Metallica makes up for lost time on new disc
Metallica
Death Magnetic
I grew up listening to “old school” Metallica. My first taste of the band came courtesy of this teen that lived on my street (I was six at the time, I think) and he taped me Master of Puppets. From there, my aunt actually bought me a copy of …And Justice for All when it came out. I was the only kid in Grade 6 cranking “One” and “Harvester of Sorrow,” while other kids listened to crap (things never change, do they?)
I dug The Black Album when it came out and never cared that the band made a more accessible piece of work. I still spin that disc from time-to-time, but when I want “good” Metallica, I spin the older discs. This has been the case for the last 12 years because as far as I'm concerned, the band never released anything good after The Black Album. Load and Reload were rubbish and St. Anger was an unlistenable mess (even if the snare drum didn't sound like one of Slipknot's steel cans).
As the samples slowly leaked for this disc, I knew that I was going to go out and buy it on day one. Things were lining up perfectly for this to redeem Metallica in the metal community's eyes and after listening (and playing it) for about a month now, I can say, “Can I hear a Hallelujah?”
In a nutshell, this disc simply rocks. Every song is memorable and has a couple hooks per song (whether it be with the melody, riffing or song structure) that makes it well worth multiple listens even in one sitting.
Hetfield's voice sounds like he's back in his prime while the solos from Hammett are tastefully done. He weaves his magic over Hetfield's riffs making the almost all the solos on each song the perfect climax.
Lars' drumming is standard fare here. He's got some pretty fast rhythms but remains scared of using many toms or tom fills. I have to applaud his double kick use on this disc as well because they are included where the sound right in the song, not just because it's a fast Metallica song and it needs double bass drumming.
Yes, there have been gripes and I'm going to give my two cents on them:
1) Rob Trujillo's bass is lost in the mix just like Newsted's bass on the Justice album. Yes…it's true and it's unfortunate considering that if you've heard this guy play on any of Suicidal Tendencies' albums, you don't know what you're missing.
2) Lars' drums are too loud in the mix. This one is true, but for me being a drummer, the loud snare doesn't bother me too much.
3) The music sounds better if you downloaded the tracks to play on Guitar Hero 3. Yep..this one is true, too. Actually, this is how I got really familiar with the songs — playing them nonstop during the first weekend. I find the mix to be crisper and feature less noise distortion coming from the guitars, cymbals and snare. It's a small thing and I don't mind listening to the disc itself on my stereo, in the car or my iPod.
4) The songs are too long. Well, that's a matter of taste. I'm used to old-school Metallica and listen to bands like Opeth, so an eight-minute song is nothing. There are few riffs or structures that could have been trimmed, but it may have only taken 30 seconds off of certain songs. No biggie.
On a side note, this week's classic pick goes to Metallica's …And Justice for All just because that disc is still my favourite out of their entire catalogue.
