CD review: Metallica, “Death Magnetic”
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
BAM Note: Don’t forget, Metallica will play Tulsa’s BOK Center Nov. 18. For more information, go to www.bokcenter.com.
Metal
Metallica “Death Magnetic” (Warner Bros. Records)
Metal greats Metallica finally achieve the fine balance between speed and weightiness on their 10th studio album, “Death Magnetic.”
Their first album in five years returns to the intensely high-velocity thrash roots they planted with “Kill ‘Em All,” “Ride the Lightning,” “Master of Puppets” and “… And Justice for All,” while keeping the thunderously heavy, blues-influenced rock elements they branched into with their 1990s material.
After 2003’s lackluster “St. Anger,” the influential metal band worked with Rick Rubin, who produced comeback discs for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Johnny Cash, to give the album a unified theme and sound. The result is the band’s best disc in more than a decade.
Sterling guitarist Kirk Hammett, who was granted no solos on “St. Anger,” seizes the spotlight, wowing with forceful high-octane shredding. Rob Trujillo, playing on his first Metallica studio album, adds a dose of power and complexity to the basslines. Their pairing proves especially effective on the album’s prime headbanger, “Broken, Beat & Scarred.”
Lars Ulrich continues to provide pounding percussion, while James Hetfeld can growl as tunefully as anyone in metal.
The instrumental “Suicide & Redemption” stands out. The songwriting is solid enough, and “The Unforgiven III” effectively expands on the themes of endurance, acceptance and forgiveness the band first began exploring on 1991’s “Metallica.”
- BAM
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
I think this album may supplant “Ride the Lightning” as my favorite. I love the return to trash speed metal! Gonna be some serious head-banging going on in Tulsa, Nov. 18th!