Yawn.....the sleeping bear just crawled out of its cave, rubbed the crust off it's eyes and is ready to eat your face, once more.
First off, I hope none of you tinkerbells are reviewing this without cranking the volume. Death Magnetic is done, and I've barely found time to eat and shit between listenings of this album. I managed to get the full thing 6 days before it's release, and I had been chewing up the first 3 released tracks up until then.
First impressions were a bit muddled. I had a hard time finding consistency throughout the songs, as far as overall feel and sound. But as more tracks were released and ultimately I had the whole thing, I've not listened to anything else. Many people online seem to have a growing recommendation towards the CD and I concur I am going through the same phase. I'm unravelling every subtlety I can, hoping to become one with the essence of awesomeness, which Metallica once heralded out every pore.
To Compare with their other albums, I think you'll hear it all. Kill Em All, Ride, Justice, Black take up the forfront while a little bit Master, the loads and even St. Anger and Garage Days drift by in notes sometimes shorter than a midget squirrel. Actually, I'd have to say if this came out ofter justice.....even if 20 years later, it'd be a fairly seamless step. I think everyone will have their fav's, though some tracks do shine brighter than others. My picks so far are "That was just your Life", "Broken, Beat and Scarred", "All Nightmare long". None of the tracks are bad and it's hella easy to find yourself draining your iPod batteries on one segment in one song, rewinding over and over.
Ya just gotta keep listening. It's certainly fills a void I've been craving for years and years. His vocals sound great, though it might take a little time to appreciate them fully. Remember he's older now, but he still sings the angry uncle. I've never been a fan of "pretending". I enjoy the odd metal singings voices, but Hetfield just yells at ya, and still packs enough range to make it music. His emotion on every note is dead on. Kirk sounds like he's a timeless God, visiting us straight from the combined might of their first 4 albums. Lars doesn't have the meticulous placements I lust for, but doesn't fall short of delivering a solid backbone. Same goes for Trujillo...he's there, sometimes hard to discern, but fills the bill.
Also......for those of you who don't use an equalizer to amp your music to your liking and bring out your favourite sounds, maybe you shouldn't be criticising. CD's are meant to sound best in all scenario's. If you're an affectionado, boost it!!!
Just get Death Magnetic. Listen to it. Enhance your ears any *cough cough* way you need to, and rock the hell out. They have only conformed to themselves, as any standard setter should. Is it rock, is it metal? It's Metallica. Real Metallica. All four members working together for one end. Nothing sounds out of place, except maybe a few piano keys on Unforgiven III's intro. As I mentioned, it's reflective of their older stuff, but manages to feel modern. And with most things modern, the test of time fails, but somehow I think this will put smiles and bruises on peoples faces for years to come.
My review might be all over the place, but so has my scanning of the new CD. Playing one track over and over, picking another at random, repeat, rock out, repeat. I just can't get enough. Can't wait to hear another. Maybe with a little justified confidence back in their pockets, we'll see the bar raised higher, yet again. Master! Master!
