AA.VV.
A Tribute To The Four Horsemen

Tribute: give, render something to someone as something due, deserved.

The Metallica definitely deserve a tribute, having released three (let's say four) unparalleled albums, probably even for them. Metallica, therefore, is a great band, although, listening to the albums produced from the self-titled onward, practically a family-friendly version of their first four albums, one can be perplexed. And for a great band, a great tribute is needed, but what is needed to produce a great tribute? Well, definitely a coherent choice of tracks, and then great names capable of ensuring the high quality of the product. Well, the important names are there, but the choice of tracks leaves something to be desired, for the simple reason that Nuclear Blast has gathered tracks that have already been published, adding only five unreleased ones. Overall, the album is not bad at all, but Metallica has never been an especially "extreme" band, and the growling voice present in a good part of the tracks does not enhance the expressiveness of the compositions, but the power, typical of the derived genre (Death).

But let's go into specifics; the CD starts well, with a good "Seek And Destroy" covered by Primal Fear. The song is not bad at all, the only flaw being its almost total similarity with the original; some have dared more. It continues with "Fight With Fire" played by Therion, who change the intro, making it more solemn. The song, violent in its own right, is further accelerated, highlighting the group's skills. Devastating, that's all that comes to mind while listening to "Whiplash" done by German band Destruction. After recovering, I decide to move on and find "Phantom Lord" done by Anthrax, without praise or blame, and Sonata Arctica, who transform the evocative "Fade To Black" into a Power-style ballad, weighed down a bit by the endless final chorus.

The negative notes of the album are undoubtedly "Master Of Puppets" done by Burden Of Grief, banal and predictable, and "One" by Crematory, who ruin a masterpiece of Metal due to the growl and the cut-off finale. Satisfying, however, are the covers performed by the major representatives of Swedish Death Metal, namely "Dark Tranquillity" and "In Flames", who respectively redo "My Friend Of Misery" and "Eye Of The Beholder". A separate mention is deserved by Apocalyptica: ENOUGH, we find them everywhere, ten years have passed since the album "Plays Metallica By Four Cellos" and they are still passed off as a great innovation... yes, they're good, but it's getting a bit old!

After this rant, I can conclude by saying that this is not and will not be the last tribute offered to Metallica, but it is certainly one of the best, despite the non-essential nature of this type of CD.