Let’s face it, as cunning plans go, this was a good one. Having not made a really essential album since 1988’s ‘And Justice For All’ (even though 1990’s ‘Black’ album had it’s moments, it was generally a step too far in the commercial direction) the band hit an all time low with the truly abysmal ‘St Anger’ record and the cringe-worthy ‘Some King Of Monster’ documentary.
There are, however, conspiracy theories that the band intentionally recorded an album so bad that whatever they did after it would be seen as a glorious come-back and a return to the magical days of their first four albums. The dirge of ‘St Anger’ surly can’t have been an accident, they must have done it on purpose. And it worked. The release (and inevitable early internet leak) of ‘Death Magnetic’ has been met with wildly enthusiastic reactions from all and sundry claiming it to be a return to the glory years. And for once, believe the hype ‘cos it really is.
It feels so good to have Metallica back on track after they’ve spent so many years trying to run away from their classic sound in search of other styles and moods that rarely worked. Metallica were an incredibly important band to me personally. Not only were they the first truly heavy band I saw live (when my father took me to Monsters Of Rock in 1985), they shaped my musical word and opened up a whole world of heavy music from The Misfits to Exodus and back again.
‘Death Magnetic’ is everything you could hope for from a Metallica album in 2008. Just for starters, the production is fantastic. Rick Rubin has done an incredible job in guiding the band back to the energy and sound that made their initial records so exciting. The sound, from beginning to end, just goes KRUNCH KRUNCH THUMP. Pure heaviness all of the way without ever resorting to the sludge of ‘St Anger’. They manage a sound that is both crystal clear yet totally down-tuned and heavy.
With ten songs in over seventy minutes there’s a hell of a lot here to digest and it takes a few spins to crack it but once you’re in it will get it’s claws into you and never let go. I’m not even going to single out the tracks. Listen to the whole album from beginning to end. See if you can handle that ipod shuffle generation.
James Sherry