[Spann]

Right then, there's two song off the new album floating around the internet at the moment (The Day That Never Comes on www.metallica.com and Cyanide on www.myspace.com/metallica), and I'm just wondering if people have heard them, what they think and so forth?

I saw Metallica at the Leeds Festival this weekend, and I can report they were on fine form. They weren't a spot on Rage Against the Machine though, who were the best band I've ever seen by a long stretch.

This post has been edited by Spann: 25 August 2008 - 05:54 AM

[Chyld]

Of course Metallica are going to kick ass live, they're playing their actually good songs then (I recall they kicked ass five years ago at Reading too). But for a new 'tallica album to actually kick arse would require something on about the same level as the Second Coming. We'll be seeing Jesus walking around before Messers Hetfield, Ulrich, Guitarist With Hair, and Bassist Man kick my ass.

[Spann]

Well, I've heard it.

And...


It's awesome.

It's a hell of a return to form: heavy, melodic, clever, sometimes fast as fuck, and at times beautifully slow and fragile. Good work the 'Tallica boys, I say.

[Heccubus]

Metallica haven't done anything interesting or worthwhile since the late 80s.

However, given the fact that people don't seem to want to weep with horror whenever this album gets brought up, I may give it a chance and see whether or not they're capable of being less than terrible for a change.

This post has been edited by Heccubus: 07 September 2008 - 07:24 PM

[barend]

I generally only listen to the first three.

Occasionally to the the next two, but never to anything after, ever.

So we'll see...

[ShiverMeSideways]

Ok, here we go... My opinions on Death Magnetic... Get ready, it's going to be a long one (I doubt anyone will read it, especially now, but what the hell, I'm bored)...

Right, so, it's pretty good. It is indeed the best Metallica album from one point of view and it is definitely the best album they could make now, as stated by drummer Lars Ulrich. Now, call me a heathen, but there wasn't a Metallica album which was completely and utterly bad. The Black Album has a lot of strong moments, Load/Reload had some good songs and some experimenting and even St. Anger had it's strong points in its fury. I know this may contradict my statements from a few months or a year ago, but hey, I was young. Anyway...

Let's start off with the instrumentation. It's incredibly good, and rises up to Metallica expectations and values, meaning that it's diverse and complex, and also very melodic while maintaining it's aggression. There is also some departures on The Unforgiven III for example, but overall, it's basically Heavy Metal with accents towards Thrash Metal, but not quite there in my opinion. The instrumental track, Suicide & Redemption is also really good, and this is the first album since their self-titled release with a very strong beginning (the first track, That Was Just Your Life). The bass is incredibly present and Kirk just spits out solo after solo. However... The drums, well... There is no kind way I can put this, the drums are just plain awful. Lars fixed his snare, but he didn't fix his drumming and he hasn't indeed been playing drums properly since after The Black Album. It just seems he hits his bass drum when he should the snare and he hits the snare when he should the bass drum and it's all out sinc, which tends to get annoying and REALLY annoying if I were a drummer listening to this. Thankfully, I focus on the guitars (which are incredibly solid, by the way).

Vocally-wise, James really has melody, aggression and technique, but there is just one problem. While he is an exceptional vocalist, he has an exceptionally uncooperative voice. It just refuses to keep up with what he wants to do. One of the worst moments I can remember is from The Day That Never Comes when he started screaming "Yes, I swear!"

Now let's check out the bigger picture. From which point of view is this album the best? From the point of maturity. On this album, you can hear the 25 years of metal and hard rock and experimentation and touring and just plain work Metallica have garnered under their belt. You can hear bits from Justice, from Master, from The Black Album, from Load/Reload and even from St. Anger. All the good bits.

However, and now it's time to check out some other bad points...

Metallica haven't got much inspiration on this album. It all sounds very conventional and I can understand that from a managerial point of view. After St. Anger, despite all it's success, the bad got shit flinged at them from a million different directions and although they will never be out of fans or money, I'm pretty sure they felt they were losing their older, thrash fans. Putting that context into focus, we can see some similarities with past efforts... The second-to-last track is an instrumental and the last track is a thrashy, incredibly fast piece. Sounds like Master and Justice to me. Not to mention that The Day That Never Comes is structures just like One and some parts (if not all) are done in exactly that fashion. Even Kirk's solos are, for the most part, old-fashioned. They want to feel young, they want to bang heads, they want those thrashers back and I can understand that. But it disappoints me... 'Cos I'm one of those fans who sticks by the band no matter how much shit I fling at them and no matter how much they fuck me up the ass. It's one of those love&hate/S&M things...

To conclude, I consider this a strong Metallica release and a rejuvenating album both for the band and their sound. It's old-school for the most part and it's incredibly good for the most part, but not because it's old-school. I can't sense any classics here, but I can pick my favourite tracks: That Was Just Your Life (#1), The Day That Never Comes (#4), Cyanide (#6), Suicide & Redemption (#9), at least for the time being. Overall, I would give this album a 7.75/8 out of 10.

That was it... Not that I'm a specialised critic, or an album reviewer... I'm just a fan stating his opinion... I'm neither defending, nor attacking, just stating... If anyone feels I'm wrong (as if anyone read that) then please, let's talk ; Metallica are one of my favourite bands and I never tire talking about them.

This post has been edited by ShiverMeSideways: 18 September 2008 - 04:44 PM

[Maggot4Life]

Eh, its pretty mediocre. What's with The Unforgiven III? Its quite random. Anyways I reckon The Black Album was the best. And a couple 'o' songs from Reload. (The memory remains, Frantic, Unforgiven II)

[Spann]

Frantic was on St. Anger.

[Chefelf]

Of course Metallica are going to kick ass live, they're playing their actually good songs then (I recall they kicked ass five years ago at Reading too).

Wait, Meatllica has good songs?

Metallica haven't done anything interesting or worthwhile since the late 80s.

Late 80s?

Sorry, I feel obligated to make such statement since I hate Metallica.

I had actually started writing a review of the new album but lost interest.

My short review: Way better than I would have expected. Unforgiven III, still proves that Metallica is ultra lame.

[Maggot4Life]

Frantic was on St. Anger.

Ah that's the one. By the way, why do people say St. Anger sounds like 'All Hope Is Gone' by Slipknot? They sound nothing alike. Oh and Devil's Dance is a good song...

[Heccubus]

No that doesn't make sense at all, I agree. Why would one bother to compare shit to an abortion? Doesn't make a lick of sense, I tell you.

[kamelot]

Erk what? Metallica was only decent for their first two maybe three albums. They are not thrash, though they helped pioneer it, and haven't been in years. Please listen to Megadeth or Kreator or Sodom or Coroner. Or any other thrash band.

[barend]

or Cannibalingus