Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
Death Magnetic (2008)
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1. That Was Just Your Life - We open this incarnation of Metallica with a heartbeat, which is quite a nice way given the subject matter. Then some pretty nice quiet guitars come in and lead us along until heaviness bursts in. I don't think this stuff is as tight as it could've and should've been, it's too loose and watery for my taste. Still, it isn't too bad. I think the riff that comes in is fairly strong. I don't like the way James's vocals are mixed on this album, but I think they're solid otherwise. The verse isn't outstanding but it's not terrible at the same time. The pre-chorus is pretty fucking cool though, and leads us into the solid chorus which is kinda fun. Another round through and we come to the instrumental section which has a pretty decent riff piece before Kirk lets loose completely with some of his noodliest soloing ever. We come into the bridge and move through some more riffing that's kinda long but not necessarily bad and in the last thirty seconds return to the chorus, where the drumming goes insane and, giving the mixing, forces the vocals down. This song isn't that bad, honestly, and it's one of my favorites from this album. That being said, it's also an example of why this album isn't all that great. It's good, it's competent... but it just isn't outstanding. There's good parts I like, but as a whole it's just the band going through the motions. They do that better than most of the songs here, but still, I can't call it great. It's merely good. 7/10
2. The End Of The Line - Solid opening that could've had more punch with better production, but I digress. There's a lot of groove here, which is pretty cool, and some attempts to sound like classic Metallica (which aren't that successful), and then we finally come into the verse, and as far as I can tell, it's basically "Creeping Death" redone for the next millennium. The style is definitely very similar without being 100% the same, and it's the kind of re-purposing of material that I think works well enough... it's just that the verse isn't that outstanding. The pre-chorus is okay and the chorus is fine, but I don't really like how the song slows up when Hetfield says "you've. reached. the. end. of. the. line." Another round through and we get some punchy guitar stuff and then go into something that feels like an attempt at taking some classic early Maiden and injecting it into their style. Then we get a wah-laden solo that really just doesn't do anything for me. Some riffing and we quiet down a bit before coming back up and then going back down for the... okay bridge. It leads us through the chorus again which starts getting messy when they extend it. Some more pointless extension to reach the ending and the song finally ends after nearly eight minutes. I really don't think there's enough stuff here to justify the runtime, but this is hardly the worst offender on that front. Some good stuff, but it's really not too outstanding, and definitely not as good as the previous song. 6/10
3. Broken, Beat & Scarred - Another decent enough opening, but again, the production should've been able to match what the band was attempting. It's just too watery to work that well. There's some Death-like moments before we enter straight into the riff, which is solid enough. I don't like the line "what don't kill ya make ya more strong" given the grammatical errors it holds. Quite repetitive, too. They basically repeated the same couple lines four times in a row. That first pre-chorus / end to the verse was solid, but the chorus is just bland. Nothing special about it whatsoever. They do the same sort of thing as earlier with the verse and the pre-chorus just sounds... wonky. "They scratch me, they scrape me, they cut and rape me!" It just doesn't sound serious at all. Through the chorus again and we get some more riffing before the solo, which is better than that of the previous two songs, but still nothing outstanding. Some more riffing through before we come back to the chorus and I swear, those backing vocals they've had running through the entire time finally clicked with me. It's a bunch of pirates talking about how they got here. I mean, that's what it sounds like. "Show! Your! Scarrrrrs!" This is nothing but an average song from a pretty average band at this point in their careers. 5/10
4. The Day That Never Comes - The traditional Metallica ballad of the album opens up with some nice, calm strumming before drums start to kick in and the lead work comes in. This is definitely a focused effort to return to stuff like "Fade To Black", but it's also quite reminiscent of "The Unforgiven" (interesting given that the third installment of that trilogy is also on this album). I really like this opening. James sounds pretty solid despite the mixing, and the lyrics are quite strong. I also think it does a good job at entering the heavier part before returning to the quieter pieces. There's a lot of emotion in this song, and it's a pretty strong take on domestic abuse. After we loop through verse and chorus again we enter a more riff-centered heavier bit leading to the bridge, which kind of loses a lot of what the previous pieces had going for them. Luckily it rebounds with a cool machine gun sort of riff piece before entering the solo section. From there on out there's some neat stuff on display, but I think it's also a bit overlong for what they're trying to do. I genuinely cannot envision the epic sort of "strike back" thing they're attempting even though I feel as though I should. Still, I think this song does some good stuff while not necessarily nailing everything it's attempting. I think for that I'll round up, because it is a fairly good song, I just don't like it as much as others seem to. 7/10
5. All Nightmare Long - Kinda nice opening to this one, feels like the beginning of a dream sequence (or a western stand-off), but about forty seconds later we change up into a much faster riff with more power and more bite to it (not necessarily a good thing, but it's solid enough). It's about a minute and forty-five seconds before we actually get to the vocals, which is kind of ridiculous for this song. The verse isn't outstanding, the pre-chorus is kinda stupid (the term "still life" has never sounded so un-magnificent), and the chorus is a bit too cheesy for my taste. It's the strongest part of the song, but it's just not that great, and the "luck... runs... out" bit doesn't work as well as they seem to have intended. Another loop through and we hit the instrumental section, which is solid without being terribly "great", but there's a nice piece here that I do like. Some riffing before we hit a blander instrumental section with way too much wah. S0me heavy riffing before we hit the bridge, which is just sort of... there, and then it's back into the chorus, followed by a clunky outro. This song is... not the best. It's another nearly eight minute affair, which is way too long for the material on display, and what good there is to be seen is overshadowed by the blandness of it. Rounding down because it really isn't outstanding despite whatever intentions they had for this one. 4/10
6. Cyanide - A big, chugging opening leads into a bassy piece that feels like it was taken from the chorus to "Cure". It's kinda neat. There's some groovy stuff on this song. The verse isn't outstanding at all, and the pre-chorus is pretty meh. The chorus also does nothing for me whatsoever. Another run through the opening piece leads back through the verse, and yeah, it's still not "great", and that pre-chorus is probably the worst thing on this album. It's just really, really bland. Again, chorus does nothing for me at all. It feels too simplistic, like they just threw together the words that rhyme and relate to each other. There's a cool quieter bridge here that's kinda cool, but there's some pointless heavy guitar stuff intertwined in it that bothers me. The instrumental section is honestly just boring and overlong (like much of this album, might I add). The bass and "Cure" bit return (still cool) but then it's just back into that pre-chorus and chorus, which culminate in an overlong outro. This song is mostly meh, but it's got some nicer bits to bring up the rating by a tad. The song title and subject matter could've made for a crushing song, but that's not what ended up happening and I'm kinda miffed about it. 4/10
7. The Unforgiven III - Ah, piano. No horn section this time, but we get some cool orchestral stuff instead. Quite nice opening, honestly. It's dreary but it sets up the song quite well. I love how the quiet guitar bit comes in next. Drums hit in and it almost feels like something off of A Matter Of Life And Death. Kudos, Metallica, this intro is fantastic. The heavier guitars come in next and... I fucking hate how these damn vocals were mixed. The verse here is pretty solid though, as is the pre-chorus, but it's nothing to match the opening. The chorus reuses the quieter guitar stuff to back it, but honestly this is probably my least favorite chorus from the three "Unforgiven" songs. I brought up pirates earlier on this album, but I feel like the lyrics here fit that theme even better. "Treasure"? "Seas of gold"? Hell yeah. Hoist the mainsails, laddie, let's off into t'blue abyss. Another round through and we get another quieter bit of "forgive me, forgive me not" that builds up really, really well until it hits a peek. Honestly if the song had ended right here, it'd have been a perfect closer to the trilogy, but no, let's go into some noodle-oodles instead. After that stuff we get back to the opening verse, but this time it's a bit quieter than previously. Then it's back through the chorus and we reach the trilogy's conclusion. I don't think this one is perfect, but it is kinda nice. With some better production, mixing, and editing it could've gone to the next level, but as it is, I think it's better than "II", but not nearly so good as the original. Good, not great. 7/10
8. The Judas Kiss - Another "big" opening kicks off the longest song on the album that isn't an instrumental. It's kind of a slow start and I don't think it works that well. There's too much stopping and starting and not enough getting straight to the point. It's over a minute before we get to the verse, which isn't that great, and there's a calmer bit there that would be better if it wasn't Metallica doing it. The chorus is... I dunno, there are parts of me that think it's kinda cool, but most of me says it's just paint-by-numbers. I don't think it lifts up the song any, certainly. Another round through and we get to some riffing that's not outstanding. Some wah bits over a calmer piece lead us into the noodly solo which, like most of the solos on this album, isn't great. A fairly okay bridge and more instrumental that still hasn't gotten good yet. Another bridge and we lead back into the chorus. Honestly, this song would be kinda catchy if there weren't so many better songs that fit its purpose better than it does. It should've been cut down to size a lot more and maybe I could digest it easier. As it is, it's pretty bland for Metallica. 4/10
9. Suicide & Redemption - A heavy, smashing opening fades up from below before moving forward with a cool driving beat and some pretty nice riffing. There's some bassy stuff here that I like, and as a whole it's quite groovy too. There are parts that sound straight out of Blackwater Park, and I think if it was tightened up, it could provide backing for an Opeth track. I think this song has some of the best guitar work on the album, and maybe it's just because the annoying vocal mix isn't here to trip it up, I like it more than the other songs on the album. I mean, it's definitely my favorite song here. It does take a while for the song to change up any, but that's okay because a lot of that was great. There's a really cool quieter bit with some really nice guitars that I quite like. It's some really nice stuff and when the heaviness returns we're left with some pretty soulful playing. At this point we're already at the five minute mark, and it's just really, really cool throughout. Then we head into a bass-driven section that's really neat and the guitars come back in and lead us to a rising bit that builds into a noodly solo that's actually not too bad. There's also some wah stuff that fits in well too. Some more cool guitar stuff and we build back into the riffing stuff we had at the beginning, more Opeth-y stuff that I like. We even get a pretty neat drum fill piece where Lars goes all out and it's honestly pretty fucking cool. We chug our way along until the end. The last minute drags a little, but as a whole I think this song is pretty strong. A ton of great moments on display, and like I said, it's easily the best song on here. No, not up to the same level as "Ktulu" and "Orion", but it's a pretty great instrumental. I think it's enough to put it in the "pretty great" category. 8/10
10. My Apocalypse - And finally our exit ticket, the shortest song on the album. "My Apocalypse" starts out with a really fucking cool riff-y opening that really drives the song and is one of the best riff pieces on the entire album. And then the vocals kick in. *sigh* The verse isn't good, and neither are the pre-chorus and chorus. It's just kinda... standard, nothing special at all. At this point that cool riff has evaporated via the bleh stuff. Another round through and we get to the riff-heavy instrumental section that leads to the fast-paced bridge. Did he say "mango flesh"? "Split apart! Split apart!" Sounds like The Thing, but it's nowhere close to that film in quality. Noodly solo again that doesn't last too long and leads to another bridge that's also nothing special. We return to the first verse and loop through until the end, which features another outro that's too long for its own good. This song had the potential to be great, and then it just lost itself. Meh ending to a pretty meh album. 3/10
I started typing this post around 14:40, and it's nearly 21:00 now. I did a lot of stuff in between, yes, but that's because this album just doesn't keep you engaged. It's far too long for its own good, its songs aren't that great, and the production and mixing are terrible here. Editing and tightening up would have worked wonders, but Death Magnetic just really isn't a good return to form for the band. Better than St. Anger? Well yeah, but I'd probably rather listen to that album because it was at least interesting. This isn't. Sorry to its fans, but I just don't like this record that much. Sad jams.
Rating: 55%
1. That Was Just Your Life - We open this incarnation of Metallica with a heartbeat, which is quite a nice way given the subject matter. Then some pretty nice quiet guitars come in and lead us along until heaviness bursts in. I don't think this stuff is as tight as it could've and should've been, it's too loose and watery for my taste. Still, it isn't too bad. I think the riff that comes in is fairly strong. I don't like the way James's vocals are mixed on this album, but I think they're solid otherwise. The verse isn't outstanding but it's not terrible at the same time. The pre-chorus is pretty fucking cool though, and leads us into the solid chorus which is kinda fun. Another round through and we come to the instrumental section which has a pretty decent riff piece before Kirk lets loose completely with some of his noodliest soloing ever. We come into the bridge and move through some more riffing that's kinda long but not necessarily bad and in the last thirty seconds return to the chorus, where the drumming goes insane and, giving the mixing, forces the vocals down. This song isn't that bad, honestly, and it's one of my favorites from this album. That being said, it's also an example of why this album isn't all that great. It's good, it's competent... but it just isn't outstanding. There's good parts I like, but as a whole it's just the band going through the motions. They do that better than most of the songs here, but still, I can't call it great. It's merely good. 7/10
2. The End Of The Line - Solid opening that could've had more punch with better production, but I digress. There's a lot of groove here, which is pretty cool, and some attempts to sound like classic Metallica (which aren't that successful), and then we finally come into the verse, and as far as I can tell, it's basically "Creeping Death" redone for the next millennium. The style is definitely very similar without being 100% the same, and it's the kind of re-purposing of material that I think works well enough... it's just that the verse isn't that outstanding. The pre-chorus is okay and the chorus is fine, but I don't really like how the song slows up when Hetfield says "you've. reached. the. end. of. the. line." Another round through and we get some punchy guitar stuff and then go into something that feels like an attempt at taking some classic early Maiden and injecting it into their style. Then we get a wah-laden solo that really just doesn't do anything for me. Some riffing and we quiet down a bit before coming back up and then going back down for the... okay bridge. It leads us through the chorus again which starts getting messy when they extend it. Some more pointless extension to reach the ending and the song finally ends after nearly eight minutes. I really don't think there's enough stuff here to justify the runtime, but this is hardly the worst offender on that front. Some good stuff, but it's really not too outstanding, and definitely not as good as the previous song. 6/10
3. Broken, Beat & Scarred - Another decent enough opening, but again, the production should've been able to match what the band was attempting. It's just too watery to work that well. There's some Death-like moments before we enter straight into the riff, which is solid enough. I don't like the line "what don't kill ya make ya more strong" given the grammatical errors it holds. Quite repetitive, too. They basically repeated the same couple lines four times in a row. That first pre-chorus / end to the verse was solid, but the chorus is just bland. Nothing special about it whatsoever. They do the same sort of thing as earlier with the verse and the pre-chorus just sounds... wonky. "They scratch me, they scrape me, they cut and rape me!" It just doesn't sound serious at all. Through the chorus again and we get some more riffing before the solo, which is better than that of the previous two songs, but still nothing outstanding. Some more riffing through before we come back to the chorus and I swear, those backing vocals they've had running through the entire time finally clicked with me. It's a bunch of pirates talking about how they got here. I mean, that's what it sounds like. "Show! Your! Scarrrrrs!" This is nothing but an average song from a pretty average band at this point in their careers. 5/10
4. The Day That Never Comes - The traditional Metallica ballad of the album opens up with some nice, calm strumming before drums start to kick in and the lead work comes in. This is definitely a focused effort to return to stuff like "Fade To Black", but it's also quite reminiscent of "The Unforgiven" (interesting given that the third installment of that trilogy is also on this album). I really like this opening. James sounds pretty solid despite the mixing, and the lyrics are quite strong. I also think it does a good job at entering the heavier part before returning to the quieter pieces. There's a lot of emotion in this song, and it's a pretty strong take on domestic abuse. After we loop through verse and chorus again we enter a more riff-centered heavier bit leading to the bridge, which kind of loses a lot of what the previous pieces had going for them. Luckily it rebounds with a cool machine gun sort of riff piece before entering the solo section. From there on out there's some neat stuff on display, but I think it's also a bit overlong for what they're trying to do. I genuinely cannot envision the epic sort of "strike back" thing they're attempting even though I feel as though I should. Still, I think this song does some good stuff while not necessarily nailing everything it's attempting. I think for that I'll round up, because it is a fairly good song, I just don't like it as much as others seem to. 7/10
5. All Nightmare Long - Kinda nice opening to this one, feels like the beginning of a dream sequence (or a western stand-off), but about forty seconds later we change up into a much faster riff with more power and more bite to it (not necessarily a good thing, but it's solid enough). It's about a minute and forty-five seconds before we actually get to the vocals, which is kind of ridiculous for this song. The verse isn't outstanding, the pre-chorus is kinda stupid (the term "still life" has never sounded so un-magnificent), and the chorus is a bit too cheesy for my taste. It's the strongest part of the song, but it's just not that great, and the "luck... runs... out" bit doesn't work as well as they seem to have intended. Another loop through and we hit the instrumental section, which is solid without being terribly "great", but there's a nice piece here that I do like. Some riffing before we hit a blander instrumental section with way too much wah. S0me heavy riffing before we hit the bridge, which is just sort of... there, and then it's back into the chorus, followed by a clunky outro. This song is... not the best. It's another nearly eight minute affair, which is way too long for the material on display, and what good there is to be seen is overshadowed by the blandness of it. Rounding down because it really isn't outstanding despite whatever intentions they had for this one. 4/10
6. Cyanide - A big, chugging opening leads into a bassy piece that feels like it was taken from the chorus to "Cure". It's kinda neat. There's some groovy stuff on this song. The verse isn't outstanding at all, and the pre-chorus is pretty meh. The chorus also does nothing for me whatsoever. Another run through the opening piece leads back through the verse, and yeah, it's still not "great", and that pre-chorus is probably the worst thing on this album. It's just really, really bland. Again, chorus does nothing for me at all. It feels too simplistic, like they just threw together the words that rhyme and relate to each other. There's a cool quieter bridge here that's kinda cool, but there's some pointless heavy guitar stuff intertwined in it that bothers me. The instrumental section is honestly just boring and overlong (like much of this album, might I add). The bass and "Cure" bit return (still cool) but then it's just back into that pre-chorus and chorus, which culminate in an overlong outro. This song is mostly meh, but it's got some nicer bits to bring up the rating by a tad. The song title and subject matter could've made for a crushing song, but that's not what ended up happening and I'm kinda miffed about it. 4/10
7. The Unforgiven III - Ah, piano. No horn section this time, but we get some cool orchestral stuff instead. Quite nice opening, honestly. It's dreary but it sets up the song quite well. I love how the quiet guitar bit comes in next. Drums hit in and it almost feels like something off of A Matter Of Life And Death. Kudos, Metallica, this intro is fantastic. The heavier guitars come in next and... I fucking hate how these damn vocals were mixed. The verse here is pretty solid though, as is the pre-chorus, but it's nothing to match the opening. The chorus reuses the quieter guitar stuff to back it, but honestly this is probably my least favorite chorus from the three "Unforgiven" songs. I brought up pirates earlier on this album, but I feel like the lyrics here fit that theme even better. "Treasure"? "Seas of gold"? Hell yeah. Hoist the mainsails, laddie, let's off into t'blue abyss. Another round through and we get another quieter bit of "forgive me, forgive me not" that builds up really, really well until it hits a peek. Honestly if the song had ended right here, it'd have been a perfect closer to the trilogy, but no, let's go into some noodle-oodles instead. After that stuff we get back to the opening verse, but this time it's a bit quieter than previously. Then it's back through the chorus and we reach the trilogy's conclusion. I don't think this one is perfect, but it is kinda nice. With some better production, mixing, and editing it could've gone to the next level, but as it is, I think it's better than "II", but not nearly so good as the original. Good, not great. 7/10
8. The Judas Kiss - Another "big" opening kicks off the longest song on the album that isn't an instrumental. It's kind of a slow start and I don't think it works that well. There's too much stopping and starting and not enough getting straight to the point. It's over a minute before we get to the verse, which isn't that great, and there's a calmer bit there that would be better if it wasn't Metallica doing it. The chorus is... I dunno, there are parts of me that think it's kinda cool, but most of me says it's just paint-by-numbers. I don't think it lifts up the song any, certainly. Another round through and we get to some riffing that's not outstanding. Some wah bits over a calmer piece lead us into the noodly solo which, like most of the solos on this album, isn't great. A fairly okay bridge and more instrumental that still hasn't gotten good yet. Another bridge and we lead back into the chorus. Honestly, this song would be kinda catchy if there weren't so many better songs that fit its purpose better than it does. It should've been cut down to size a lot more and maybe I could digest it easier. As it is, it's pretty bland for Metallica. 4/10
9. Suicide & Redemption - A heavy, smashing opening fades up from below before moving forward with a cool driving beat and some pretty nice riffing. There's some bassy stuff here that I like, and as a whole it's quite groovy too. There are parts that sound straight out of Blackwater Park, and I think if it was tightened up, it could provide backing for an Opeth track. I think this song has some of the best guitar work on the album, and maybe it's just because the annoying vocal mix isn't here to trip it up, I like it more than the other songs on the album. I mean, it's definitely my favorite song here. It does take a while for the song to change up any, but that's okay because a lot of that was great. There's a really cool quieter bit with some really nice guitars that I quite like. It's some really nice stuff and when the heaviness returns we're left with some pretty soulful playing. At this point we're already at the five minute mark, and it's just really, really cool throughout. Then we head into a bass-driven section that's really neat and the guitars come back in and lead us to a rising bit that builds into a noodly solo that's actually not too bad. There's also some wah stuff that fits in well too. Some more cool guitar stuff and we build back into the riffing stuff we had at the beginning, more Opeth-y stuff that I like. We even get a pretty neat drum fill piece where Lars goes all out and it's honestly pretty fucking cool. We chug our way along until the end. The last minute drags a little, but as a whole I think this song is pretty strong. A ton of great moments on display, and like I said, it's easily the best song on here. No, not up to the same level as "Ktulu" and "Orion", but it's a pretty great instrumental. I think it's enough to put it in the "pretty great" category. 8/10
10. My Apocalypse - And finally our exit ticket, the shortest song on the album. "My Apocalypse" starts out with a really fucking cool riff-y opening that really drives the song and is one of the best riff pieces on the entire album. And then the vocals kick in. *sigh* The verse isn't good, and neither are the pre-chorus and chorus. It's just kinda... standard, nothing special at all. At this point that cool riff has evaporated via the bleh stuff. Another round through and we get to the riff-heavy instrumental section that leads to the fast-paced bridge. Did he say "mango flesh"? "Split apart! Split apart!" Sounds like The Thing, but it's nowhere close to that film in quality. Noodly solo again that doesn't last too long and leads to another bridge that's also nothing special. We return to the first verse and loop through until the end, which features another outro that's too long for its own good. This song had the potential to be great, and then it just lost itself. Meh ending to a pretty meh album. 3/10
I started typing this post around 14:40, and it's nearly 21:00 now. I did a lot of stuff in between, yes, but that's because this album just doesn't keep you engaged. It's far too long for its own good, its songs aren't that great, and the production and mixing are terrible here. Editing and tightening up would have worked wonders, but Death Magnetic just really isn't a good return to form for the band. Better than St. Anger? Well yeah, but I'd probably rather listen to that album because it was at least interesting. This isn't. Sorry to its fans, but I just don't like this record that much. Sad jams.
Rating: 55%
