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Rating: First of all, this is the first review I'm writing on this site since I just registered to access... putting that aside, let's get to the point...
I will be very clear and concise and with a few words I will give my opinion on the new Metallica album "Death Magnetic" released in Italy on September 12th, 2008. I must say that since the now distant 1991, the year in which the magnificent "Four Horsemen" produced the wonderful self-titled album "Metallica" also called "Black Album", I hadn't heard such a beautiful album from them. "Death Magnetic" did very well this time, the initial arpeggio of the first track "That Was Just Your Life" with the background of a beating heart is somewhat reminiscent of the legendary "Enter Sandman" yet then a wonderful distorted electric guitar enters immediately giving a very strong impact and here starts the grandiose riff of this song that will echo throughout the track. Even the chorus vaguely reminds of the aforementioned "Enter Sandman", overall I rate this excellent beginning a 9; the second track is titled "The End Of The Line", its initial riff is taken from an unreleased song that was already played to the audience back in 2006 during some live shows. Then anyway, a good old-style thrash is unleashed (I don't want to dare say it's like the golden days of Master of Puppets or Ride the Lightning because after all, they also are 45 years old and can't have the same mindset and initiatives of that time, one matures and approaches things differently); the third song "Broken Beat And Scarred", a bit hard to get into your head at first listen (in my opinion at least) but it's also a good track; then we move on to the fourth song "The Day That Never Comes" which was also the single released a few weeks before the album, nice beginning but you need to listen to the second part of the song several times before fully appreciating it, still, it's good; the fifth song "All Nightmare Long" is the one I've listened to the least and it doesn't convince me much although it has a good melody; the sixth "Cyanide" is particularly engaging but even more so, here comes the seventh, melancholic, tear-jerking, and poignant song "The Unforgiven III", a great melodic piano introduction that opens the doors to a great masterpiece, after the grand "The Unforgiven" from the self-titled album "Metallica". It's true this song might be very commercial but in my opinion, it has the essentiality of Metallica which is expressed in their compositional simplicity yet knows how to drag listeners into a deep penetration within the inner depths of the human being, they are masters at this, well-structured and with a masterful part by James Hetfield throughout the song especially in the chorus; the last 3 songs remain and I must say that after this masterpiece the Horsemen created the eighth magnificent track titled "The Judas Kiss", very overwhelming in all its fullness; we arrive at the ninth all-instrumental song "Suicide And Redemption" on first listen it seemed a bit heavy but then I discovered there are some beautiful riffs and in the middle, there's an excellent interlude that strongly reminds of the Great Master Hammett, Metallica's soloist; finally, here comes the volcano that explodes and the Four Horsemen gallop towards the end of the world with "My Apocalypse", a very explosive finale that really brings back memories of the first album "Kill 'Em All", an excellent ending.
In my opinion, Metallica has done a good job, Hetfield's vocal performances seem more than satisfactory, Hammett's solos leave a bit to be desired in some parts, Ulrich's commitment and rhythmic arrangement were evident, Trujillo a bit less, but on the other hand, it is a characteristic of Metallica to keep the bass subdued, after all, they won't have any more bassists like Burton, (no offense to anyone, I'm not trying to discredit Newsted's or Trujillo's work, but there was only one Burton).
I will have a lot of fun playing some riffs from this album on the guitar because their sound is very good and their way of structuring them and the exquisite catchiness they provide along with their geometricity has always fascinated me since I started playing.
I leave room for criticisms of this album, which surely will be many, but I must say that this time Metallica deserves a good 8 and 1/2 or 9 overall.
An excellent return, they couldn't have done better.
Luca.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 That Was Just Your Life (05:04)
Like A Siren In My Head That Always
Threatens To Repeat
Like A Blind Man That Is Strapped
Into The Speeding Driver’s Seat
Like A Face
That Learns To Speak
When All It Knew Was How To Bite
Like A Misery That Keeps Me Focused
Though I’ve Gone Astray
Like An Endless Nightmare That
I Must Awaken From Each Day
Like Conviction
A Premonition
Not Worthy Of
So I Deny
I Deny
I Blind My Eyes
And Try To Force It All Into Place
I Stitch Them Up
See Not My Fall From Grace
I Blind My Eyes
I Hide And Feel It Passing Me By
I Open Just In Time To Say Goodbye
Almost Like Your Life
Almost Like Your Endless Fight
Curse The Day Is Long
Realize You Don’t Belong
Disconnect Somehow
Never Stop The Bleeding Now
Almost Like Your Fight
And There It Went
Almost Like Your Life
Like A Wound That Keeps On Bleeding
To Remind Me Not To Think
Like A Raging River Drowning When
I Only Need A Drink
Like A Poison
That I Swallow
But I Want The World To Die
Like A Release From Prison
That I Didn’t Know I Was In
Like A Fight To Live The Past I Prayed
To Leave
From Way Back Then
Like A General
Without A Mission
Until The War Will Start Again
Start Again
I Blind My Eyes
And Try To Force It All Into Place
I Stitch Them Up
See Not My Fall From Grace
I Blind My Eyes
I Hide And Feel It Passing Me By
I Open Just In Time To Say Goodbye
[Solo]
Like A Touch From Hell To Feel How Hot
That It Can Get If You Get Caught
Like A Strike From Heaven Turns That Key
And Brings You Straight Down To Your Knees
Like A Touch From Hell To Feel How Hot
That It Can Get If You Get Caught
Like A Strike From Heaven To Reprieve
That Brings You Straight Down To Your Knees
Almost Like Your Life
Almost Like Your Endless Fight
Curse The Day Is Long
Realize You Don’t Belong
Disconnect Somehow
Never Stop The Bleeding Now
Almost Like Your Fight
And There It Went
Almost Like Your Life
That Was Just Your Life.
03 Broken, Beat & Scarred (04:02)
You rise.
You fall.
You’re down, then you rise again.
What don’t kill you make you more strong.
You rise.
You fall
You're down, then you rise again.
What don’t kill you make you more strong.
Rise, fall, down, rise again
What don’t kill you make you more strong.
Rise, fall, down, rise again
What don’t kill you make you more strong....
Through black days
Through black nights
Through pitch black insides
Breaking your teeth on the hard life comin’.
Show... your... scars.
Cutting your feet on the hard earth runnin’.
Show... your... scars.
Breaking your life, broken, beat and scarred
But we die hard.
The dawn,
The death,
The fight to the final breath.
What don’t kill you make you more strong.
The dawn,
The death,
The fight to the final breath.
What don’t kill you make you more strong.
Dawn, death, fight, final breath.
What don’t kill you make you more strong.
Dawn, death, fight, final breath.
What don’t kill you make you more strong.
They scratch me
They scrape me
They cut and rape me
Breaking your teeth on the hard life comin’.
Show... your... scars.
Cutting your feet on the hard earth runnin’.
Show... your... scars.
Breaking your life, broken, beat and scarred
But we die hard
[Solo]
Breaking your teeth on the hard life comin’.
Show... your... scars.
Cutting your feet on the hard earth runnin’.
Show... your... scars.
Bleeding your soul in a hard luck story.
Show... your... scars.
Spilling your blood in the hot sun’s glory.
Show... your... scars.
Breaking your life, broken, beat and scarred
We die hard.
We die hard.
We die hard.
05 All Nightmare Long (06:00)
Luck. Runs. Out.
Crawl from the wreckage one more time.
Horrific memory twists the mind.
Dark, rutted, cold and hard to turn.
Path of destruction feel it burn.
Still life… incarnation.
Still life… infamy.
Hallucination. Heresy.
Still you run, what’s to come, what’s to be?
Cause we hunt you down without mercy
Hunt you down all nightmare long
Feel us breathe upon your face
Feel us shift, every move we trace
Hunt you down without mercy
Hunt you down all nightmare long
Yeah!
Luck. Runs. Out.
You crawl back in,
But your luck runs out.
Luck. Runs. Out.
The light that is not light is here
To flush you out with your own fear
You hide, you hide but will be found
Release your cript without a sound
Still life… immolation.
Still life… infamy.
Hallucination. Heresy.
Still you run, what’s to come, what’s to be?
Cause we hunt you down without mercy
Hunt you down all nightmare long
Feel us breathe upon your face
Feel us shift, every move we trace
Hunt you down without mercy
Hunt you down all nightmare long
Yeah!
Luck. Runs. Out.
You crawl back in, but your luck runs out.
1, 2, 3, GO!!!
Then you crawl back in,
Into your obsession.
Never to return.
This is your confession.
Hunt you down without mercy
Hunt you down all nightmare long
Feel us breathe upon your face
Feel us shift, every move we trace
Hunt you down without mercy
Hunt you down all nightmare long
Yeah!
Luck. Runs. Out.
You crawl back in, but your luck runs out.
Your luck runs out.
06 Cyanide (03:42)
Sleep and dream of this
Death angel's kiss
Brings final bliss
Come believe me!
Empty they say
Death, won't you let me stay?
Empty they say
Death, hear me call your name?
Oh, call your name!
Suicide, I've already died
You're just the funeral I've been waiting for
Cyanide, living dead inside
Break this empty shell for ever more
Wait, wait patiently
Your death-black wings
Unfolding sleep
Spreading on me
Empty they say
Death, won't you let me stay?
Empty they say
Death, hear me call your name
Oh, call your name!
Suicide, I've already died
You're just the funeral I've been waiting for
Cyanide, living dead inside
Break this empty shell for ever more
Say, is that rain or are they tears?
That stained your concrete face for years
The crying, weeping, shedding strife
Year after year, life after life
A narrow freshly broken ground
A concrete angel laid right down
Upon the grave which swallows fast
It's peace at last
Oh, peace at last
Empty they say
Death, won't you let me stay?
Empty they say
Death, hear me call your name
Oh, call your name
Suicide, I've already died
You're just the funeral I've been waiting for
Cyanide, living dead inside
Break this empty shell for ever more
Forevermore!
Forevermore!
It's just the funeral I've been waiting for!
08 The Judas Kiss (05:39)
When the world has turned its back
When the days have turned pitch black
When the fear abducts your tongue
When the fire's dead and gone
So what now?
Where do I head?
When you think it's all said and done
When you are the ostracized
Selfish ridden dead goodbyes
Twisting of the tourniquet
When the pieces never fit
So what now?
Where do I head?
When you think it's all said and done
Bow down
Sell your soul to me
I will set you free
Pacify your demons
Bow down
Surrender unto me
Submit infectiously
Sanctify your demons
Into abyss
You don't exist
Cannot resist
The Judas Kiss
When the storm has blacked your sky
Intuition crucify
When the ego strips your reign
Assassinate the living flame
So what now?
Where do I head?
When you think it's all said and done
Venom of a life insane
Bites into your fragile vein
Internalize and decimate
Patronize and complicate
So what now?
Where do I head?
When you think it's all said and done
Bow down
Sell your soul to me
I will set you free
Pacify your demons
Bow down
Surrender unto me
Submit infectiously
Sanctify your demons
Into abyss
You don't exist
Cannot resist
The Judas Kiss
Judas lives, recite this vow
I've become your new God now
Followed you from dawn of time
Whispered thoughts into your mind
Watched your towers hit the ground
Lured your children never found
Helped your kings abuse their crown
In the heart of feeble man
Plant the seed of my own plan
The strong and powerful will fall
Find a piece of me in all.....
Inside you all,
So, bow down
Sell your soul to me
I will set you free
Pacify your demons
Bow down
Surrender unto me
Submit infectiously
Sanctify your demons
Into abyss
You don't exist
Cannot resist
The Judas Kiss
10 My Apocalypse (04:09)
Claustrophobic
Crawl out of this skin
Heart explosive
Reach in, pull that pin
Fear thy name: extermination
Desecrating hail of fire
So we cross that line
Into the grips
Total eclipse
Suffer unto my apocalypse
Deadly vision
Prophecy reveal
Death magnetic
Pulling closer still
Fear thy name: annihilation
Desolating hail of fire
So we cross that line
Into the grips
Total eclipse
Suffer unto my apocalypse
My apocalypse
Go
Crushing metal, ripping skin.
Tossing body, mannequin.
Spilling blood, bleeding gas.
Mangled flesh, snapping spine.
Dripping bloody valentine.
Shatter face, spitting glass.
Split apart
Split apart
Split apart
Spit
Spit it out.
What makes me drift a little bit closer?
Dead man takes the steering wheel.
What makes me know it’s time to cross over?
Born to repeat until I feel.
See through the skin, bones they all rattle.
Future and past, they disagree.
Flesh falls away, bones they all shatter.
I start to see the end. In. Me.
See the end in me.
Claustrophobic
Crawl out of this skin
Heart explosive
Reach in, pull that pin
Violate, annihilate
All wounds unto my eyes
Obliterate, exterminate
As life itself denied
Fear thy name as hell awakens
Destiny inhale the fire
But we’ve crossed that line
Into the grips
Total eclipse
Suffer unto my apocalypse
Tyrant awaken my apocalypse.
Demon awaken my apocalypse.
Heaven awaken my apocalypse.
Suffer forever my apocalypse.
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Other reviews
By farmit
"Death Magnetic would undoubtedly win the Grammy for the most talked-about album ever."
"Welcome back, Metallica!"
By Anatas
"They should have titled the album 'Jamescantameglio' instead of 'Death Magnetic.'"
"'The Unforgiven III' sounds really bad, it's ugly, pathetic, pitiful."
By Psycroptic
With this album, the rediscovered Four Horsemen ride high again on the treacherous paths of Thrash Metal.
Death Magnetic is better than the infamous Black Album, which I never considered more than a good album.
By progandrea
"Death Magnetic shows that a new golden age for Metallica is impossible."
"All nightmare long' is the song that shows how Metallica, especially Hetfield, can still give a lot."
By Descanting
"Robert Trujillo represents one of the two main strengths of the work; incidentally, the other is the rhythm guitar."
"If the entire CD had been at the level of 'The Judas' Kiss,' one might have even been moved by such well-crafted metal in these dark years for the genre."
