Metallica - Death Magnetic
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Free Music Notes for Death Magnetic
Free Music Review: A Return To Form
Hit: 5 Stars
To be honest, I had my doubts about the "new Metallica" after a string of lackluster albums by the now legendary heavy metal quartet. Following the Mega-Platinum "Black Album", Metallica released a couple of albums ("Load" and "ReLoad") that each featured several heavy hitting singles, such as the adrenaline injected "Fuel", bookmarked by less than superb "ho-hum" filler songs. Not bad songs, but also not anything to write home about. Then, coinciding with the meltdown of the relationship between the remaining original three members (James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammett) and bassist Jason Newsted, the band spent several years crawling inside their own psyches and egos to produce the atrociously written, recorded and produced 2003's "St. Anger", a decided exercise in rage and futility, which saw much of the band's long-faithful fanbase left scratching their collective banging heads. This was all documented in the film "Some Kind of Monster", a fascinating look into the inner workings of the band that I highly recommend, but that's a different review. At the end of the "St. Anger" recording timeline, the band welcomed in new bassist Robert Trujillo, a veteran bassist most recently of Ozzy Osbourne's touring band. Though the "St. Anger" album became a scapegoat for all that was "wrong" with Metallica, and saw the end of their working relationship with Bob Rock (who had produced their greatest commercially successful album), and was probably the most brutal critical failure the "world's most successful metal band" had seen, as they usually do, Metallica hit the road on a huge world tour and drove forward with the usual headstrong live performances that made them household names to begin with.
And so, the band entered the studio in 2006 to begin work on their next album with Trujillo and veteran producer Rick Rubin in tow. Vowing a return to their heavy sound and to their thrash metal roots, the band spent nearly two full years writing and recording the new album, in well-guarded secrecy, taking breaks in between to do several shorter tours including a european tour where they performed 1986's Metalli-masterpiece "Master of Puppets" in it's entirety (I'd have paid a LOT to have been at one of those shows...). And not unlike it's preceding album (St. Anger), the arrival of "Death Magnetic" comes with some amount of controversy, with a large contingent of fans upset with the overall mastering of the album, claiming it has been mastered to disc at too loud a recording volume, resulting in distortion and clipping when played at loud volume. The band have stuck to their proverbial guns, standing by the finished result, which has dominated sales charts for weeks following it's release, and the first single "The Day That Never Comes" has gotten regular rotation on AOR playlists as well.
So, after hearing "The Day That Never Comes" several times on the web as well as radio and video, I was mixed on the sound quality issue mentioned before by the Metallica "pundits", as there seemed to be a bit of the distortion and clipping cited by the "complainants", but wanting to be objective, I decided to wait until I'd heard a copy of the actual disc before rushing to any conclusions. I had also heard various snippets from the album via a downloaded "Guitar Hero III" video game patch, which to me sounded pretty good. Last week, I stopped by a record store, and spotted a copy of "Death Magnetic" used for 10 bucks and decided I'd give it a chance. What I found was none of the aforementioned audio problems. To be honest, the disc is mixed at a very high volume, but even when I turned it up to the proverbial "11" I didn't notice any of the distortion or clipping, on either home stereo, or in the car. Musically, I have to say I'm VERY impressed. To me at least, this album sounds and feels like the proper follow-up to "And Justice For All..." or the "black" album. The guitars are decidedly more raw sounding on the heavier parts, and surprisingly soft and beautiful during the mellower sections. The lyrical content (credited entirely to Hetfield) is typical Hetfield fare, dealing with questions of life and death, pain and redemption, etc., and the vocal performance is also typical Hetfield, complete with "rrah's" on the end of the lines of verse, but well delivered and, like the guitars, powerful and mellow in the right spots. Trujillo's bass performance is good and if not always noticeable in the mix, it is a quality performance that fits the material perfectly, and there are certain spots throughout the album where the bass is in the forefront for his talent to shine. The drums are tight and ferocious with typical Ulrich blast beats and double-bass stomping, the only drawback is the sound of the drums, which while light-years better than the tin can din of "St. Anger", still sounds a bit tinny and the cymbals sound a bit flat. I'll chalk this up to the way Lars tunes his drumkit, and the way he prefers it to be mic'd rather than cite some problem with the production, as the rest of the instruments sound pretty damn good. The real strength of this album is it's songwriting and arrangements. Driven from the outset by the fiery and complex guitar riffs, the songwriting is powerful and precise, with complex time changes that at times become a bit dense such as the closing section of "The Day That Never Comes", but never overwhelm the structure of the song to obscure the focus of the song. The arrangements are particularly different from recent albums in that there is a lot of variety in tempo and their signature time changes are razor sharp, and there are many of the "thrash metal" superspeed galloping rhythms, harkening back to their first four albums, but it never feels forced or out of place. Each song is in itself, a complete statement of it's own, and the Metallica machine never gets bogged down in songs that seem to repeat other hits from the past, or other songs on the album as on "Load" and "Re-Load", and the overall production and mix from Rubin is raw and sparse which really lets the instruments shine instead of bogged down in the mix as they were on "St. Anger". All in all, the performance is tight and furiously paced, and "Death Magnetic" is, in my opinion, a real return to form for arguably the most successful both commercially and critically heavy metal band yet.
Highlights for me would include the heavy groove-laden "The End Of The Line" and "Cyanide", the furious "All Nightmare Long", and a great instrumental piece, "Suicide & Redemption". There is also the third installment in the ongoing Unforgiven saga "Unforgiven III" which feels similar to the namesake song from the black album, but also has it's own appeal. Overall, a great album by a band for which greatness is both expected and needed.
I'd give it 4 and a half stars, but it'll only let me give 4 or 5, so I said 4 due to the drum sound.
***For all the I-pod/download types out there, the sound quality of all the downloadable patches I've heard of the new Metallica are FAR inferior to the sound of the actual cd. This might be the source of the "Mastering" controversy. You might want to buy the cd and load the songs onto your I-tunes or whatever yourself, and load your I-pod that way.
Free Music Review: They Die Hard
Hit: 5 Stars
Its been over six months since Metallica released their newest album, Death Magnetic. I've been waiting patiently during that time span to see how my feelings towards the album would evolve. Honestly, I loved St. Anger (Metallica's previous album) when it first released, and I'm unashamed to admit that my initial impressions were not lasting ones. Just like in all other aspects of life, feelings change.
How I feel about Death Magnetic, though, has not changed. Ever since the tempo picked up in That Was Just Your Life, a minute and thirty seconds into the very first song, I've been madly in love with the album. The vocals, the solos, the tempo changes, the overall tone of the album, everything is near perfection, something that hasn't been said about Metallica in nearly seventeen years.
Rather than go into a song by song review, I'd like to explore what makes Death Magnetic stand out as an album. Countless catchy and likable albums are released every year in all genres of music, but every once in a while something comes out that can only be described as extraordinary. A piece of work that has mass appeal, that doesn't limit itself to the confines defined by genres.
Death Magnetic is not that album. Metallica (The Black Album), is that album. Death Magnetic stands out because it offers the exact opposite of mass appeal. It resides blissfully in its own genre, perfecting a formula in which Metallica created years ago. This is thrash metal at its finest, and it's oh so good. There's no question that Metallica unabashedly attempted to appeal to a very specific audience, and in that way created something very special. Death Magnetic is a celebration of an entire genre.
Death Magnetic has been hyped as "the missing link between ...And Justice for All and Metallica", which is a little misleading. Rather than being a return to their roots, this album is really a medley of all their styles over the past twenty five years. There is a prevalent style that holds the album together though, and that's thrash. Thrash Metal succeeds largely on fast and heavy guitar work combined with quick and aggressive vocals, all of which are very prominent in Death Magnetic. As a fan of the genre, I get goosebumps listening to James Hetfield snarl "We Hunt you down without mercy!! Hunt you down all nightmare long!!" while two guitars spin heavy riffs around each other, blocking out any moment of silence or respite, all while machine-gun double bass beats you over the head in the background.
Of course, the entire album isn't an adrenaline rush. Songs like The Day That Never Comes and The Unforgiven III slow the pace for a bit, but never for long. Both songs start slow but finish powerfully, almost as if Metallica is teasing the listener - you may want a moment to catch your breath, but they're not even close to being finished with you. This is really indicative of the entire album. While other bands would be satisfied building songs around three chords, Metallica includes a variety of riffs, each of which contains a number of chords, into each song. This results in long, epic songs that never get tired or boring. It's an amazing achievement to include a ten-minute instrumental that is just as fun to listen to as the lone five-minute song.
As I said before, Death Magnetic is not a masterpiece. It falls short in two ways: its overall sound production and its lyrics. I wont address the sound production problem, because it's purely technical (the music was mastered at high volume level), and in no part a fault of Metallica's. The music is still great, and if it's that big of a problem to you, there are remastered torrents floating around the internet that solve the problem. I'm not saying that you should download these... that would be illegal, and I'm sure it would make Lars mad... but the option is there. I will address the lyrical problem though.
Prior to St. Anger, James Hetfield wrote all lyrical content, and although I doubt he won any poetry awards, it was solid, sometimes fantastic stuff. When the infamous St. Anger was being developed, all members were included in the lyric creation process. The result was an oversimplified approach, with awful and occasionally just plain dumb lyrics. For Death Magnetic, James Hetfield has retaken sole lyrical duties, and while a major step forward from the previous album, the lyrics still fall short of his earlier work. Sure there are some stand out moments on the album:
"I'll splatter color on this gray."
"I've become your new god now."
"Broken, beat, and scarred, we die hard!"
"Why can't I forgive me? "
Most of the lyrical content though is written like a parody of previous Metallica material. The overarching theme here is death, tragedy, and redemption. Really original, right? Maybe a high school kid wearing eye-liner and writing morbid poetry would think this is deep, but for the rest of us it's just a tired convention of the genre. Worst of all, the music doesn't fit in with the theme. As James sings about the hardships of struggling with life in That Was Just Your Life, or the tragedy of being mutilated in a grotesque car accident in My Apocalypse, the tone of the music sounds upbeat, nearing the precipice of happiness. In fact, every song on the album has a chest thumping celebration of life vibe to it. Which I love, as it's a change from played-out genre norms, yet it becomes harder and harder to reconcile the differences between what Metallica wants you to take from the album, and what is taken from the album. I don't see the album as a commentary on the fragility of life, but as a celebration of music by a band who after twenty five years finally understands what it is that makes them special.
When comparing Metallica albums, one always uses "the big three" as a reference point. These big three being Ride the Lightening, Master of Puppets, and ...and Justice for All. All three of these albums can be considered the pinnacle of an entire genre of music and therefore a reference point for all other bands as well. While I've loved Metallica in all of their forms, it would be unfair to say that I didn't hope that one day they would return to their big three form. Death Magnetic is both that return and something more - it's an exploration of all the styles and struggles that they have gone through in a twenty five year career. The album makes you thankful for all of the bands missteps, like St. Anger, because without those they wouldn't be were they are today. There is no more "big three", but a "big four". Metallica is once again the best rock band in music.
Free Music Review: The Politics of Metallica
Hit: 5 Stars
[EDIT- 9/2/10: Originally in 2008, I had rated this CD "only" 4 stars, as for whatever reason, it felt sort of off to give Death Magnetic a full 5 star review, given a few issues I had with it. Even though I still stand by my assessment of those flaws, the fact that almost 2 years later, the songs still consistently find their way into my playlist (for a while, it was the semi-regular soundtrack to my commute a year after its release) requires me to change this to a "5 stars with a qualification" rating!]
There's no doubt that Metallica is one of the most influential metal bands out there, along with Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and a handful of others. Starting with the raw, street-level thrash/speed metal of "Kill 'Em All", Metallica raised the stakes with the more epic and polished "Ride the Lightning", and created a bona fide masterpiece with "Master of Puppets", which managed to be incredibly brutal yet melodic. 1988's ".....And Justice For All" saw the band attempt to merge the ambitions of progressive rock with a sort of ultra-technical brand of thrash, and surprisingly enough, yielded their first hit single. When they released their self-titled 1991 album, Metallica made a conscious break from the frantic and dense structures of their prior efforts in favor of a much more radio-friendly, arena-metal sound. While it made the band incredibly successful and popular, it also was the first sign of trouble for many fans. While "Metallica" (aka the Black Album)could boast great production and tight (if somewhat mainstream) songwriting, 1996's "Load" was, for many, a kick in the gut. While the album was promoted as containing as much music as a CD could hold, too much of it was filler, and the music itself was often incredibly unambitious. Songs that started as promising would end up flogging the same 2 riffs to death for far too long, while other songs were filler tracks that were dead on arrival. The new "bluesy hard rock" twist on Metallica's approach to metal was applied in a rather sloppy and undeveloped fashion, something that continued in "Reload", 1997's companion piece to "Load". While both albums did have some decent singles fodder and some "experimental" songs that were not half-bad (yes, I did actually like "Mama Said"), the overall results weren't good. Metallica continued to buy time with their "Garage, Inc." covers compilation, and the live orchestral "S&M" CD, until 2003, when "St. Anger" was released amidst promises of a "return to form". The energy was there, but everything else went painfully and horribly wrong, and the CD has been gathering dust in my collection since the first couple of listens. Suffice it to say that after St. Anger, I would no longer buy a Metallica CD on pure faith.
Lars and those other guys must have been reading my mind, because they actually put up the full songs in streaming format on their website right before the launch of "Death Magnetic", allowing me to judge for myself. And you know what? I bought it as soon as I could, because "Death Magnetic" is their best album in years, finally following up on the tease of a return to form I heard in their 1998 "Mercyful Fate" medley (on "Garage Inc."). While the end result shows that Metallica wasn't lying this time about the quality of their new release, it does show them to be liars in a different way. Namely, Metallica tried to justify their mid-90's direction by claiming they were "playing more naturally", thus requiring them to be much more simplistic and sloppy.
The thing is that "Death Magnetic" shows that they could've been more organic than "...Justice", yet still interesting and ambitious. On songs like "End of the Line", "Load"-era groove and swagger will inundate one riff, only to have the band suddenly kick into a "Master of Puppets"-inspired tight and heavy barking gallop. Indeed, vocals that are reminiscent of 1990s Metallica (and occasionally "St. Anger"), but more energetic, can be found layered on top of song structures that recall past songs such as "No Remorse" and "One". Guitar harmonies simply abound throughout this album, sometimes even evoking Iron Maiden. "Cyanide" rides on a groovy flow that would be at home on "Load", with a "Black"-album catchy melody, but seemlessly incorporates a much more complex song-structure midway through. And while other reviews indicated that "Suicide and Redemption", Metallica's first new instrumental since 1988, was disappointing and repetitive, I'm not sure which song they were listening to, as it has plenty of variety, and hits hard. The whole CD exudes a shockingly effortless and unlabored feel in general, given how hard Metallica tried to disassociate themselves from metal in general.
That being said, "Death Magnetic" occasionally stumbles, making what could've been a masterpiece merely a very good album. The production is too dry for my tastes, and there are times when James Hetfield's voice is strained beyond capacity (such as the mid-point of "The Day That Never Comes"). While "The Unforgiven 3" is a good enough song (with a nice piano intro), a questionable "emotive" lyrical decision midway through the song reeks of cheesiness. In addition, while the constantly shifting and syncopated riffs and beats keep things from becoming too repetitive, there are times when putting in a total shift in key for a few moments could've taken the music to a higher level. The truth is that other bands, such as Rage and Blind Guardian, have been filling in admirably in Metallica's "absence", and have raised the bar (even if Metallica innovated first). As a result, Metallica is at a bit of a disadvantage, despite the obvious effort they put forth. But that's like complaining that the pretty Asian girl next door isn't Helen of Troy. While "Death Magnetic" can't rise to the level of "Master of Puppets" (few bands ever can top their truly definitive album), it may well knock "...And Justice For All" or "The Black Album" out of their current spots, being less stiff and stilted than "Justice", and more complex and aggressive than "Black".
In the end, I can't help but recommend this album. For the first time in a long while, my first listen to a new Metallica album was actually a fairly pure joy, where I didn't feel I had to self-justify enjoying any of it, or where I didn't cringe that often. Get the album, crank "My Apocalypse", and you may actually find your head bobbing. Sometimes people do deserve a second chance, and Metallica has re-earned my faith, at least for the time being. Go buy yourself a Jaegerbomb, Lars.....you've earned it.
Free Music Review: The Truth about Death Magnetic:
Hit: 5 Stars
Nay-sayers beware your death!
Straight out of the gate, the first thing I notice is that Metallica has released an album with only ten songs, this fills me excitement and apprehension, excitement with the hope that this must mean that every song is GREAT, apprehension because, if they are great, there are only ten!
That Was Just Your Life - the first ten seconds of this song don't even sound like Metallica, its fresh, clean tone a great intro to get the blood pumping. A hard driving song and the first clear picture of the album.....the sound...is AMAZING. The guitars are thick and heavy, finally for the first time since the black album the guitars are back, up front and in your face!
The End of the Line - you can really hear Rob's influence in this song....the main riff has a lot of groove to match its heavy (if you know Rob's history you'll hear it here!) The bridge in this song is incredible, that dropped bass, clear guitars behind James slow voice...NICE guys, friggin NICE! Great use of dynamics in this song.
Broken, Beat & Scarred - Full driving, hard hitting from the first note. Again, sweet harmonies, ripping guitar riffs to burn your face off! (this song makes me a little sad when I think about what St. Anger "could have" sounded like) I really like the lyrical movement in this song, this song is incredibly tight but doesn't feel strangled like the St. Anger's tunes. I cannot wait to hear this song live. IMO this song is a must for the set list guys!!!
The Day That Never Comes - you've heard it and I'm sure like many you said, is this the new Metallica song, or did I click the wrong button??? The intro with its clean, biting guitars is a bit of a different sound for them (its an octave up from where you'll find them on previous albums) Again, is it just me or can no one else hear the Iron Maiden/Diamond Head influences in this song? (so for those who have indeed said Metallica have gone back to their roots were right, but any time anyone says that people come expecting a Ride or MOP copy, come on where were you in 1981?!!!) The slide harmonies in the intro are SICK...friggin beautiful. Rob really shines here also, my Bose speakers were humming, we all know this guy is great, and now we can HEAR it! If this is the future of Metallica, the rest of my musical life just kicked into high gear.
This song will be another bullet when played live.
All Nightmare Long - Kick drum, bass line, clean guitars to open this baby up, then driving riffs straight into a heavy gallop (and I can't say it enough the guitars sound amazing Rick Rubin stand up and take a bow) this song sounds like a natural progression from Damage Inc. to me!! Listen to the two songs back to back and tell me Metallica have gone soft.
Cyanide Heavy, heavy , heavy!! Drums and bass! Remember what those sound like? Yah, they're back!! I really like the lyrical movement in this song, riffs flow amazingly well with the vox, and this song also has a lot of groove between those epic guitars and stops. (again you may mourn what could have been on St. Anger when hearing this) I love the chorus in this song.
The Unforgiven III I saw this title on the back cover and my shoulders slumped (didn't really think Unforgiven II was all that great) But this song really stands on its own...and it may shock some with a PIANO intro. Yah, the ivory keys on a Metallica record. But don't worry every second of this song is great, it has an epic feel and really paints a picture with the music. The volume swells used in the bridge really brought me straight back to ORION.
The Judas Kiss - Lots of stops and quick riffs in this, fast lyrical movement...liked the short solo coming out of the bridge.
Suicide & Redemption - This is such a great surprise, they are so great at constructing epic instrumentals. I was so disappointed in the last few years that they had dropped that from their records. It's back and you'll see a thousand images in your minds eye while you're listening.
My Apocalypse A great way to close the album, its not a short one-off like some of their records, it's a great closer with a lot of power and grit, they haven't closed an album with a song this strong since Justice.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Raise a fist in the air for all the harmonies! These are everywhere on this album (Kirk and James playing the same riff an octave apart)...still don't understand what I mean? Check out any Iron Maiden album, they are known for dual guitar harmonies. This Metallica album is full of them, hard, heavy harmonies that make your speakers glow with heavy godliness.
Metallica's early influences are everywhere here: Diamond Head, Angel Witch, Iron Maiden, Mercyful Fate, King Diamond...you will hear those influences on this album again (remember back to Kill Em All and Ride? Yah)
I've listened to Metallica nearly all of my life, and this album sounds like a natural progression in their history to me. Load, Reload and St. Anger don't fit for me, they seem more like detours. Death Magnetic feels like its on the hard road, fitting comfortably after the black album.
The bass on this album is superb, the only down side for me were the solos. I don't feel that they were good enough for the songs. They weren't good enough for the album. They were fast licks and ascending and descending lines with no real phrasing, instead of a mini-story they weren't much else than quick runs (Kirk you are better than this, turn off that WAH box and go back to the fundamentals)
I am anxiously awaiting seeing Metallica LIVE. That is where they really shine.
In closing: Just like all of Metallica's records, so-called old school fans will crap all over it and the truth of it is...these people are angry with everyone that has changed, Kill, Ride and MOP will NEVER happen again, and frankly I don't want them to. It's an impossibility and it isn't even reasonable to expect that it will happen again. I see those so-called old school fans on all the message boards, and they try to provoke people, while they sit in their desk chair with their old ratty t-shirts at 37 years old with mullets and acne scars. This album feels right and it is METALLICA. For the first time in many years I am excited again about a Metallica album and in the end, that's all that really matters. See you at the show!!!!!
Free Music Review: Metallica-Death Magnetic
Hit: 5 Stars
The Metal Militia is back in business. Metallica`s ninth studio album "Death Magnetic" is the proof that they have found their way back to speedy thrash metal. Who would have thought this, after their hard rock and country attempts "Load" and "Reload", as well as the raw and one-dimensional forerunner "St. Anger" in 2003? Nevertheless, "Death Magnetic" should be the desired turn to their thrash metal roots.
The album was released on September 12, 2008 through Warner Bros. Records and debuted as number one on the Billboard 200 in the United States. Outside of the U.S.A. they are distributed by Universal Music Group. No less a figure than the famous producer Rick Rubin accepted to work with the band. He displaced long-term producer Bob Rock, who acted as their producer since the excessively praised "Black Album" and even supported Metallica as bassist during the recording process of "St. Anger". After they had finished recording "St. Anger" in 2003, Rob Trujillo was announced to be the band's new bassist. Therefore "Death Magnetic" is the first Metallica record that features his bass tracks.
The rest of the band is still the classic line-up from 1983, consisting of the charismatic frontman and rhythm guitarist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich and lead-guitar-gunslinger Kirk Hammett. For the recording the band decided to work in different studios as well as their own studio HQ.
However, "Death Magnetic" features 10 tracks, including an instrumental. The album's starter "That was just your Life" begins with the beating of a heart and atmospheric, clean guitars that lead into the first gallops and palm muted riffs that James Hetfield is famous for. The sound is raw, mighty and with a certain edge to it. Hetfield's vocals sound like that of an angry sailor and are often interrupted by extended instrumental parts with dual-guitar lines. Fortunately, Ulrich's drums sound like drums again and not like bush telegraphy, as on "St. Anger". It is almost shocking to hear lead guitars and solos again, as Hammett was not allowed to do this on the forerunner. Concerning the lyrics, Hetfield surely does not sing about the happy days in life. The centre theme of the album is death and this is featured in all songs.
The intro of "Broken, Beat & Scarred" reminds a bit of the song "The Shortest Straw" from 1988, because of the staccato rhythmic. The track also contains a fiery guitar solo that starts with fast legato runs and ends in roaring double-stop bends. At this point, one has to say that the drumming of Lars Ulrich changed over the years. It seems that there is not as much use of the beloved double-bass as on the classic records. Hetfield's "What don't kill ya make ya more strong" lyrics make the whole thing kind of optimistic and motivating too.
Next in line is the song "The day that never comes". This one is the first single on the record that was released separately. The video to this song aroused some attention, as it deals with the war in Iraq. Some fans recognized similarities to Metallica's "Fade to black", as "The day that never comes" starts with clean and atmospheric arpeggios with a melody line on top. The verses are soft and melodic whereas the chorus is loud and powerful. Therefore, this song takes the same line as "Welcome Home" or the mentioned "Fade to black" in terms of these dynamics.
"Crawl from the wreckage one more time..." is the first line of the album's next song "All Nightmare Long". What a fitting line for the beginning of Metallica's new era, isn't it? The song contains a lot of fast tremolo picking and gallops. In terms of the vocals, it seems that this song put a lot of stress onto Hetfield's voice, as there are a lot of high-pitched notes to reach. All in all, it is fast and heavy and comes close to old-school thrash metal. Another specialty is the song "The Unforgiven III". This song falls in line with "The Unforgiven" and "The Unforgiven II" - both on previous records. The song dynamics are changed around, so that there are heavy verses combined with a calm chorus. "The Unforgiven III" features piano arpeggios along with the typical clean, almost sterile sounding, guitars. As the song moves on, subtle strings come in and support the slow-moving vocals. "Suicide and Redemption" is the only instrumental on "Death Magnetic". With almost 10 minutes of length, Metallica have met their standard from the old days in terms of quantity. On the quality side, this instrumental can not keep up with the ones on previous records. It sounds like a typical Metallica song, but there is the impression that the vocals are missing. There is no chance that "Suicide and Redemption" reaches the power and the groove of instrumentals like "Orion" or "Ktulu". Death Magnetic's grand finale is the song "My Apocalypse". With a length of about 5 minutes it is the shortest track on the album.
In conclusion, Metallica achieved to awake their passion and love for speedy and heavy music. For the first time since the late 80s, the songs feature the typical complex structure and the raw charm of thrash metal from the Bay Area. Metallica went back from short, radio suitable tracks to the old-school metal sound. The band's intention was to create songs that follow the line of their classics. In different words, they tried to copy themselves. As a consequence, the tracks on "Death Magnetic" do not feature a lot of variety and start to get old fairly quick. As mentioned, the sound is raw and not in any case over-produced. Here and there it seems that some parts are distorted and need a bit of re-mastering. One could see the reason for that in Rick Rubin's unconventional style of producing, as he was not present at the studio very often.
Nevertheless, Metallica have made a step into the right direction and they have clarified that there is still life in the old dogs yet.