Metal Reviews

Thank you! The Haunted, now there's an underrated band. Their debut is a classic, and the new album's pretty good.

Kudos to Frigid. That is probably your most intelligent post

I believe it is. It's probably about as good as they will ever get again.

I think it's underrated because I think that many can't admit that Metallica made indeed a great comeback - compared to the last albums. And when somebody voted here, even he has not listened to the record says everything. And if you're reading some of the negative reviews, you can read the bitterness and envy between every line. "How dare they can make such a good record. I hate them anyway. Blablabla."

Poor, poor Metallica can just never win. Can they?

Neither can I, apparently.

Well if you look at the poll in this thread, I'll say they have won it.

I just don't see what is so great about this, when there is so much other great thrash that is released.

That's been my thoughts about Metallica for a long time. I can't even really listen to their old music without cringing... I don't know what they did, as I used to be a fan, but after years of listening to metal and exploring the genre I just don't think they're anything special and there are better thrash acts like Testament that get overlooked in their favor by the majority.

+1

Nothing against Testament - the formation of damnation is great - but IMO Metallica are just more catchy than any other thrash band. Most of the other great bands like Slayer, Anthrax, Testament, Sodom, Destruction, Kreator and so on are very good - nothing against them - BUT, do they have songs like...

Ride The Lightning, Master of Puppets, Enter Sandman, For Whom the Bells Tolls, Seek and Destroy, One or Battery

...which are so individual and so catchy and so perfect structured and executed?

If we are honest, most of the true thrash albums are a little bit monotonously. Even monsters like Reign in Blood. Metallica have just more variety in every album. Maybe not on St. Anger, but e.g. Death Magnetic has many different but nonetheless very good songs. And that's their greatest strength.

Variety is absolutely not the right word for Death Magentic. Seriously, it took me five listens to notice any major changes..

Oh man i dont even know how to begin with, but i can think of a dozen of better thrash songs that the ones youre mentioning:

Sodom: Nuclear Winter, Electrocution, Tired And Red, The Saw Is the Law, Tombstone, The Vice Of Killing, I Am The War, Napalm In The Morning, City Of God, Axxis Of Evil; not to mention Sodom's almost perfect discography against the very unconsistent Metallica.

Overkill: Rotten to The Core, Feel the Fire, Hammerhead, Wrecking Crew, In Union We Stand, Overkill (Part I, II & III), Shred, Hello From the Gutter, Elimination, Evil Never Dies, Coma, The Sound Of Dying; Not to mention that the first 5 Overkill albums are basically perfect thrash albums.

Exodus: The whole Bonded By Blood album is better than those songs.

I could do the same with Slayer And Kreator but i guess you get the point, look im not saying that those songs you mentioned are bad or anything like it but seriously in the Thrash deppartment alot of bands had done it better (and keep doing it better) than Metallica.

Point and match.

As if Sodom, Slayer, Destruction or Kreator have more variety. DM has more variety than all Slayer albums together!

Not really. Those listed songs are maybe harder, faster and more brutal, but BETTER? Not in this world...

Did Slayer ever write metal ballads for the purpose of mushy sweet sixteen parties? If that's an indication of 'variety', then Metallica is varied as fuck.

The very themes of Metallica's ballads contradicts your statement... You must have been thinking about Bon Jovi or Scorpions...

And, indeed, Metallica are the catchiest thrash related act ever and, yes, they're more varied than any other band in the style.

Fixed.

Maybe they were unconsistent, or inconsistent - not maybe, they were indeed not straight - Load, Reload, S&M, St. Anger... - BUT they went back to the Thrash, and that's 100 times better, than another Load or Reload.

Kerry King said in an interview, that he can't understand how a band that made Damage Inc. came with "Hero of the Day" but I hope he will notice, that the Band thad made "Hero of the Day" can also make something like "My Apocalypse".

And even Sodom, Kreator, Testament, Megadeth and Slayer changed their original style and came back. The only difference to Metallica is, that Metallica were tooo successful with the Black Album. but is success so bad?