Metallica
St. Anger

THE REVIEW

This album has already been talked about a lot, even too much, and in 90% of cases, it has received a plethora of criticisms, sometimes justified, sometimes not. You might think this review is pointless, but let's reflect for a moment: "South of Heaven" by Slayer, when it came out, was heavily criticized for reasons any respectable metalhead knows, but years later, we can affirm it's a true masterpiece. Well, that's not the case with "St. Anger." After disappointments like "Load" and "Reload," in 2003 Metallica didn't make a great move by releasing this album, too daring to be appreciated. Sure, the hard rock experimentalism of a few years earlier is a distant memory, but during that period, confusion reigned within Metallica. James Hetfield had just left rehab for alcohol, Jason Newsted left the group, so much so that Bob Rock, the detrimental former producer of the Four Horsemen, recorded the bass parts of the album before Robert Trujillo was recruited, and most fans were angry and distanced themselves from the band due to the really poor recent releases. However, Metallica can be accused of anything, but certainly not of lacking unpredictability, but this "St. Anger" has two fundamental problems that make it, in the eyes of fans and critics, yet another misstep by Metallica. The first, the worst in my opinion, is the excessive length of the tracks, between 5 and 9 minutes, and the fact that they are repetitive, practically featuring the same riff throughout the entire song without variations or solos. Another problem is the production, with the drums far too prominent compared to the guitars and too noisy. The band stated that all of this was intentional, the songs had to be aggressive and without guitar solos, and the drum sound had to evoke playing in a garage. They succeeded in their intent, but in the end, the eleven tracks on the CD suffer greatly, despite featuring good riffing.

Among the most successful tracks are the opener "Frantic," aggressive and fast, the title track, and the beautiful "Some Kind of Monster," which, however, are not exempt from the aforementioned issues, namely excessive length and repetition, though the good riffing allows for a somewhat enjoyable listen. The latter, in the eponymous EP, is found in a shortened and differently mixed version, better than the one presented on the full-length. "Sweet Amber" is not bad either, with an almost bluesy intro and the last single released, "The Unnamed Feeling." "My World" also features a very catchy riff, but a refrain that I don't like at all. To be absolutely avoided, in my opinion, are "Invisible Kid" and "All Within My Hands," the longest and most tedious on the CD, as well as being infused with vaguely nu-metal sounds, especially the latter.

In the end, this "St. Anger" is an album with far more flaws than strengths, but which has often been spoken too negatively about, without acknowledging the (few) strong points of the album. To hear Metallica as we've always listened to and loved them, we'll have to wait until 2008, when the four from Frisco will return to thrash-grinding like in the old days.