After being treated to the first live showing of the new Metallica single at Leeds festival, it seems fitting that Necromag brings you a very early review of the ninth album by the biggest metal band of all time. And that is not an understatement, Metallica are the band that perfected heavy metal and brought it to the masses, and you would be hard pressed to find a person that had not heard something by these guys. They went from a thrash metal band in the 80′s, to a hard alternative rock band in the 90′s, and dangerously experimented with their sound further with last album St. Anger.
“Death Magnetic” could be accused of being an album that responded to the lashing they got over the years for abandoning their metal roots and going along a lot more radio-friendly route, as this album is not like anything they have done since before “Metallica”, aka “The Black Album”. It is heavy. It is brutal, and it is passionate. But after absorbing this album entirely it feels like they are simply ready to take their place back at the top of the metal world, prove their might and once again tell the world why everyone knows their name.
Opener “That Was Just Your Life” is a fantastic statement of intent, the beat of a heart followed by an eastern sounding guitar lick, heavy heavy riffs, crushingly fast drums and a fantastic song structure brings together Metallica’s 25 plus years of experience and absolutely shits on the competition.”Broken, Beat and Scarred” is a fantastic working-class metal anthem and is sure to be a crowd pleaser with the catchy hook of “SHOW YOUR SCARS!” Single “The Day That Never Comes” as previously reviewed is the only time the album lets up in terms of bringing some calm amongst the storm, and is a welcome break before “All Nightmare Long”, a song so good it surely will be another single. “The Unforgiven 3″ is a very pleasent surprise. On paper it sounds like a bad idea, however when the piano, strings and horn arrangement come in (very S&M style), it is clear that this is a very different song from the other two in the triptych. Number 3 is a much heavier song once it kicks it, fitting the album’s feel naturally, and the lyrical themes of forgiveness and loneliness make this a perfect addition to end this series of songs.
Without giving away too much more about this album, you’ve probably gathered that I like it a lot, “Death Magnetic” is an important reminder of why these guys are so good. Anyone who has experienced them live know that they have the talent to back up these praises. This band has took a lot of shit over the years but still go strong, not forgetting most of them are in their mid-forties, and this level of experience of dealing with critics could not be given more of a middle finger salute than bringing out one of the best albums of their career.
Buy it September 12th.
[OXKING]
