Metallica. The name says it all, and yet, leaves so much to the imagination. This iconic group didn't set out to change the rock ‘n' roll landscape; it just simply wanted to rock hard and prove to the world that hairspray was not a requirement for being in a West Coast rock band.
So what can listeners reasonably expect from the group's newest album (the first in five years) "Death Magnetic?" Probably what Metallica does best: rock hard and fast with sloppy solos and demonic lyrics.
And fortunately for planet Earth, the band doesn't disappoint. The first track on "Death Magnetic" is "That Was Just Your Life," a riff-driven rocker that plays on the band's ability to change styles and tempos so adeptly. The atonal riff that pushes the song matches quite well with lead singer James Hetfield's half-shouting voice that somehow manages to stay melodic throughout even the harshest of passages.
The most noticeable quality of "That Was Just Your Life," as well as the album as whole, is the strange sub-production quality. While producer Rick Rubin is known for his lo-fi sounds, the combination of Metallica's grating sound with nearly no production at all makes for a veritable cacophony of shrill sounds.
As musicians will immediately notice, the tone of all the distorted guitars on the album is atrociously digital-sounding and, for lack of a better word, amateur. Hetfield's vocals sit strangely on top of the mix, and drummer Lars Ulrich's usually perfect bass drum sounds far too flat. In essence, as accomplished as the songwriting may be, the tracks sound like they were recorded in a basement using GarageBand software.
"The End of the Line" is similar to the album opener in sound, but a bit more melodic in structure. The main riff of the song and the choruses have a swinging feel to them, similar to the band's 1997 hit "Fuel." The melodic bridge ties the song together into a nice little easy-listening metal package.
The first single and fourth track from the album, "The Day That Never Comes," is one of the weakest cuts on the album, and the reasons behind its selection as the first single are beyond any intelligent person's guess. While the chorus is extremely melodic and slightly catchy, the song, which started as a ballad, has an existential crisis at about three minutes, and can't decide if it wants to be more like "One" or "Hero of the Day."
If the band had just embraced the fact that this track should rightfully be a ballad, things would have turned out better for everyone involved. The album could use another good slow, melody-centered tune, and listeners' ears would have appreciated a few EQ tweaks on Ulrich's snare drum.
"The Unforgiven III" is a continuation of the "Unforgiven" saga, which, for those not up to speed on Metallica history, was originally a duo of songs from the albums "Load" (1996) and "ReLoad" (1997). The song is the most organic and complete on the album, with none of the sections sounding forced together, as they do in other places. That said, for Metallica purists, the song echoes with the sounds of more modern Metallica, notably the "Load" series.
All in all, "Death Magnetic" is a fairly solid album, and it goes ever-so-slightly above the expectations of the eager public. It is obvious that the band wanted to go back to its roots with this album, but they should have realized that even their first record, "Kill 'Em All" (1983) sounded pretty damn clean sonically. If it weren't for the grossly underprocessed tone of the instruments and vocals, this album would be infinitely easier to like.
