Metallica’s Death Magnetic Reviewed
September 10, 2008
I managed to grab a copy of Death Magnetic and I have to say that it’s a big improvement from the crap they’ve put out after the “Black” album.
The big question though is, have they delivered on the promise of giving fans the Heavy sound they’ve oh so missed?
Read on to find the answer as I go from song to song:
1.That was Just your life
seriously, not impressed. Yeah, its better, yeah they sound heavier, but…I expected my face to melt, I expected the first song to get me to my feet and scream “OH FUCKING YEAH! METAL IS BACK!”. Sadly no. If you want that experience though, listen to Testament’s new album or better yet, Megadeth’s United Abomination Album..but I digress. on to the next song..
2. The End of the Line
Hmmm, better, much solid sound than the first song, good catchy riff…shows some promise, until Hetfield starts singing. Oh my god! It’s load all over again! Whoever taught Hetfield to sing should be shot.
Twice.
On the face.
You know, he kind of sounds like Triple H now.
3. Broken, Beat & Scarred
This is heavier than the first two songs, good riff, good melody, (am ignoring James Hetfield’s voice now). This song features more heavy pounding from Lars Ulrich, which was sorely lacking from the first two songs.
4. The Day that never Comes
The first slow song of the album, sounds like it came out of Load. Really hating Hetfield now more than ever. Song has some awkward moments, sort of like hiccups, before changing beats/tempo. I noticed that Lars seems to have re-discovered the snare drum because he keeps hitting them all the fucking time. I dunno if this is due to mixing or he’s really loving his snares now. I kind of miss the way he pounded different notes out of his drum set. Anyway, the song speeds up towards the end. Didn’t do much to change my feelings toward the song though.
5.All Nightmare Long
Song starts out with some western style showdown at ok corral type theme, then jumps into a Slayer like furious tempo that makes me sit upright. Is this it? Is this the song that I was looking for?
Nope, Hetfield ruins it for me. Seriously. Good riff, furious tempo, kickass bass line and Drums thub-thumping on my chest and then some cowboy, country fucking singing YEAAAHYEAH? Fuck.
Seriously man, you already got my head bangin, why did you have to ruin it for me?
6. Cyanide
Hey, it’s a Suicidal Tendencies song! Nope, just kidding, it’s still Metallica. You can clearly hear Trujillo’s influence on this song, nice bass lines and nice riffs, doesn’t sound like Metallica for me though.
7. Unforgiven III
Seriously, Unforgiven III? No more songs you can do? How many unforgivens are you gonna do? Is this a running theme? Will all albums have an unforgiven song? The song just keeps getting worse with each version you do, just stop it.
8.The Judas Kiss
This song starts out ok, Lars is back with his snare-fest pounding, but somehow it sounds better, much like how he sounded before. As is the trend with the whole album, Hetfield buries the song for me. Hammet’s solo on this one makes it actually worse, hitting something like 4 notes over and over before wailing on a single note to end the first part of his solo, the second part of his solo was a “wah pedal” frenzy, it really feels like Hammet is desperately in need of inspiration on his guitar work. The song sorts of stumbles along and I actually had to fight myself from clicking “next” on my player.
9. Suicide and Redemption
Wow! I can actually hear a good bass line on this song, with good crunchy riff goodness to complement it. The thing I first noticed is the fact that the notes are..happy. light. Sort of the notes you would expect from a Glam Album. You can actually imagine them smiling their assess off while playing this. I mean, there’s no furious fist pounding, face melting, beat to punch a guy to. It’s a repetitive song that feels like a filler.
A 10 minute, repetitive, uninspired, lackluster instrumental filler.
10. My Apocalypse
This song starts out great! Great pounding drums, solid bass, nice riff reminiscent of Battery (from Master of Puppets). Even Hetfield’s singing is ok on this song. This is by far the best fucking song on this album. It makes everything I’ve said on the other songs worse, because obviously, they had it in them to experiment and progress with their sound without sounding like a bunch of washed up Metal Heads.
Summary:
All in all, I feel a bit disappointed with this album, I was expecting something more. Something that would have made me call all of my friends and proclaim “THE SEASON OF METAL IS ONCE AGAIN UPON US!” similar to how I reacted with Cavalera Conspiracy’s Inflikted, Megadeth’s United Abominations, Testament’s Formation of Damnation and even Slayer’s Christ Illusion.
I’m sorry, but this doesn’t really cut it for me, all it is, is another dead attempt at being heavy, for me, they have been relegated to the status of mediocre bands like the ones that have been sprouting left and right these days.
This is probably why there are a lot of supposedly Metallica fanboys out there giving glorious praises like “Metallica is back! Screw you haters” while shooting down old school dogs who actually listened to Metallica when they really mattered. Sorry kids, Metallica is most definitely NOT back, and they probably never will be.
I’m not expecting Metallica to remain unchanged over the years, but come on! Other bands have pulled off experimentation, growth and progression and still retain the same intangible thing that made them who they were when you first heard them.
Mustaine must be having a great time listening to this album while repeatedly saying “I fucking told you so”
This review is an EPIC PHAIL.
This was written by a 10 year old.
You suck a reviews. Go fuck yourself.
what the hell is with this review. This album is good step frowards back to where they were (almost). The reason hetfeild changed his style of vocals is because his voive couldnt cut the old way anymore. so they had to change things around. dont see how you can think they arent back. after the last couple times ive seen them live they definatly appear to have their love for playing music back which means that they will be back to their best. if your a true fan then you should realise this is a step back to where they belong. this album is awesome.
i can honestly say that this is a review for someone who really hates metallica. i think the album is great (not as great as the first five but i think this goes with those four)….great songs, great vibe….METALLICA is BACK!!!
you suck
If you are not a Metallica fan, than you probably shouldnt be giving a review of one of their albums. I’m assuming you might have been a fan of the first 4 albums, that is probably a big assumption, but the fact that you had nothing good to say about this album and you continuously bashed Jame’s voice tells me and anyone else reading this that you dont like Metallica. If a band that I dislike or might have liked 20 years about put out a new album, I probably wouldnt be the right person to review it if I didnt like anything else they put out in the last 20 years. And the fact that you are recommending people to listen to United Abomination is a testement to how little you know about good music. That album really is not that great and I’m a huge Megadeth fan. It’s boring and and the music is just disposable. The album before it wasnt really that great either. That is the thing, they are a poor man’s Metallica, and you are obviously a poor man if you think that Megadeth comes close to Metallica.
Anyways, in regards to Death Magnetic. This is a really good album with elements of the the old and new. Anyone who likes Metallica will like the album, anyone who doesnt like Metallica will probably not like this album, pretty straight forward. The individual that posted this review doesnt like Metallica. It is pretty much like me giving a review of the new Jonas Brothers CD. They suck, their music sucks, their version of the Beatles song sucks, I hate them…so I probably shouldnt review their albums…make sense.
It must be easy to be so closed minded when listening to a cd and then giving a “review” and bashing everything about it. I’m sorry that I even read this and I feel sorry for anyone else who comes to this site expecting an intelligent review.
i hope everybody read the whole article before commenting as i did give some positive feedback to the songs, and most of the negative stuff were pinpointed and not generalized.
@Junn Castillo - I do not hate Metallica, i love Metallica. I was shouting “seek and destroy” when everybody else was shouting “pump up the jam”. So yeah, I love Metallica, but not their new stuff.
@James - hey man, i agree with you, and if you really read the review you’d realize that. i even made that statement on my first sentence
Are they back? no, but if they try really hard and continue on this path, they may “get here” with their NEXT album.
Thanks for the comments!
Death Magnetic is the crux of Metallica’s continuous attempts to stay relevant in this Napster-birthed, torrent-powered world. This review lacks the details of a carefully written non-partisan musical scrutiny, but hey, it does make that clear point I just stated.
Mr. Frost is right, Metallica is definitely not back, but I am nonetheless happy with Death Magnetic, since it jumps way over my ever-so-lowered bar of expectations about the band (thanks to the crapshoot that was St. Anger).
As Dirty Harry would Say “Opinions are l;ike A-Holes, everyone has one.” Ive listened to 6 of the songs…the ones released on Metallica.com and Itunes and overall I am pleased. My main complaint being that they are a little long. As for this review…liek I said, to each their own. My Aplocolypse was my LEAST favorite track. So either one of us are wrong, or music is a subjective art and there is no way to accurately judge it. Contrary to many peoples opinions, aliens didnt come to the Bay area and suck the life out of James, Lars and Kirk after And Justice… or even Master. They are the same people. Its their band. If you dont like where they are going, stop listening and move on…or go listen to 20 year old records. Go take a look at the top 100 songs on itunes and tell me that the weakest track on this record is not far superior to 99% of that crap. Stop living in the past. Maybe the haters just want to relive their glory days in high school and are clinging to the memories of their youth and the music they listened to way back when, as opposed to listening to a new record and judging it on its own merits. Just because a song isnt ‘thrash’ doesnt mean its not ‘real’ metallica. News flash…Ive alweays hated the song Wiplash…didnt care for jump intot he fire either. Do love Ride the lightning, fight fire with fire, seek and destroyu, disposable heroes, creeping death….but you know what??? My favorite songs by the band are Fade to Black, No Leaf Clover, The hero of the day, Orion and Dyers Eve…and if Im a poseur…then so be it. They are still stayuing at the top of my ipod playlist and in heavy rotation on my burnt cd mixes. :So let it be written, so let it be done.”!
I completely agree, underwhelmed with a few moments where I thought they might do something good. I can’t agree more about hetfield’s singing.. geeez … wtf does he think hes doing.. and the lyrics.. its like macaroni cheese..
And I completely agree with Unforgiven III.. its the worst of the three not that the first was any good.
For an album thats proclaimed as a return to the roots well its about halfway down the tree trunk.. roots are further down still.. but keep going.
Despite the fact that this review was clearly written by a 10 year old, it’s spot on. Someone they trusted (assuming Rubin here) clearly told them that …And Justice For All was their peak so they decided to relisten to it (for probably the first time since last century) and crib off that album. This offering is weak with a few listenable songs. Of course the time changes would work a lot better if the notes employed were any good. And why can’t we get a Hetfield who was inspired by things like plagues and shit? He’s obviously plumbing the depths of his baby pool intellect to manufacture metal cliche lyrics. At least I could use bittorrent to check this shit out instead of wasting money on it. DELETED.
Firstly, it really is difficult to take a reviewer seriously when they cannot grasp the concepts of spelling and grammar. If you feel qualified to point out what you see as the shortcomings in an artists work, at least show them the respect of structuring your sentences correctly. Honestly, it will make you look and sound less foolish. And cut out the swearing. It’s not necessary. It’s childish, weak and makes it look like you are trying to hide your own shortcomings as a reviewer.
Secondly, people like you baffle me. Why did you do this review? I really don’t feel you have anything constructive to say. You spent nearly half the review attacking Hetfield’s vocals saying he ruined the song for you. I just don’t think you are being honest. To me, there is NOTHING Metallica could release in terms of an album that would satisfy someone like you. Do you consider yourself a fan?
If these guys went back and re-did and album like Master Of Puppets or Ride The Lightning, the critics would come along and say “they rehashed their old stuff…and didn’t even do it well”. If they have any influences from the Black Album or Load era, critics jump up and say “oh no…more of THAT stuff again”. Can you see the point? Nothing would ever satisfy a person like you.
You are a person who is underwhelmed by what is legitimate and successful attempt to produce a true heavy metal album. It doesn’t have to be compared to anything. It just needs to be enjoyed. And if you don’t, that’s fine. Don’t listen. But don’t infect the Internet with your childish, pathetically inane comments. Just turn the album off and stick to your beloved Testament or Megadeth or any other band that owes their popularity to the foundations that Metallica laid.
Most of you are to narrow minded and probably still wear holy jeans and a mullet..I mean they are making NEW music!! be happy about that.. we as music listeners needed a kick in the ass from a band that has alway kicked our asses with different music, I have listened to all the songs and I have caught myself head bangin or playin the air drums, There are so many of you that still live in the 80’s and that music.. It’s the 21st century brace this music and LISTEN TO IT with decent speakers or better yet throw on some head phones to truly appericiate it even more.
Thank you.
Onemansopinion has got it right
When Metallica started, they wore ripped jeans, had terrible mullets and played loud thrash music. We all had ripped jeans and terrible mullets and loved the music. Nothing else mattered then.
Now I’m in my 30s, married, with kids. Metallica are in their 40s, married, with kids. JUST SIT BACK AND ENJOY THE TRIP BACK INTO HISTORY. It’s so much more fun than analysing every song and picking holes in them.
NEWS FLASH
This album is not shit. It’s far from it acctualy. Granted I wouldnt say It is Metallica’s best album but it is alot better then this so called Metallica ‘fan’ gives it credit for. I have been a Metallica fan for years and I just have to say all this nonsense bull shit fighting over what albums are good and what ones are’nt is a waste of time. Any true fan of any musician buys a record sits back and enjoys it. As crazy as this is going to sound to many there has’nt been a single Metallica album I havent enjoyed. All this well Im a 5 album Metallica fan is nonsense. Lets say I woke up tomorow and the new story was that Metallica eats babies would I give a shit? NO because as long as they kept making the music they make I would be happy.
But Im well aware people are going to skim to the bottom of the comment and read the last few words so I’ll sum it up.
Metallica good. Retarded reviewer bad.
Thanks for all the comments, I’m thinking of emailing Metallica and telling them about this, just so they know how many people still love them.
Keep the comments coming! everybody is entitled to their own opinion!
Ok, I like the CD. Is it Master of Puppets? No. Is it St Anger? No! Your review is very harsh, almost like it’s 1980 something and your waiting for the follow up CD to Master or Justice. Its 20+ years later!! They are not and will not be that band that opened for Ozzy and blew the headliner away. If you look at some of thegreat bands (Beatles, Stones,Kiss,,) Their music doesn’t sound the same over time..for better or worse, it changes. Yes, I realize Metal is a different genre but the point is still the same. Stop setting the bar for 40 year married fathers to write like 20 year old alchoholic party animals(that they once were). If the riffs were too simple they’d get bashed for writting Load all over..too long and they get abused in the press for trying to redo the Justice material. They can’t win in the eyes if the media. Are they perfect no..but I can think of a lot worse crap buy sub par lable spawned bands created to generate revenue. I will agree that James’ vocals have faltered over time but did ya expect to hear Whiplash style vocals on this record? Tell us what DID you as a reviewer think this CD should’ve/could’ve sound like?
Guys, the album sucked…. the first song “that was just your life” is a complete disaster… they sound a lot like system of a down. every song with catastrophic melodies.. i had to listen for each song at lest 4 times to figure out the basic theme/rythm/melody.
Lars has become way too loud even louder than SOAD.. loud does not co relate with good.(yet better than saint anger)
kirk has gotten faster which is a good thing but still he doesn’t FEEL what he plays… absolutely no emotions in the guitars yet great speed and a lot better than st.anger… he should try to listen for David Gilmore of Pink Floyd.. thats a guy who feels what he plays.
The bass is good newsted wouldnt have done much better
James sounds weird as usual and his voice is almost not heard due to the disastrous loud drums.. and he failed miserably in writing the lyrics… he also should listen to pink floyd to learn from roger waters’ lyrics.
to sum up i think LOUD IS NOT GOOD
Iron maiden is Loud but is good
Metallica used to be Loud and Good
now its just and loud sounds with no harmony at all.. kirk is better, james is worse, lars is better than st.anger yet worse than the old albums.
the lyrics suck
To put it in brief: The new album is far from perfect (especially when it comes to production) and the musicians arent youngsters anymore, but for me this album is about the best album since Justice.
Hmmm…. Deamonfrost a 10-year old???
Could be. Could be not.
I didn’t like Suicide really at first… After a few listen to’s… I actually hear it. Great Song. Orion meets To Live is to Die.
This album is amazing and most similar to the first 4… All in all, its like if you put the first 8 albums in a blender and poured it into a CD whis is what you would get…
Amazing Album.
Metallica fans sure do ask a lot of the band. They want them to produce the new “Master of Puppets”, to return to the 80’s glory dayz of thrash and rekindle the old flame so to speak. Of course it doesnt work that way. People tend to forget that Metallica members were barely of legal drinking age when they put that shit out. Its 2008, not 1986 people! And i wouldnt be surprised if most of the fans bitching about the new sounds werent even old enough to be a part of the 80’s thrash culture. For those that were around, like my brother, in his ripped jean ass length hair hey day, comparing the overall Metallica experience & transition over the years is natural. They have proper context. For someone like me, a mere 3 when their first album came out, I can only compare it on the simplest level.. the music I hear. Which, really, for any fan, is all you need to do but so many people ended up worshipping Metallica or were told or read stories of how transcendant the band was in its so called prime or before they began the experimentation, expectations got raised inexplicably high. Its kinda like a Martin Scorcese film. Comparing Taxi Driver in 76 to Goodfellas in 90 to The Departed in 06, I mean you just cant. All you can do is watch each film and appreciate it for what it is, and applaud the director for still being into his craft enough to enjoy it and make decent work. All that ramble aside, in the most basic terms, Death Magnetic fuckin rocks. If you like your metal fast, thrashy, heavy heart attack pace drum beats, ridiculously insane guitar solos, mean, yet catchy riffs, and inane death obsessed lyrics that lend nothing yet everything, this album will work. Now the tricky part, if youre a Metallica fan who is hoping the band releases “Ride the Lighting 08″, you will be wrong. It doesnt quite stack up. Like said, Death Magnetic is to The Departed as Puppets is to Goodfellas and Kill em All is to Taxi Driver. Not classic but maybe someday… It combines all the experience of Metallica into an updated package, some parts Black Album, the best parts of Load/Reload, and a steady dose of vintage full out frontal assualt on the senses. Ive read a lot fo reviews saying it sucked, or being very critical in comparison to past work, and all the casual fans will say shit like oh I dont listen to Metallica cuz of Napster, which is like baseball fans saying they dont watch baseball since the strike…. I hope fans quit looking for a reason to hate and be critical and just go out and buy this CD. On its own, it holds up just fine and there are some new songs that will hold their own even with the greats (All Nightmare Long seems to be the signature track) When I played it for my brother, even at 40 with his long hair still there, jamming out playing Kiss covers these dayz, a smile crept up on his face, he knew. No sense holding a grudge. He pulled out his old Puppetz vinyl and smiled, yeah man that reminded me of the old times. Hahaha, anyone who over analyzes this album or gives it negative reviews either is 1. Not a metal fan. 2. Paid to write the review one way or another or 3. Comparing it too hard to older work (which is metallicas fault for setting the standard but hey I was getting more tail at 19 then at 28 so it happens!) . Metal up you ass!!
Lol, I suggest y’all stfu and stop arguing over an old band! Metallica is phased out! Emo is the new metal! ..i.. (•_\\\) \m/
terrible review! do you even know anything about music?
Excellent review, funny as hell! The pictures were an excellent touch.
Lotta good moments in the album to start head banging too, then they fuck it up. Either with singing, changing beats, starting an intro, and going into something that has nothing to do with the intro.
Rubin cut alot of stuff, but some of the stuff, that got on the album…i don’t know.
Like “The Unforgiven 3″??? come on…where was Rubin on that day? What about that terrible solo on “End of the line” seriously could be some of the worst crap i ever heard. On the contrary “All nightmare long and “Was just your Life” had some excellent solos… all in all Hammet is back too being himself.
All that stuff on the end of Day that never comes?… it’s more like “The Riff that Never Comes” …to make you climax.
All in all good album, nice moments, no MOP or AJFA, 4 out of 5 stars, (i’m grading on a curve because of their last crap)…. Definately best thing since Black.
There will never be another “Old” Metallica.. They are the template that most of today’s crap bands wish they could be…. and never will. Why?… because Metallica created the shit their doing now (not just Metallica, i.e. Slayer, Megadeth. Anthrax). When someone creates a new music form, and totally rocks that shit, then they can talk about “MAYBE” reaching Metallica’s legendary status.
However nice try by Grandpa, you should always listen to your elders..
Anyway..
Broken Beat and scarred should be their next single, (who told them to release “Day never comes” as first single…Rubin???!!.. quit whacking off and watch your clients.
I say pick it up… or spend it on Slipknots new one.
It makes me laugh a lot when I read all of this review, this guy doesn’t have a clue about metallica musical style. what is this shit about james come on!!!
He’s 45 years old god damn it!!. he will be never able to sing the way he did back in the 80′. I still think he’s one of the higher scores in the album (guitar+voice)
And I think he owns this fucking album. the only thing i didn’t like was the sound and some weak track (aka cyanide). It excites me a lot 8.5/10.
[...] years. Will it signal the end of Emo? (I hope so!) Will it be another big let down FOR ME like Metallica’s “Death Magnetic”? Or will it be a good kick in the nut for the current crap the overall Rock industry has been [...]