Death Magnetic - Metallica's Return to Their Roots

First of all, I know this review is coming very, very late, considering the fact that Death Magnetic was released way back in 2008. The truth is, I wrote this about two months after the album was released, and ended up losing it. And while cleaning up my room, around one and a half years later, I found it. Might as well put it up and get it over with...

I'm pretty much exactly like every one of you hardcore Metallica fans. Hoping and praying for the re-birth of what everyone likes to call the 'old-skool' Metallica, and ending up disappointed with what Metallica came up with. I think it's safe to say that if Metallica ended up coming up with another album which didn't sound like the Metallica everyone wanted to hear, they would have probably died out, the early 00's weren't exactly the best years for them - Jason Newsted leaving the band, the whole Napster case resulting in a fan backlash, and the release of St. Anger, which along with Garage Inc., Load and Re-Load didn't really meet the expectations of most metalheads, be it the fans or the critics.

But all of this didn't deter me(and many other fans, I'm sure), to follow the build-up to the release very closely. By the time the album was released(on the Internet, I mean, which was over a week before the official release - I still ended up buying a copy though), I'd heard three songs off the album, The Day That Never Comes, My Apocalypse, and Cyanide.

To be honest, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, especially if you consider how different these three songs are.

Metallica debuted Cyanide at the Ozzfest, and although it didn't sound like 'An Explosive Return To Heavy Metal', as promised by the band, and it wasn't exactly the 80's, in-your-face Metallica that we all craved for, when I did hear it off the album, it sounded(and still does sound) like a fun song to play live, which is probably why they played this song first. I guess some of it could have gone down to the bad quality of the sound recording at the concert.

Metallica then released 'The Day That Never Comes' on their website. It was widely known that Death Magnetic would be the fourth Metallica album to have a song which basically revolved around the Metallica 'epic-song' formula which worked for Fade To Black, Welcome Home(Sanitarium), and One - slow at the start, fast at the end with plenty of solos, and that song turned out to be 'The Day That Never Comes'. The first time I heard it, I have to admit, I didn't exactly love the song, but I think I grew to like the song in certain aspects. It sounded like Metallica trying really hard to mould a song remniscent of their old epics, but it just didn't match upto any of them, although it came close.

And then came My Apocalypse. I think the first time I heard the song, I quite nearly pissed my pants(okay, not really, but I hope you get it). I think that's when it hit me, that this time, all of us would be in for a treat. The song rips, from start to finish, and it still surprises me that they didn't release/play this song first, it pretty much assured me that this album would be unlike the other recent releases from the band. It also is one of the very few songs where I actually loved Lars' drumming throughout the song.

And then the whole album was leaked on the..err, officially released to the world in September. The first thing that hit me when I heard the whole album, was '...It's about time.'

'That Was Just Your Life' kicks things off, and it is pretty much what everyone's been crying and pleading for. Vintage Metallica/James Hetfield riffs, Hammett shredding all over the place, and some great vocals. What a way to kick things off. Easily one of the best songs off the album.

'The End Of The Line' has the intro of 'The New Song', a song/demo Metallica played on more than one occasion in 2006, during their 'Escape From The Studio' tour. To be honest, I loved 'The New Song' the way it was, but I did know that it would not feature on the album, atleast in that form, thanks to an interview of Rob Trujillo which occured some time before the release of the album. 'The End Of The Line' is a good song though, with decent riffs, and a great slow, clean-guitar section in the middle, which really is the highlight of the song.

'Broken, Beat and Scarred', for me, is just another reason why James Hetfield is probably the best rhythm guitarist alive today. The whole song is comprised of riffs which sound rather unorthodox, yet extremely fun to play. After watching 'Making Magnetic'(which is like any other 'Making of' video, basically how the band came up with the whole album), I think it's pretty clear that this is one of the harder songs to write lyrics and sing to, again, because of the unorthodox rhythm sections, but kudos to Metallica and James - I think they did a great job. All in all, another great song from the album.

'All Nightmare Long' is, without a doubt, the best Metallica song since 'Enter Sandman'. It's Metallica at their very best, and it was no surprise to me that they decided to make a video for this song after 'The Day That Never Comes' (The video is rather entertaining, a short story, if you will). It is, definitely, the heaviest and the best song off the entire album, and the best Metallica song of the decade(which is not actually a big deal if you think about it, especially with the only other album in the decade being St. Anger).

'The Unforgiven' and 'The Unforgiven II' have displayed the softer(yet epic) side of the band, and while 'The Unforgiven' was amazing, 'The Unforgiven II' didn't really match upto it, although it was a pretty good song. 'The Unforgiven III' is a seven-and-a-half minute long ballad with a lot of clean-channel guitars, vocals which pretty much qualify as brilliant, and some equally great solos throughout. The whole song is incredibly catchy, and it (also) is one of the best songs off this record.

I think what everyone wanted after 'The Unforgiven III' was a quick, fast, thrash metal song to make sure that their ears were still glued to their speakers, and I'm not too sure if 'The Judas Kiss' does that. It's a decent song, with a good chorus, and a couple of great riffs, but it's like 'The End Of The Line' to the extent that it doesn't match up to most of the songs on the album.

'Suicide And Redemption' is Metallica's first full-instrumental since 'To Live Is To Die', which was written in honour of Cliff Burton, and the first time I heard it(which was when I listened to the whole album, song-after-song), the song was too long, rather dry, and monotonous to listen to. When I did listen to the song by itself, some of the solos and the clean-guitar riffs sounded very, very good, and it is not as bad as I believed it to be. It may not match up to their other instrumentals, but it's not too short of being a great song.

Other than that, I've heard some parts off the 11th song which is still yet to be released. The song is called 'Shine', and is a tribute to the late Alice In Chains vocalist Layne Staley. And from whatever I heard, the song sounds incredible, and I'm shocked that it didn't make the album, when songs like 'The End Of The Line' and 'The Judas Kiss' did. Rob Trujillo said it could have been the heaviest song Metallica has come out with for a while, and I was secretly hoping they'd release it as a single, but alas, I guess we're going to have to wait for another album to release to hear it, or we might not even be privileged enough to.

On the whole, Death Magnetic is the missing link between '...And Justice For All' and 'The Black Album'. It is their return to what they were best at, a return to their roots, if you will. Robert Trujillo's bass sounds really good, but still, I think it's universally-accepted that no one has, and will ever come close to playing like Cliff Burton did for Metallica. James Hetfield does a great job with the rhythm and his vocals, and I think that is one of the primary reasons why this album is so great, if not being the only reason. And I think it's great to hear Kirk Hammett's signature solos all over the record, I'm pretty sure everyone who's heard the album would agree on this point, especially after St. Anger being completely devoid of solos. Lars Ulrich's drumming has come a long, long way from the mediocre beat behind 'Kill 'Em All'. And although I think his drumming peaked in the late 80's, his style has always remained the same, and it does suit James Hetfield's rhythm to a large extent.

Rick Rubin's done a decent job of producing the album, but I think his presence, instead of Bob Rock's helped the band find their feet, and I think it's safe to say he helped them on their way back to their roots of heavy metal.

I'd give the album 8.5/10.

Now if only Metallica would stop taking five whole years to release an album...

And they need to come and play a gig in Bangalore already! It seems like they've gone and played a show everywhere but here. As unbelievable as it sounds, the album was on the top of the charts for a really long time here in India. So I think it's only fair that they play a show here, especially seeing that we've had Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Machine Head, Opeth, and (in a couple of weeks) Lamb of God play here already. Metallica and Q Prime Management - I hope you're listening!