Death Magnetic

Performer: Metallica
Engineer: Mike Gillies; Greg Fidelman; Andrew Scheps
Producer: Rick Rubin
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Metallica: James Hetfield (vocals, guitar); Kirk Hammett (guitar); Robert Trujillo (bass guitar); Lars Ulrich (drums). The world at large got a fly-on-the-wall view of the creation of Metallica's 2003 album, ST. ANGER, via the documentary SOME KIND OF MONSTER, so we know they consciously tried to keep things contemporary at that time by avoiding fleet-fingered solos and eschewing the sound of the "old" Metallica. If that hoary old term "return to form" ever applied to a rock album, though, it's ANGER's follow-up, DEATH MAGNETIC. In the five years between the two releases, Metallica seem to have gotten back in touch with the raw power of their classic period, with a little help from legendary producer Rick Rubin. One listen to the 10-minute epic "Suicide & Redemption" with its mix of raw rock ferocity and complex musical development should tell you the old Metallica's back in business. Long tracks with complex structures and intricate, speedy riffs abound. Most appealing for longtime fans may be the return to the frenzied guitar solos of yore. Rubin seems to have assisted the band on a path that successfully combines power, melodicism, and pure, unadulterated metal mania, over a sonic statement that definitively proves there's nothing over-the-hill about middle-aged metal. Call Death Magnetic Kirk Hammett's revenge. Famously browbeaten into accepting Lars Ulrich and producers Bob Rock's dictum that guitar solos were "dated" and thereby verboten for 2003's St. Anger -- a fraught recording chronicled on the 2004 documentary Some Kind of Monster -- Metallica's lead guitarist dominates this 2008 sequel, playing with an euphoric fury not heard in years, if not decades. This aesthetic shift isn't because Hammett suddenly rules the band: powerless to add solos to St. Anger, he couldn't reinstate them without the blessing of Ulrich and James Hetfield, the politburo of Metallica. The duo suffered some combination of shame and humility in the wake of the muddled St. Anger and Monster, convincing these two unmovable forces to change direction. They ditched longtime producer Rock -- who'd helmed every album since 1991's breakthrough blockbuster Metallica -- in favor of Rick Rubin, patron saint of all veteran rockers looking to reconnect with their early spark. Rubin may be the go-to producer for wayward superstars but as the producer of Slayer, he's also rooted in thrash, so he understands the core of Metallica's greatness and gently steers them back to basics on Death Magnetic. Of course, Metallica's basics are pretty complex: intertwined guitar riffs, frenetic solos, and thunderous double-bass drums stitched together as intricate seven-minute suites. Metallica slowly weaned themselves away from labyrinthine metal during the '90s, tempering their intensity, straightening out riffs, spending nearly as much time exploring detours as driving the main road, all the while losing sight of their identity. This culminated in the confused St. Anger, a transparent and botched attempt at returning to their roots, crippled by the chaos surrounding the departure of bassist Jason Newsted. With all their problems sorted out in public -- including replacing Newsted with Robert Trujillo, who acquiesces to the Metallica custom of being buried far, far in the mix -- the group embraces every gnarled, ugly thing they eschewed in the years since "Metallica." Death Magnetic bounces the band back to the days before Bob Rock, roughly sounding as if it could come after ...And Justice for All. Such a deliberate revival of the glory days can be tricky, as it could make a group seem stuck in the past -- or, just as badly, they can get essential elements wrong -- but Death Magnetic is a resounding success because they hunker down and embrace their core strengths, recognizing that their greatest asset is that nobody else makes noise in the same way as they do. That's the pleasure of Death Magnetic: hearing Metallica sound like Metallica again. Individual songs and, especially, Hetfield's lyrics -- less the confessional ballast of St. Anger, more a traditional blend of angst and terror -- are secondary to how the band sounds, how they spit, snarl, and surge, how they seem alive. Metallica isn't replicating moves they made in the '80s, they're reinvigorated by the spirit of their early years, adding shading they've learned in the '90s, whether it's the symphonic tension of "The Unforgiven III" or threading curdled blues licks through the thrash. Listening to the band play, it's hard not to thrill at Metallica's mastery of aggression and escalation. There is no denying that the band is older and settled, no longer fueled by the hunger and testosterone that made their '80s albums so gripping, but on Death Magnetic older doesn't mean less potent. Metallica is still vitally violent and on this terrific album -- a de facto comeback, even if they never really went away -- they're finally acting like they enjoy being a great rock band. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Rolling Stone (pp.109-110) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]his album is Metallica becoming Metallica again....[T]he spectacular 'All Nightmare Long' -- a thematic sequel of sorts to 'Enter Sandman' -- combines relentless MASTER OF PUPPETS guitars with a BLACK ALBUM-worthy chorus." Rolling Stone (p.89) - Ranked #9 in Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums Of 2008 -- "[H]eavy metal's resurrection of the year." Spin (p.96) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he album is more of a rebirth, with Metallica exploring the past buy applying what they've learned during their 20 years at the top of the heavy-metal slag heap, which means ingratiating more finesse when they mark their territory." Spin (p.48) - Ranked #28 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "[D]on't look this gift monster in the mouth. It's hungry, and it's teeth are sharp." Entertainment Weekly (p.71) - "MAGNETIC's tracks are all 6-to-10-minute extravaganzas with seemingly unlimited chordal changeups and tempo shifts." -- Grade: B+ Kerrang (Magazine) (p.48) - "[T]he key ingredient of DEATH MAGNETIC is the skill with which it releases its thunder, its sense of flow, its understanding that power is nothing without control." Kerrang (Magazine) (p.66) - Ranked #1 in Kerrang's Best Albums Of The Year 2008 -- "They rediscovered their metal..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.100) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett is afforded more shredding space than in recent years, the rhythm guitars thrum like chopper blades....The sound is fantastic...everything crackling, huge and alive." Mojo (Publisher) (p.64) - Ranked #45 in Mojo's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "A Rick Rubin-produced return to form." Blender (Magazine) (p.72) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Rubin pointed the direction, but credit goes to the band -- which, for the first time on record, includes new bassist Robert Trujillo -- for recapturing their old sound and reconciling it with what followed."

Metallica deflated the pomposity of 1970s rock, while reinvigorating heavy metal with their fast, fierce, and surprisingly melodic sound. Pioneers of the thrash metal subgenre, vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich set down the foundation for the virtuoso playing of lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Cliff Burton. When Burton died in a tragic bus accident, the band grudgingly moved on, recruiting Jason Newsted and eventually launching the highly successful ...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL tour. With a common-man image and no-frills approach, the band lent a hand in slaying '80s glam metal. By the '90s, Metallica's non-stop touring and landmark albums made them one of the biggest--and most respected--rock bands on the planet.

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