The first Metallica album I’ve bought for some time. I got into them around the time of the Black album, bought the back catalogue, bought Live Shit, stayed through Load, but I couldn’t really face Re-Load or St Anger, although I was sufficiently intruiged to ensure that the Some Kind of Monster DVD found its way into my posession (from Santa I think).

And that was doing me quite nicely. Until I saw a BBC 2 Culture Show Metallica Special which looked specifically at the new Metallica album, Death Magnetic.

And then I heard it had been released a couple of days early, after it was leaked on the internet. And then on the original release date, I saw the album in the shops. With a Metallica t-shirt available cheap if you bought it together with the album.

So I bought the album…

…but had the good sense to realise that as I don’t tend to wear heavy metal t-shirts any more, it would be a waste of money buying it.

So, the big question, what’s Death Magnetic actually like?

Obviously I can’t compare it to St Anger or Re-Load, so the only Metallica comparisons I can make or to their earlier studio albums.

It’s difficult to define, because it seems to be a closest match to either Kill ‘Em All, the ultra-fast and somewhat raw first album, or the more musical and produced Black Album.

Robert Trujillo I think is an influence here. His period as bassist for Suicidal Tendencies saw an album that I just had to have: the excellent Lights… Camera… Revolution, when I wasn’t really into metal that fast.

So he brings up the speed quotient a bit; rather than the slow, dolorous, almost weighted songs of the Black album, Death Magnetic seems to have rather more urgency about it. Not quite back to the full-on thrash era, but equally the band haven’t forgotten that a few softer notes, quieter tones and other music, coupled with good production can add something worthwhile to a studio album.

The step back towards a faster tone is picked up by Rolling Stone’s review, which says:

Death Magnetic is the musical equivalent of Russia’s invasion of Georgia — a sudden act of aggression from a sleeping giant.Rolling Stone: Death Magnetic Review

On a considered thought, it’s not really that much like Kill ‘Em All: there’s certainly some of that speed in there; but the vocals in Kill ‘Em All can be a bit strangled or strained because they are delivered so quickly; here you’ve got some fast riffs (like in “All Nightmare Long”, which is slightly reminiscent of Seek and Destroy in some of the lyrics — “Hunt you down without mercy; Hunt you down all nightmare long”) but the vocals are better paced, and delivered with a more mature voice from Hetfield.

The topics of the songs range from good old fashioned battle songs (“Broken, Beat & Scarred”; whether an actual battle or simply a battle against life, the lyrics “Show your scars” and “We die hard” shows a willingness to head back into the fray); you’ve got the pain of child abuse (a beaten-down son with a physical abusive father waiting for the day he stands up and puts an end to the violence in “The Day That Never Comes”). But we are back to ‘really quite a long song’ territory, not that this is a bad thing…

There’s bits that are reminiscent of Master of Puppets too: for me what Master does is reins in the speed just a touch; it’s more about the power that is sometimes shown and sometimes just implied, but that forceful energy (which doesn’t seem to be as present on say, Justice for All) is certainly back with a bang too.

But you’ve still got softer songs with a slower pace: The Unforgiven III in my mind doesn’t quite match up to the original, but the music provides a subtle counterpoint to the regret inherent in the lyrics, and Ulrich’s drums provide just the right amount of pace and punch to both the faster and slower parts of the song.

But I do have one gripe. The CD booklet has a kind of coffin shape ‘burned’ (cut/stamped) through the pages. It looks quite pretty but they’ve cut over some of the bloody words (although not many). I am aware that this complaint is probably only one step away from “…and there isn’t a tune you can whistle”, but I was looking for something negative to say about it, and that’s about the best I can manage.

Let’s just say it ticks the boxes I was looking for. Metallica back with a bang. And a big bang at that. But don’t listen to me. Go out and buy the fucker (ideally via that there Amazon affiliate link) and then listen to it yourself.