Metallica - Death Magnetic

The album that never came.

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on November 8th 2020) 

Metallica. What can be said about them that hasn't been said hundreds of times before? Arguably one of the few bands that has as many fans as they do detractors, their musical endeavours span nearly 4 decades at this point, with albums that are considered classics by many. From the violent thrashing of Kill 'Em All, to the slower hard rock they put out during the 90s, to the much-reviled St. Anger, they've done it all. Seeing though the reception to St. Anger, they decided to take a rather long break, and in 2008 they came back with Death Magnetic. It was at the time celebrated as a comeback by many an old fan and considered a return to the glory days of the band. In 2020 though, a long time after its release, I decided to write about it, free of any biases towards the music and the hype that surrounded it when it originally came out.

A slow heartbeat and an acoustic riff slowly build up anticipation, and "That Was Just Your Life" just starts blazing through with some quality thrashing riffs that immediately show us a band that has found the energy they lost for more than a decade at that point. With James singing with excitement and Hammett playing an actual solo that doesn't abuse the wah pedal. It really shows why people thought they came back stronger than ever when the album originally came out. "The End of the Line" continues in a similar fashion, and brings to mind "Creeping Death", or at the very least a slower version of it, with James' vocal cadence during the verses being the exact same. Starting off with these two tracks was without a doubt the best choice they could've made, though a tad misleading, seeing as what the rest of the album houses is quite different for the most part.

The midsection of the album houses some good tracks, and some middling ones. "The Day That Never Comes" and "All Nightmare Long" are arguably some of the best tracks on offer, and their positioning in the tracklist is quite nice as well. The former of the two is a power ballad that comes in after the first 3 and more aggressive songs here and offers a nice change of pace and its length is absolutely warranted, with the band slowly building up tension throughout its duration and releasing it at the end, with another great solo from Kirk and another great set of riffs. "All Nightmare Long" is another thrasher with a very nice intro, courtesy of Robert Trujillo, which manages to maintain interest during its almost 8 minute runtime.

Like I said though, not all is perfect in that midsection, as there are tracks that left me completely unimpressed after they ended, those being "Cyanide" and "The Unforgiven III". "Cyanide" feels like a more boring version of the track that preceded it, maintaining a sluggish mid-paced tempo and lacking any interesting characteristics to it outside of the "SOS" riff at the start, which was an admittedly good idea. Shame it was wasted on that song. "The Unforgiven III" probably garnered a lot of groans at the time, being the third (and final) song in a trilogy that started back in 1991 with The Black Album. Frankly, while I don't consider it as egregiously bad as many people seem to do (It ranks in many "Worst Metallica songs" list online), and consider it better than "The Unforgiven II", I can't say that it has the impact a finale of a trilogy should've, though it does its best to end things on an epic note, with its use of an orchestra, which is a nice touch and something we hadn't seen on a studio release (S&M notwithstanding) since "Nothing Else Matters".

Sadly, things kinda fall apart near the end, where some of Metallica's most uninspired tracks lie. "The Judas Kiss" is a one-to-one replica of "The End of the Line", with its only saving grace being the chorus, which is quite energetic and dare I say exciting to sing along to. On the other hand we have "Suicide & Redemption", which is the first instrumental the band had written in 20 years, with their last at the time being "To Live is to Die" off ...And Justice For All. The band's longest song so far, just short of the 10 minute mark, and they decide to do absolutely nothing exciting nor interesting with it, opting instead to play some boring mid-paced riffs and aimlessly move around, never reaching the satisfying conclusion all instrumentals should have. The duration of songs is a problem that sadly permeate most of this album, and not just this particular song, which should've honestly be left on the cutting room floor along with the one before it."My Apocalypse" tries cleaning up the mess the previous two songs left, being the shortest song at 5 minutes and just raging through with some high-octane riffing and not letting up for a single second, closing off the album in the best way possible.

Performance wise everyone seems to be in good form compared to what we had previously seen from them. James' voice doesn't sound as shot as it did in St. Anger, and doesn't crack as much as it did on that record, sadly time had taken its toll on it and it lacks the sheer power it had during the band's heyday. Kirk Hammett has for the most part escaped the trappings of Load and Reload, instead trying to play some solos without abusing the wah pedal, though it's not completely gone (See "The Unforgiven III"), and honestly, at this point I can't say it bothers me as much as it used to, seeing as his solos fit well on whatever track he plays them on. Robert Trujillo's bass playing is sadly underutilised and relegated to following the guitars for the most part, though he does have some moments where he makes his presence felt (the bass riff during the verses in "Cyanide" and the opening of "Suicide & Redemption"). Lars is well, Lars, playing random fills as per usual, and on occasion doing some double bass runs.

The production has rightfully been lambasted quite a bit, and is arguably where this album fails the most. Everything is insanely loud and competing for space at all times, which is a shame because there isn't anything inherently wrong with how the instruments sound, as they all sound full. The bass is just buried underneath the mess and struggles to be heard throughout most of the album's duration, and the snare is still too high in the mix, but thankfully this time it doesn't sound like someone banging on a cooking pot , which makes it slightly more tolerable.

Lyrically what we have here is James ruminating on fame and the fleeting nature of time ("That Was Just Your Life, "The End of the Line"), as well as some more personal issues ("The Day That Never Comes", "The Unforgiven III"). They're decently written, with there being some rather questionable lines on some songs, namely "Broken, Beat & Scarred" ("What don't kill you make you more strong", really?! They're supposed to be native speakers for god's sake!). I've heard many people complain about the lyrics in Metallica's albums post-AJFA, but I can't say I'm upset in all honesty. James isn't in his 20s anymore and has grown quite old, he can't rant about war and politics forever.

Death Magnetic is an introspective album, where the band decides to look back on its legacy and tries to pick some of its best moments and use them in order to create something special that is geared towards long time fans, which is probably why it was such a resounding success when it originally came out. 12 years later though, the cracks have shown and while it was a massive improvement compared to the albums that they had released at that point, it still isn't a flawless release by any stretch. That being said, it's not something fans should sleep on, since there still are quite a few good tracks that bring to mind the band's glory days.

Highlights: That Was Just Your Life, The End of the Line, The Day That Never Comes, All Nightmare Long

Rating: 68%