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Type:
Album
Genre: Hairy Vagina Album Art
Tracks:
1.That Was Just Your Life
2.The End of the Line
3.Broken, Beat and Scarred
4.The Day That Never Comes
5.All Nightmare Long
6.Cyanide
7.The Unforgiven III
8.The Judas Kiss
9.Suicide and Redemption
10.My Apocalypse
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Needing no introduction, ‘Death Magnetic’ begins with the sound of a beating heart that’s replaced by these eerie guitar notes doing an ‘Enter Sandman.’ Building up to the expected frenzy, ‘That Was Just Your Life’ reintroduces Metallica’s long dormant thrash metal abilities, yet from the first minute on you’re uncomfortably aware that something crucial is still lacking in the band’s sound. Though appreciative listeners will be nodding their heads in approval as it weaves and stomps, the anticipation is soured the moment James Hetfield’s ageless voice recites the first verses ala ‘Frantic’ from the oft-maligned ‘St Anger.’ From here on in the album’s common denominator becomes apparent: the majority of the music enters one ear and leaves by the other, even if occasional moments of memorableness saves the day.
‘The End of the Line’ is no different from the opener. It moves along to a tempo last heard from either ‘Load’ or ‘Reload’s’ harder tunes but carries a little more menace this time. In HailndKill’s brain, ‘Broken, Beat and Scarred’ shall always be connected to the Black Label Society DVD \'Bruised, Boozed, and Broken Boned,’ though the song does posses its own rollicking, groovy identity. Consider it this album’s answer to ‘Sad But True.’ But be warned, if you aren’t won over and hailing the return of Metallica by track three, the rest of ‘Death Magnetic’ is going to be a painful journey.
On the first of its two ballads, ‘The Day That Never Comes,’ Metallica reminds the world that they haven’t completely lost their mojo. It’s audibly clear the same genius behind ‘Fade to Black,’ ‘One,’ ‘Nothing Else Matters,’ ‘Unforgiven,’ and ‘No Leaf Clover’ is still lurking inside James Hetfield’s head. Disarming the listener on its universally appealing soft intro, the song goes down the usual route of any ballad and then shifts to a mournful dirge midway. It’s here that James makes the uncharacteristic exclamation ‘Love is a four letter word!’ hollering it like a gunshot signaling the band to start hammering away. It takes an energized wallop like ‘All Nightmare Long’ to erase how awkward that single lyric felt.
For its latter half, ‘Cyanide’ was prominently featured on the Mission: Metallica trailer as proof that the band is now channeling its past to create powerful anthems for the new record. Despite being awfully plain, once the tempo shifts to allow Hetfield’s ‘suicide/I’ve already died,’ singing along might be unavoidable. On the album’s final attempt at true continuity, ‘The Unforgiven III’ has these soft keyboards on its beginning that are so promising, you’re expecting your heart to explode. Unfortunately, once the melody starts to churn any expectations for an empowering, tear-jerking ballad are shattered.
As a testament to how forgettable ‘Death Magnetic’ can become, ‘The Judas Kiss’ zooms past your consciousness like a bullet train and when you’ve refocused, the twisting, repetitive instrumental ‘Suicide and Redemption’ is already chugging away. Having a more interesting counterpart on Archenemy’s ‘Doomsday Machine,’ Metallica’s own ‘My Apocalypse’ is a hurricane of anger whose speed still leaves the band wanting. To adequately judge ‘Death Magnetic’ (and keep in mind it’s judgment that wouldn’t matter; Metallica still sells, no matter what, so perhaps your band should take notes from these guys), name your favorite bands at the moment and take comfort from knowing they all outplay the Metallicats. Then again, who cares?
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Reviewer: HailndKill
Rating:  |
Posted On: October 9, 2008 |
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