Metallica: Death Magnetic

Metallica: Death Magnetic “It’s not easy being a Metallica fan in 2008” says Bob Mulhouse of www.thequietus.com. What with the reputation garnered by Metallica in the eyes of their die-hard fans over the past decade or so, it is hardly surprising.

Metallica formed in 1981 as a thrash metal band in Lars Ulrich’s living room, primarily with the image of a group of bikers, as defined by their demo and song titles: “No Life Till Leather” and “Motorbreath.” Since then, they gradually began to acquire a status within Heavy Metal history that can be described as no less than iconic – their first three albums each gaining progressively more critical acclaim than the last and certainly placing them well within the alternative circuit’s public eye. It was by the time of their fourth album and the release of their first video, “One,” that the “original” die hard populace of Metallica fans began to become resentful and to start accusing them of “selling out.”

As lead guitarist Kirk Hammett put it himself: “People were starting to become resentful that their favourite little band they used to carry round in their back pocket, no longer fit”

Despite the incredible critical and commercial success of their self-titled album in 1990 (unofficially known as ‘The Black Album’), it was becoming increasingly clear that Metallica were beginning to go more mainstream. Their average song length had been cut by at least two or three minutes and was complemented by the more clean-cut production of Bob Rock – a stark contrast from the rough-round-the-edges, progressive sound of some of their previous thrash albums. When ‘Load’ and ‘Reload’ hit the shelves in 1994 and 1997 respectively along with the band’s new haircuts and well-groomed appearances on stage, mixed reactions from their longstanding fans meant that many ‘fell out of love’ with the band - for others, the last straw came with the release of ‘St Anger’ in 2003 and the band’s attempt at more “stripped down” and “raw” musical arrangements – something can be said to be quite a noticeable departure from their original, musically complex and intricate style.

Despite all the criticism that Metallica have had to endure, it is a well established fact that to survive in the rocky world of fame, something that Metallica have shown to be one of their greatest strengths, and “Death Magnetic,” the new album that is soon to hit the shelves on September 12th, promises to prove this once and for all.

This new work, as far as pre-released tracks have gone to show, harks back to Metallica’s earlier days, before producer Bob Rock stepped onto the scene. The first single off the album, entitled “The Day That Never Comes” - apparently “the most downbeat” song on the album, is particularly reminiscent of the ‘And Justice for All...’ epic “One,” beginning with a reflective clean guitared arpeggiation and progressing through eight minutes of moving lyrics and exquisitely technical guitar playing to its frenzied tapping solo ending. In the midst of all this, influences from other eras in Metallica’s history can be heard quite quickly, particularly around just before the five minute mark, where the (until then) balladic feel to the song breaks down into an almost “four to the floor” off beat feel that would not have seemed out of place on either of the “(Re)Load” albums (it is particularly reminiscent of the track “Bad Seed”).

In turn, the purported sixth track on the album, entitled “Cyanide,” combines the thrash stylings of “Ride the Lightning” and “Master of Puppets” with a form, driving bass rhythm and vocal aesthetic that could almost be said to be similar to that of ”Load’s” ‘King Nothing’ – particularly around the three and half minute mark as the thrashing guitars come down to almost nothing and the dynamic voice of James Hetfield relays words of warning to the listener, accompanied by a subtly menacing bass line from Robert Trujillo. The tantrum of an introduction, itself sounds like it could have been the basis of a song from ‘St Anger’ on its own, however the old style Metallica guitar riffage and clever use of time signature certainly lends a lot more musical credibility to the motif than many of their fans would have attributed to their previous album.

Lastly, the final pre-released track: “My Apocalypse” is certainly a nostalgic trip back in time for age old fans of the band, but this time with the ears of a Twenty First Century listener. A cynical person could remark that the sounds as if the song has been “cobbled together” from leftovers of ‘Master of Puppets’ – but I’m not a cynical person. However, it would be true to say that, aside from the modern production of course, that this song would not sound out of place on that album – its intro and main riff is reminiscent of both the bridge riff from the ’Master of Puppets’ title track and the verse riff from the last track on the album: ’Damage Inc.’ The frenetic ‘rapid-fire’ drumbeat from Lars Ulrich also reminds the listener of the frantic thrash sound of ’Battery.’ The song, however, is far from being a ’bubble and squeak’ of their previous thrash anthems – it definitely sounds like an original and it is this track that truly not so much marks Metallica’s return to the thrash metal genre, but certainly shows that they’ve still got it in them. And boy do they just.

So, garnering what little information we can from the three full tracks that have been ‘unveiled’ to the public so far - as well as the ”A Little Taste of Death previews shown at Metallica.com, this album certainly looks optimistic to become both a commercial and critical success. Other than the band now being in the hands of renowned producer Rick Rubin, the one thing that seems to be most responsible for this turn around since the band’s previous album is that they are much happier than in previous years. From rehearsal videos during the production of ‘St Anger’, it was quite clear that tension was often high and arguments would break out quite frequently. Without a permanent bass player, the band were visibly incomplete.

Since Trujillo has joined the band, interviews and rehearsal videos seem to show a much lighter working atmosphere and a happier group ethic. All the members of the band are credited with authorship of the material on this new album, unlike the almost exclusive Hetfield/Ulrich days of the nineties and before, showing that everyone now seems to have equal say in what is going on. Also, a lot more thought has obviously gone into this album, which is largely down to the influence of Rick Rubin, who insisted that when the band went into the studio, that they had the songs they were to record “as close to 100 percent [complete] as possible” As drummer Lars Ulrich explained:

“Last time there was no real separation between the writing process and the recording process. [With] St. Anger’ nobody brought in any pre-recorded stuff or ideas; it was just make it up on the spot, be in the moment [...]. So this time we are doing exactly what we did on all the other albums — first we're writing, then we're recording [...] [Rick Rubin’s] whole analogy is, the recording process becomes more like a gig — just going in and playing and leaving all the thinking at the door.”

Metallica, it seems, is back – and are kicking arse (or is that ‘ass?’) like never before. But don’t just take my word for it – rush out on September 12th, get a copy‘Death Magnetic’ and judge for yourself. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

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