research him now.]This song creeps onto you like a disease, a welcomed disease. And in true “Unforgiven” fashion, it leads off with heavy verses and soft choruses. The soft guitar riffs run so smoothly together, while the bass gives it the power it needs to make a point. The song progresses to a soft build up with James practically begging you to “forgive” him. And he tops if off with a high screaming demanding “forgive me!” and it leads perfectly into a solo. It hits home. This is definitely the conclusion to the “Unforgiven” series, and it couldn’t have been done any better. Definitely worth the wait and endless hours of anticipation I’ve suffered through.
The Judas Kiss:
The song starts off like a warning. The guitar riff is sort of calling out whatever it is that lurks in the darkness. “So what now? We’re not wanted!” echoes off James’ tongue with so much passion that I’m beside myself. The song breaks to a pounding drive while Kirk throws in another wah solo for good use. “I’ve become your new God now” is yelled at you and followed by a solo by James himself. Then he passes is off to Kirk while the song pulls back once again, ready to deliver a little speech by James in true “Of Wolf and Man” form, yes, again, but he does it so well. As he concludes it, the song drives forward again, until it runs into its chorus. The whole band lets out an “Oh God!” And James finishes it off with a simple fact: “you can’t resist the Judas Kiss!”
Suicide and Redemption:
I never thought I would see the day a song would introduce itself the way “The Outlaw Torn” did, but instead of just the guitars busting it in, Robert Trujillo breaks it through with a thick and nasty bass solo entrance. The song then pours itself on the floor, stirs itself up, and serves itself to you on a silver platter. Did you like the heavy riffs in the “Call of Ktulu?” You did? Well, you’re in luck. This song is just pure solos and driving beats. Words could not suit this song better than the symphony of guitars that powers the meaning of this song right through your skull. Not to mention the nice little bass break down in the middle of it all. The purity of the sound will definitely hit home. It’s a ten minutes of pure kick ass musicality. Lars’ drumming is powerful but seems to take a back seat to the overall tone of the entire song. The band just comes alive in this song. Then Lars finally gives his own solo near the end, followed by a power breakdown, the same way the song began. You’ll be head banging slowly in no time.
My Apocalypse:
Another song that just didn’t do it for me. It was more of a, hey, let’s play really fast and yell shit and see what it sounds like. It’s thrash metal, but it just doesn’t have that extra something to make it that much better. Not the best way to end the album. Want more detail? It starts off like an 80s hair metal song, goes speedy, then after a little solo, it does this thick break down that sounds a lot like this: "Try not to waken my apocalypse... blah blah blah blah blah blah apocalypse... yell yell yell yell yell yell yell apocalypse... grr grr grr grr grr grr grr apocalyyyyyyypssssssseeeeeee uhhhhhhhhrrrr". No joke.
So go out and buy or download this album and see for yourself. That’s all for me. Take care for now.
Mike
Track Listing:
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 and Redemption
10. My Apocalypse
As a whole, the album features mini riffs you’d expect to hear on at least one of their albums. Their progressing drum beats keep the music flowing well, while your foot continues to tap. Every song is done in true Metallica form, in the only way Metallica knows how to do it. The album sounds like a combination of the early days of Metallica “Kill ‘Em All” and “Ride the Lightning” mixed in with “Load” and “Re-Load”. A perfect combination, in my opinion, as I always felt Ride the Lightning and Load were the two best albums they released. But if you think you’ll be disappointed because it doesn’t have a lot of influence from the “Blackened” album, fear not, the breakdowns in every song sound like they were derived from that album. And yes, the solos are back, and they are back with a vengeance. The nice part is that not every solo is done specifically on a wah pedal, so it’s nice to hear Kirk go back to his roots a bit. This album wreaks of 80s metal. You can’t possibly ask for more as the band even had to cut 1 song from the album because the album was too long. The shortest song on the album is 5 minutes, and only that one song, My Apocalypse, is even in that minute time frame. The longest song reaches an incredible 10 minutes in length almost exactly. They put everything they could for their fans into this one. I hope this band still has 1 more album left in them, but in going every 5 years, we won’t likely see it until 2013. Thank you Metallica for delivering once again, and hopefully this will erase the memories of “St. Anger”. Overall: 8/10.
That Was Just Your Life:
A great introductory track that reminded me a lot of “Welcome Home/Sanitarium”. After their record producer had them listen to all of their initial records for months when writing this album, it’s safe to say they rediscovered themselves. This song pulls you into the album, immediately shaking any thoughts you had and making you focus on everything that is this band, and specifically, this album. It’s not an angry album by any means, but it’s more of a “we’re here, so shut the fuck up and listen” kind of album… the best kind. And yes, you’ll love Lars’ double foot pedal beats in this one. After the song kicks into its own, it takes on a bit of a power metal/thrash metal feel. I haven’t heard James sound this good since he performed with the San Francisco symphony. Then kicks in the double guitar solos and off the song goes again, driving itself into even more speed and kick ass solos. The song is 7 minutes packed of energy and awesome.
The End of the Line:
Definitely a song that should have been on the “Re-Load” album. It sounds a hell of a lot like “Fuel” crossed with “Sad But True”, and I know what you’re thinking. “It can’t possibly sound like that”, but I kid you not. These songs are so uniquely entwined with several different feels that I just have a hard time complaining about how they did it. They are certainly proving that they are not done in the music world. They clearly still have a lot of creativity left in them. So the song reaches its breaking point, and what’s there to catch it? How about another double guitar solo followed by a sick wah solo? Yeah that sounds about right. This song marches, yes marches, to the big secondary break down – a pull from the song “St. Anger” itself, with busting guitars and crushing splash crash grabs. Then they slow it down to a soft boiling point for the man singing. “Drop the hour glass of time, spinning sand we will not find. As we gather here today, we bid farewell, the slave becomes the master”. The slave becomes the master alright, and he busts out proving it with a chorus bursting with more energy and angst. How can you resist James yelling at you “you’ve reached the end of the line!”
Broken, Beat and Scarred:
It’s simply “Enter Sandman” meets “Battery”. I’m more and more impressed as the album progresses. The repeated lyrics of “rise, fall down, and rise again” is so damn fitting for this song, while the bass really drives the thick head banging power of the song. I never thought I’d ever hear Hetfield say “yeah, they rape me” in a song before followed by “we die hard!” And I think we all know what comes after a comment like that… yup, another power break down with a big time sweeping solo. The drums kick it up a notch, a kick ass breakdown during the solo for a few seconds giving it a real dark feel, and then jumping back into the speed of “Battery”. Hetfield reaching old high notes again, still informing you that they “die hard” right to the very end.
The Day that Never Comes:
In my opinion, the band led the album off with the wrong song. This sounds an awful lot like “Fade to Black” with solos from “One”, but including the words “love is a four letter word and never spoken here” just sort of fell off the block for me, and is the reason why I consider this to be possibly the worst song on the album. It’s got a nice feel, yeah, but it lacks heart. The breakdown in the song to when it turns to thrash again just falls off the block for me. This should have been the song they cut from the album. Hearing this one makes me wish I was able to hear the one they cut, because it could not have possibly been as bad as this song. It gets old very fast. Then they do this power riff scale run near the end of the song and drive right into another solo. Just more useless musical inclusion. I can’t stress how much this song just gets annoying after a while. Once you hear the rest of the album, as I’m sure many of you have at least heard this one from their video, you’ll get my point. This is the reason why I gave the overall album an 8/10. They truly, truly missed the boat on this one.
All Nightmare Long:
Sounds like a start to “Wherever I May Roam” branched into any song from “Kill ‘Em All”. Nice thick deep guitar and bass sounds run into thrash metal. Great start, brings the whole uncontrollable head banging back into play. A great recovery song after the miserable “Day that Never Comes” disaster. Hetfield plays the part of the character that I’m sure everyone has experienced during a nightmare before, a crazy guy chasing you for some reason that you just can’t figure out. This song is designed to emphasize the chase, and you’re who they are chasing after. Has a bit of an “Of Wolf and Man” inclusion to it with the little bit of low voice talking. It’s 8 minutes of terror. “Cause we hunt you down without mercy, hunt you down all nightmare long”. And what’s a terrorizing song like without a big fucked up solo? As soon as the solo ends, oh yeah, the chase is back on… and so too is another solo backed by furious double kick beats. James incorporates the whole feel of waking up from the nightmare. You feel that pause, and when you try to go back to sleep, you somehow fall right back into that damn nightmare. He waits a few seconds for you, and as soon as you fall back asleep, he’s right there to yell at you that he’s hunting you again. This song is well done, and your imagination runs wild with it.
Cyanide:
A lot of live versions of this song leaked over the last month, and guess what… none of them did this song justice in the slightest. I can’t stress how much Hetfield sounds amazing on this album. “Suicide, I’ve already died, you’re just the fuel that I’ve been waiting for”. This song oozes of pure intensity. It gives you chills knowing Hetfield is just calling death on in a battle and telling him to fuck himself in the process. “Death, call your name!” And yeah, it has a big break down where it’s almost like James is crawling through the dark discussing what he’s seeing in hell, mocking its lack of terror despite all of its depression and sadness. This is by far one of the most complete and best songs I’ve heard in ages. Everything is perfectly timed, and perfectly placed. And the double guitar solo just screams so high for the brief seconds it climbs into the song. This is the song that drives this album, and as I said, the live version just doesn’t cut it. If you’re into tattoos, get this title on you somewhere.
The Unforgiven III:
To me, this was the song I was waiting to hear. I’m a huge fan of the first 2, and wondering what this one would sound like was driving me crazy with anticipation. This is Metallica’s baby; a song that sagas their entire career. And how could they start it any way than a symphony and piano kicking it off ever so smoothly. It’s almost as if Michael Cane is alive again, it just feels right. [For those of you who have no idea who Michael Cane is, go research him now.]This song creeps onto you like a disease, a welcomed disease. And in true “Unforgiven” fashion, it leads off with heavy verses and soft choruses. The soft guitar riffs run so smoothly together, while the bass gives it the power it needs to make a point. The song progresses to a soft build up with James practically begging you to “forgive” him. And he tops if off with a high screaming demanding “forgive me!” and it leads perfectly into a solo. It hits home. This is definitely the conclusion to the “Unforgiven” series, and it couldn’t have been done any better. Definitely worth the wait and endless hours of anticipation I’ve suffered through.
The Judas Kiss:
The song starts off like a warning. The guitar riff is sort of calling out whatever it is that lurks in the darkness. “So what now? We’re not wanted!” echoes off James’ tongue with so much passion that I’m beside myself. The song breaks to a pounding drive while Kirk throws in another wah solo for good use. “I’ve become your new God now” is yelled at you and followed by a solo by James himself. Then he passes is off to Kirk while the song pulls back once again, ready to deliver a little speech by James in true “Of Wolf and Man” form, yes, again, but he does it so well. As he concludes it, the song drives forward again, until it runs into its chorus. The whole band lets out an “Oh God!” And James finishes it off with a simple fact: “you can’t resist the Judas Kiss!”
Suicide and Redemption:
I never thought I would see the day a song would introduce itself the way “The Outlaw Torn” did, but instead of just the guitars busting it in, Robert Trujillo breaks it through with a thick and nasty bass solo entrance. The song then pours itself on the floor, stirs itself up, and serves itself to you on a silver platter. Did you like the heavy riffs in the “Call of Ktulu?” You did? Well, you’re in luck. This song is just pure solos and driving beats. Words could not suit this song better than the symphony of guitars that powers the meaning of this song right through your skull. Not to mention the nice little bass break down in the middle of it all. The purity of the sound will definitely hit home. It’s a ten minutes of pure kick ass musicality. Lars’ drumming is powerful but seems to take a back seat to the overall tone of the entire song. The band just comes alive in this song. Then Lars finally gives his own solo near the end, followed by a power breakdown, the same way the song began. You’ll be head banging slowly in no time.
My Apocalypse:
Another song that just didn’t do it for me. It was more of a, hey, let’s play really fast and yell shit and see what it sounds like. It’s thrash metal, but it just doesn’t have that extra something to make it that much better. Not the best way to end the album. Want more detail? It starts off like an 80s hair metal song, goes speedy, then after a little solo, it does this thick break down that sounds a lot like this: "Try not to waken my apocalypse... blah blah blah blah blah blah apocalypse... yell yell yell yell yell yell yell apocalypse... grr grr grr grr grr grr grr apocalyyyyyyypssssssseeeeeee uhhhhhhhhrrrr". No joke.
So go out and buy or download this album and see for yourself. That’s all for me. Take care for now.
Mike
