Metallica
Death Magnetic

THE REVIEW

A highly anticipated album, as evidenced by the reviews present just a day after its release here on DeBaser.
An album eagerly awaited by fans and critics, one in which Metallica seemed to have to prove they are still the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Is it? At the discretion of each of our subjective tastes, maybe so. According to mine, unfortunately not. Certainly not a terrible album. A mediocre album.
But I didn't even expect this, from a drummer who no longer knows what hits to give, a former alcoholic singer who no longer has a voice, and a lead guitarist without ideas. They are now approaching 50 years old. Expecting an album that mirrors their old glories, without considering their musical maturation and stylistic changes, is absurd.

Let's start with the actual review. The first track, "That Was Just Your Life", opens with heartbeats, something I didn't expect. The initial riffs are good, as is the first sung part, very energetic, but the chorus is unfortunate—not terrible, but perhaps one of the weak points of the whole album.
All the tracks are around 8 minutes, except for the instrumental one, which is 10. This also contributes to making this album a mediocre and tiring album. The second track doesn't stand out much; the solo seems to lack imagination and is a bit too messy (note, not raw, but messy), but they recover a little with the third track "Broken, Beat & Scarred". Unfortunately, right after that comes the ballad. It starts with a simplistic melody that sounds like those midi tracks for old consoles. I don't like it much; it's a shame, as there are some good riffs, but the excessive length and lack of ideas (some parts remind me of old gems) make it a stale song.

"All Nightmare Long" is, in my opinion, one of the best songs on the CD. The singing starts after two minutes of good riffs, and the drumming seems sensible. A bit of an intense track, but very thrash. Here too, to ruin everything, comes the chorus combined with excessive length. What a shame, it really could have been a beautiful song.
The next one, "Cyanide", I just can't listen to. It must be James's vocal line that, in my opinion, shows his worst. Towards the end, with the repetitive riffs and chorus, it becomes monotonous.
Pathetic is the sad "The Unforgiven III" which starts with a piano that reminds me of Yann Tiersen and then falls into banality for the rest of its duration. The lyrics are predictable, melodies that feel recycled and don't seem to fit well together, and again there's the issue of length and James's voice, which just can't anymore.

"Judas Kiss" raises the level again, as "All Nightmare Long" did before, and the following "Suicide & Redemption" isn't too disappointing even if it's really too long and contains some unfortunate and predictable passages. The last track, to conclude, "My Apocalypse" seems neither here nor there to me, neither among the worst nor the best, and it doesn't speak to me much. It starts with a riff I find rather irritating, and it seems like a mix of other old songs. Many of the solos on this CD are poorly played or lack imagination, and James's voice, without its dose of rawness, is just too high and not very suited to this type of music, especially in the way he uses it. The bassist does his job without too many expectations, certainly not a Cliff Burton, less charismatic but more talented than the good Jason, however.

In short, not a complete flop like "St Anger", not as poor as "Reload", but still too little, too little. I would have given it 2.5, but since there are no half ratings, I'll give it a 3. Nothing exceptional, but something good can be seen.