Death Magnetic review

I grew up, along with my brother and sister, listening to the music my parents listened to, like anyone else. Luckily, my parents kick ass and listen to metal. We always listened to Q106 out of Lansing, or 97.9 WGRD out of Grand Rapids. Metallica was always on the radio, much like today. Metallica was our drug, and we listened to them every chance we got. Even now, when I hear Enter Sandman, I think of those Friday nights at Skateland in Ionia. Those where the days.

With the release of St. Anger back in 2003, I was beginning to think we had seen the end of Metallica. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when I heard Metallica was working on a new album, and they where getting back to their roots. I was somewhat disappointed when I heard their first single, "The Day That Never Comes" though. It sounded manufactured and soft, not as heavy as there old music. James can't scream as much as he used to, Lars needs to find his drumming groove again, and they need to get their flow back. The comeback of the solo's is much appreciated, since they where missing in St. Anger, but they don't flow as well as they used to. Maybe it's just me, but the guitar riffs and drum beats seem erratic, like they just thrashed around and said, "Yep, that sounds heavy enough.". Halfway through the song "Cyanide" is probably the best example. Just this heavy thrash on the drums with low bass and no flow, then it goes quiet to let James' now-soft-voice be heard.

With all that said, I still like the album. Besides "The Day That Never Comes", "Cyanide", and "Unforgiven III" (dear god why), the rest of the album is good. My favorite being "My Apocalypse" because you can hear some "...And Justice For All", and "Master of Puppets" influence. I have to wonder if they are either trying to change with the times and conform, or have just gotten old and wore out. I'm sure that after 8 albums, the old writing well may run dry. I'll always praise Metallica, and wait for them to truly return to their roots. 3-1/2 stars out of 5 for me.

*editors note* - After I started writing this review, I found an interesting article over here. Seems the mixing of the CD was, or is to blame for the poor quality, but the Guitar Hero 3 version sounds better. Scott and I have though about downloading the CD on Guitar Hero 3, but we don't play GH3 enough. Scott's busy with Bionic Commando Rearmed, and I'm still trying to get through Resistance and Orange Box. Also, it's $18 when the CD was what, $12?