Metal Reviews

I am going to listen to Death Magnetic very soon.

http://www.nme.com/news/metallica/39463

So Lars claims that he doesn't care that it leaked.

listening to it now... some pretty good riffs here, and some of this stuff reminds me of the old days. But damn is james' voice weak.. And the guitarsound is pretty thin too.. The leads is Kirk-ish, not good, but not bad either.

Overall: Not bad, decent comeback from st. anger at least.

Be careful with "leaked albums", since sometimes people post "fake songs" (ie. they'll find songs by bands that sound vaguely like Metallica, post the songs, and label them as new Metallica songs). Anybody remember the song Hunger and how even Metallica needed to announce that it wasn't an actual song by them?

But actually, the real leaked album is pretty easy to find.

and it's a f*cking pleasant surprise!!!! It's been a loooong time since I enjoy an album that much.

oh c'mon... its not that good, do you think?

Maybe its just me then..

actually, i listened to it 8 times already. There are some turds (Unforgiven III and the pointless instrumental Suicide & Redemption) and one average (The judas kiss) but overall, it's a pretty good album.

yeah... The Unforgiven blows balls.

I like My Apocalypse.. Whats going on? Why do I like it? Is Metallica decent again? I don't like The Day That Never Comes though, boring as hell. Im actually pretty interested in this album now, now that there is at least 1 song I like.

*raises hand*

Sounds exactly like middle-aged men trying to thrash and failing to me. Some songs are good (That Was Just Your Life, Cyanide, My Apocalypse) some are bad (The End Of The Line, Unforgiven III, Suicide & Redemption) - James' voice is poor, and the drumming is painful. And the actual THRASH riffs are basically Frantic with a better production...

In terms of songwriting, Load is far, far better. At least it's not trying to be something that it's not. So far for me, DM is a big disappointment.

I'm just going to wait until my copy comes in the mail before listening to it. I've already heard the samples, so I think I have a good idea of what the album's like. And I'll be honest: Even if it does (as Zad suggested) sound like a bunch of middle aged men trying to thrash like they're 23 years old again, it's still nice to see Metallica at least making an effort to return to their roots.

I'm guessing the reception for this album will be similar to the reception for Angel Of Retribution. Many people will hail it as Metallica's long-overdue return to form, while others will consider it a massive disappointment in spite of its arguable "return to roots." And then you'll have those people who have lost so much respect for Metallica that pretty much anything they put out will be declared crap regardless of how musically good it is.

Honestly, what I heard in the samples didn't at all sound like anything from St. Anger (I don't really see where Zad's drawing the Frantic parallel, personally). It basically sounded like modern Exodus to me, except with James's cigarette-tainted vocals. Of course, I'll need to listen to the full album before passing final judgment. But what I've heard so far sounds just like what St. Anger should've been.

I wanted to wait til my copy came in the mail but then I started to feel that since I already paid for it, I had the right to listen to it.

I like it. It has it's flaws but it is overall decent. I personally like it more than either Load album after three listens to it. It is so damn long I haven't had time to get through it much more than that.

Hammett should've mixed it up a bit more. James' vocals are shot to hell but they could've been worse. Lars isn't that great but there are moments where his drumming simply clicks. I can't notice the bass every single second but I'm not surprised by that.

The Unforgiven III could've been so much better. The instrumental isn't that bad. The Judas Kiss could've had a few minutes clipped off and it would be awesome. It seems like they were afraid to make 5 minute songs like My Apocalypse but I think that song is one of the best off that album. That Was Just Your Life is really good too. The 'make ya strong' lyrical bit is retarded in Broken, Beaten, and Scarred. The End of Line is meh and I haven't formed an opinion about All Nightmare Long.

Don't get me wrong, I like this album but doesn't anybody else feel like it's kind of a desperate attempt to win back those people who were dispapointed with Metallica since the Black Album came out?
Seinfeld, I think you're wrong... There won't be any redemption for Metallica, people who hate them will continue hating them and the others, who already knew St Anger was nothing more than a simple mistake, will take Death Magnetic just for what it is: another album by a good band that used to be better than they are nowadays.
Anyway, like someone else said, it's still good to see Metallica back to their roots and if it's, like I think, an opportunistic move, at least it's a clever one.

It's pretty bad actually.
More or less for the points you mentioned... OH and why is it so fucking long?

The songs are far too long, especially all the 7-min ones.

I remember reading that this would be similar to justice, as far as song lenght goes... But yeah.. There is way to little variation here. Which makes it boring as hell... listened to it about 4-5 times now. And damn does unforgiven III blow balls.

Haha, trapt:

Wha donna kill ya make ya more strong!

It's this album's ma lifestyle/determines ma deathstyle!

Album's not dreadful, but not a masterpiece either. That first song's lodged in my head though...

I found it to be surprisingly good! It's basically the album I had hoped they would do. I love that Metallica guitar harmonies are back with a vengeance. I've been missing that for so long. And it feels like there are more riffs on this album than Load/Reload/St.Anger combined :)

The production is poor, but that might be a bad rip or something. Though it's a bit discouraging that the single, the video and the samples also have sound issues which makes me believe the final product will be the same. Let's hope not. Here's a comparison between Master of Puppets, Holier than Thou and My Apocalypse: What a fucking mess.

I'm not feeling the solos. Kirk has made some really good ones in the past but these are terrible. Still, bad solos are better than no solos. The lyrics are pretty juvenile at times but I don't mind. Wish James' voice were better but what are you gonna do?

My favorite tunes are All Nightmare Long, The Day That Never Comes, That Was Just Your Life and The Judas Kiss. The Unforgiven 3 is horrible (I'm surprised so many here agree, most other places I've been seem to like it). I'd consider the rest to be pretty good songs.

An early impression would be to rate the album 8/10. Overall very good song material but with a couple of negatives with production (unless the final product is much better) and solos being the biggest villains.

8/10 was much..

5/10 here.

I agree with most people here, even if i like Death Magnetic so far. I understand most complaints even if it is the opposite of what I think.

However, I don't think that it's a bunch of old men trying to hard to sound heavy. Death Magnetic IS heavy and is definately a back to the roots. There are some nice thrashing moments, some very good solos. Some songs drag a little by their unnecessary lenght but overall, it's a solid album. It will not be the album of 2008 but the surprise of 2008.

I'm glad to see that it's not a haters vs fanboys thread but more of a good discussion thread. Some will say it's a fake attempt, some will say it's an epiphany and some will say that it's a pleasant surprise or even a crappy musical fest.

I'm in the third one. The album is enjoyable, catchy. And i'm glad to hear something like that from Metallica.

Maybe I sound like a nostalgic 30 years old fucker(and that's what I am), but It's what i think of it.