Death Magnetic - Metallica

Note: I know what you're thinking. Another oldie? I know. I'm sorry. I promise I'll get to the relevant stuff in a few days. I have Relapse and I'm waiting for lastfm to put 21st Century Breakdown on their site.

But now I want to talk about the newest from the four horsemen. Love 'em or hate 'em, you have to acknowledge that Metallica has influenced an entire genre of rock music. And, although they were the pioneers, lately their efforts have lacked luster. Any real Metallica fan knows that The Black Album was the beginning of the end. The high-intensity headbanging was scrapped for more commercial appeal. Remember St. Anger? I heard drummer/front man Lars Ulrich just decided to eat a bunch of enchiladas and crap them out on a blank CD for that record. Metallica fans clamored for the band to return to their thrash roots. Thankfully, the band delivered.

I had my doubts when I heard this was going to be the case for Death Magnetic. Like most, I saw a track entitled "The Unforgiven III" and I almost threw my computer across the room. "The Unforgiven II" was sheer stupidity, thought I. Now I have to subject myself to this third piece of trash? A third copy of this insipid song masquerading as an original idea? Assholes! In that moment, I believed those bastards had punk'd me again. Even so, I just closed my eyes and bought it off iTunes (remember, Metallica personally hunts down and breaks the arms of illegal downloaders). Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised that the rumors of a thrash return were true.

The old sound is back. But, the twist that's so interesting is this album's overall tone. Yes, ominous lyrics are abound, but all of them seem to be directed inward. Apparently, singer/guitarist James Hetfield drew a lot of inspiration for his writing from a picture of Layne Staley, the deceased singer for Alice in Chains. Staley, who died in 2002 of a severe drug addiction, was an admirer and later a contemporary of Metallica. This was the source of Hetfield's existential lyrics. For example, "My Apocalypse" seems to be Metallica's answer to the great mystery: "Deadly vision / Prophecy revealed / Death Magnetic / Pulling closer still." Wow. Creepy, huh?

This may not be the feel good album of the year, but the music is great if you're looking for vintage metal at it's finest. There is something for everyone on here. An epic in the style of "... And Jutice for All" appears in "The Day That Never Comes," the "Enter Sandman" stylized-hard-rock jam sounds a lot like "All Nightmare Long," and the "Master of Puppets" thrash-headbanger embodies itself in "Suicide & Redemption." Even poorly entitled "The Unforgiven III" is at least tolerable. It's not the same song repackaged from The Black Album. If it was, I'd be pissed. Still, I will do my part and skip it whenever it comes up on the iPod. We don't want "The Unforgiven IV."

4.5/5