Metallica - Death Magnetic
Released September 12th, 2008
James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Robert Trujillo, Lars Ulrich
Genre: Thrash metal
Pre-Intro
Hey everyone, before we get into this review I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone that has been reading these reviews and supporting me. I’m just some stupid ass 26 year old Canadian who enjoys talking about music, so the fact that even 1 person is willing to listen is fine with me. I really enjoy writing these reviews, even though they’re super difficult sometimes. Thankfully today I’m on a roll, so I’m going to be pumping out 3 or 4 reviews today (Wednesday) in order to give me some buffer time. So yeah, I just wanted to say a quick thank you. I think if the number of readers was 0 every single review, I probably wouldn’t still be going. As long as it’s 1 or more, I’m good to go. Anyway enough sap, let’s get into this one.
Intro
Happy… Friday…? Everyone? I think I’ll be releasing this one on Friday. So yeah, Happy Friday everyone I guess. How was your week? Good? Anyway right- music time. SO this album is widely regarded as an absolute underrated gem. In what I’ve heard everyone talking about this one, you either REALLY love this album or you REALLY don’t like it. Which side of the coin will I be on? Let’s find out together, shall we?
Thoughts & Feelings?
Confession time. This album makes me feel guilty. Sometimes if I’m in a real rush and don’t have an album review prepared for the day, I’ll naturally try to find a really really short album like 30-40 minutes long. That way I still have time to write everything and get it done within like 2 hours. Not today, baby. This album is a WHOPPING 1 fucking hour and 14 minutes long. Holy SHIT. That’s a long ass album. Anyway yeah I’m going to right my wrongs in the previous rushed albums and review this super beefy one. Let’s go.
This is going to be a long ass review. Naturally I write more the longer the songs are, because I have the time to point out the little things.
This album makes me feel like I’m in DEEP trouble. Like I did something REALLY bad and I’m being sentenced to life in prison for something. I don’t know what the hell I did to deserve this but holy shit I did something really bad and I’m going through the process of being thrown in jail. I really don’t know man, don't ask me to elaborate further.
Smash or Pass?
That Was Just Your Life - SMMAASSHHHHHH. I have a strange fear or heartbeats sometimes because I’m afraid mine is going to stop, so this spooked me out a little. The intro is REALLY ominous, like Call of Ktulu type shit which is really neat. Opening intro riff is beefy and needed. Then the ACTUAL riff comes into play and that’s a sick ass fucking riff, I can confirm it is indeed good. Holy SHIT these vocals are really fucking cool as well I like how fast James goes without stopping. That’s sick. Yeah this song is a certified BANG. This shit is REALLY good. hOLY FUCK REALLY REALLY cool breakdown / pre-solo. yO WHAT THE FUCK. This shit is SO good. Like they’re not following the structure I thought would be followed and it’s sick. This song was a certified fucking SMACK for me. Super catchy, so many cool guitar sections to enjoy. Did NOT feel like 7 minutes.
The End Of The Line - SMMMMAAAAAASSHHHHHH. This is the only song on this album I’ve actually really listened to on this album prior to listening today. So fucking JAMMY, this fucking opening riff is absolute strawberry jam holy fuck. This song has SO many cool riffs in it. That’s exactly why I love Metallica, all these cool ass riffs. This song is SO jammy. NEVERMIND, YOU’VE REACHED THE END OF THE LIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNEEEAAAAHHH. Holy FUCK. That shit is SO good. Holy FUCK the pre-chorus is absolutely insane I love how… WEIRD it sounds, that’s what I love. Neat ass harmonies are really cool to hear. Naturally a KH wah solo that I’ve heard 600 million times. Regardless, cool enough. Here comes my favourite part though. This fucking explosive part. There are SO many fucking cool riffs in this song, and a neat little interlude section before my favourite explosion happens. The slave becomes the master… oh yeah here we fucking go boys and girls, YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS. This fucking song is SO good.
Broken, Beat & Scarred - SMASH. What the fuck. My ears are not used to this level of chug. What the FUCK is happening in these riffs. Why are these some of the coolest but weirdest ass riffs I’ve ever heard. This song is REALLY fucking cool and completely unexpected. This song is super super groovy and has a lot of REALLY neat underground riffs that I enjoy. Really neat pre-solo section, that shit is really really cool to hear. I spaced out a lot during that solo.
The Day That Never Comes - SMASH. This is a song people talk a lot about but I don’t think I’ve ever heard it. Why are the drums SO loud? This song is super super slow and jammy which is perfectly fine. I don’t really get the appeal of this song. It’s alright but it’s not crazy good. Pretty good jammy bridge section, that’s cool to hear. Hahaha. Throwback to One? Really cool harmonies to hear. OHHHHH this is why people like this song. Cause this fucking solo is fucking AWESOME. Yeah I do have to admit this solo is fucking insane. Cool little riff after the solo, that’s neat. The actual KH solo is pretty decent. FUCK I love that one lick in the solo though, you know which one I’m talking about. The 2nd half of this song is really good but the first half is kind of boring.
All Nightmare Long - SMMMAAAAAAAASSSSHHHHHHHHHH. This is another song I hear a lot of people talking about. So far I can understand cause it’s super jammy. Holy shit what are these fucking riffs these are so sick. Holy FUCK these riffs are fucking incredible. This song is fucking great. Honestly this might be my favourite song just based on how sick the riffs are. They are REALLY great. Not only is this song super catchy and jammy, it’s so UNLIKE Metallica which is SO fucking cool. I like when they do different things. Speaking of different things… KH with the wah solo as per usual. Why the fuck is he so god damn obsessed with that pedal? Oh well. Actually despite that holy fuck that solo went fucking crazy. Holy FUCK THIS BRIDGE BREAKDOWN SECTION, WHAT THE FUCK. That’s INSANE. HAHAHA OH MY GOD. This song just keeps surprising me. Holy FUCK what is happening here. This is my favourite song so far. This is a GREAT FUCKING SONG.
Cyanide - SMMAASSHHHHH. What the hell am I listening to? That’s the entire vibe I get from these songs. Is like what the fuck am I currently on about? The bass was fucking sick to hear at the beginning. Holy fucking CATCHY is this song. What is HAPPENING? I am just so confused as to anything I’m hearing but in a GREAT way. This song is super fucking catchy, the chorus is SUPER great. The solo is pretty fucking good. I’m trying to write a little less cause I feel like I’ve been all over the place with this song. Like it’s REALLY good but I don’t know why. It’s just weird and it’s great. Yeah. REALLY great, really weird.
The Unforgiven III - Smash. Pulling teeth piano vibes here. This song is pretty good. I honestly don’t really have much to say about this one. Like there is a lot going on, but I’m just like… it’s a little too simple I think for me right now. Yeah it’s a good song though I can’t really say anything against this. The bridge section is nice to hear, the solo is pretty fucking good. Yeah this song is pretty good but I’m probably not going to listen to this song outside the album. It’s good though.
The Judas Kiss - Smash. This is another weird ass sounding song but that’s a good thing for me right now because I really enjoy when you move away from the standard major / minor / pentatonic scales. Just do something a little unexpected and weird. I like that kind of stuff. Anyway yeah this song is okay. I’m not crazy about it. The solo is pretty neat at the beginning. Yeah I don’t really know. This song is alright.
Suicide & Redemption - Pass. I mean… this song sounds okay but I don’t really hear anything that I’m like woah crazy about. 2 minutes without vocals, please don’t tell me this is a 10 minute instrumental song. This is going to be a long ass 10 minutes. I don’t really feel anything from this song. I don’t really know the emotion they were trying to convey to me during this song but I’m really not getting it. It just sounds like an extended jam session. Yeah honestly I don’t really feel anything outstanding about this song. It’s just okay. Bring me back to Call of Ktulu, that shit is so much fucking better because it can tell an entire story without words. This sounds like it’s trying too hard. I’m just bored. Why is this song fucking 10 MINUTES LONG??? Holy fuck thank god this is over.
My Apocalypse - Smash. Okkaaaayyyyy… some cool ass riffs going on here, that’s nice to hear. Yeah this song is pretty sick actually. Yeah I don’t really have much more to say. This is your basic standard Metallica stuff on this album by this point. Cool chuggy riffs and harmonies. Love to hear it. Good stuff.
Conclusion
I really enjoyed this album. It was fucking long as hell and holy hell that one instrumental song for 10 minutes really pissed me off but other than that, yeah this is an excellent Metallica album. I have to give it high praise for the different modes and scales they used throughout the album. I love when bands move outside the comfort zone to make some cool weird sounding riffs, so yeah top fucking marks from me.
RANK: B+
What do you guys think? Am I too generous? You all know what to do. Leave your comments below. Love you all, happy Friday!
- Sharky
Comments
Post a Comment