Metallica
Death magnetic

THE REVIEW

After the much-criticized and contested "St. Anger," Metallica returns to the scene with a new album, Death Magnetic, which offers a sound closer to the thrash tones that characterized the group in the '80s. This album has been described by some as excellent, a return to the beginnings, even a masterpiece, while others see it as an affront to thrash metal or as an album of poor artistic quality. When I first bought the album, I was afraid I had spent 21 euros and 90 cents on a useless and poorly made record like the previous one. Probably within the comments, there will be jokes or harsh criticisms, but in my opinion, this album is really spectacular; of course, it's nothing like the legendary "Master of Puppets," "Kill 'em All," and so on, but still worthy of great note, considering the band had strayed into commercial paths far from pure Metal. An "adrenaline-pumping" and "headbanging" album that brings Metallica from "Load" and "Reload" back to angry Metallica. But now let's analyze the tracks in detail:

Track 1, That was just your life: The intro of this first track created a halo of mystery for me from the start... Let me explain: after these arpeggios, would I find metal riffs or "Load"-style melodies? At 45 seconds, I found the answer...This is Metal! And here Metallica gets angry. At 1:27 seconds, a riff starts that fills your head with thrash and lets you travel within the song. An excellent track, with Hetfield returning to being a Metaller and Hammett returning to solos, certainly not as extraordinary as those of "Enter Sandman" or "Master of Puppets" but still significant. 7.5/8- for this first track.

Track 2, The end of the line: definitely my favorite, a hammering and very thrash intro that calms at 34 seconds. Total mystery. Then Ulrich taps the drums three times, and off we go with an extraordinary guitar riff that accompanies much of the song. Here I start to get emotional, in front of these 4 men who rolled up their sleeves and tried to get back on the thrash metal road. Nice chorus, and after a very fast solo, here's a melodic interlude good to bring us back to the power. 9+ to "The end of the line."

Track 3, Broken Beat & Scarred: a beautiful and special intro that starts to heat up around 30 seconds. At a minute, the riff changes and then James starts with his voice. The track progresses with an interesting succession of riffs and vocal parts, culminating in the solo. Another great track, quite thrash and angry. Yes, I am convinced, they are the four horsemen! 7 for the third track.

Track 4, The day that never comes: it has been much criticized for being too commercial and pointless, but I disagree, and its continuity even in moving between melodic parts and hard riffs on three-quarters testifies that it's not a trifling song. It starts with a pleasant clean arpeggio, then accompanied by a small electric guitar solo not too distorted, leading to another riff on which the verse is built with James's calm and clean voice this time. Here's the chorus: distorted but not metal guitars, and James gets a little bit angrier. Back to the verse and again on the chorus. Now you would expect a simple solo and the end. All wrong, here comes a series of riffs that seem to have nothing to do with the song's story, but instead, they tie damn well! Then Kirk's lead guitar leads us into an intriguing solo. 7 for this underrated track.

Track 5, All Nightmare Long: spectacular introduction with intertwined clean and distorted guitars, which then become solely distorted. James comes in only around 2 minutes and goes wild. A very catchy and sonorous chorus in its entirety. The track proceeds, here comes the very "angry" lead guitar, especially towards the end of the solo. It seems to end here, but here's another solo. 7 for this track as well.

Track 6, Cyanide: introduction with wah-wah and then a very trash riff starts on which James is laid, who seems calm, but it's only an impression. Later the track alternates between melodic and distorted guitars, eventually reaching a very beautiful and particular solo. A reason why the track compensates for a few lower points in vocals and riffs. Here's a 7, divided into a 6 for the riffs and vocals and an 8 for the solo.

Track 7, The Unforgiven III: also much criticized, perhaps because it doesn't have much to do with the other Unforgiven songs, but this does not detract from its personality, which begins with a piano intro, then replaced by a clean guitar accompanied after a few seconds by the drums. Then we find a distorted but not hard guitar accompanied by the voice that composes the chorus, then moving to the verse and again to the chorus. After another verse, James repeats the same phrase for about thirty seconds, first calm, then intermediate, gradually more nervous to end terribly angry! Here's a solo, and a very nice one, which conveys the same personality as Hetfield before this. 7 for Unforgiven III.

Track 8, The Judas Kiss: very, very thrash with a very particular and very thrash riff arriving at 30 seconds. James is very incisive, especially in alternating quickly between calm and anger. A little before 2 minutes comes a damn nice chorus that takes us back to the verse. After the second chorus, here are some spectacular riffs. Here's the lead guitar, initially not fast. But then everything changes, and we find ourselves in front of a tremendously angry solo, at the end of which James is also angrier than ever. It seems to end, but no: another solo! These brilliant ideas lead me to give 9 to "The Judas Kiss."

Track 9, Suicide & Redemption: Metallica wants to return to the old days, and so they offer the classic "instrumental." What to say, a good track and also quite long, even if it tires a bit precisely for its repeatability. However, the track is not bad, also for its melodic interlude and solo. 6.5.

Track 10, My Apocalypse: Not badly done, although it’s a bit boring... In short, more than anything a filler. However, there's enough: 6.5.

Summing up, this is an excellent album. I await criticisms and comments, as long as everything is within a constructive scope that allows me to improve in writing reviews.