Start

I don't consider myself a ‘fanboy’ of all of tallicas works so I'll judge this album on its own merits or screwups.

Having heard the entirety of this album now I wouldn't call it as much a ‘return to form’ as ‘new direction’. Some people would probably slam the album as it's not another Master of Puppets, or …and justice for all, but this reviewer is just glad that there's some more solid metal out there in these times of mainstream musical depression where ‘bullet for my valentine’ is the heaviest a 15 year old has heard…

The first immediately apparent thing about the tracks is that with the exception of 2 songs they're about 7–10 minutes. On average each song is roughly 1/3 longer than each Master of Puppets song.

Tracks:

This was Just your life – Pretty solid opener to album, The guitars in this one kick ass. Vocals are pretty good but lyrics are kind of lacking in places. Outro rocks 8/10

End of the line- Cool intro but the track really drags at almost 8 minutes. Pretty decent solo in there, and a ‘calm’ bit, but the lyrics are really lacking in this track (imo) and the outro is kinda crap… 5/10

Broken, Beat & Scarred- The Riff is pretty cool, I wouldn't mind trying to learn this one on guitar. The Vocals are pretty solid too though once again let down by some shoddy lyrics. That said the song starts to come into its own about half way through till near the outro. 6/10

The Day that never Comes- Really interesting and different intro and lead guitar in places. The first half of this song is very much a ballad with a few heavier chorus bits. The second half of the song is good solid metal. I've heard a lot of negative stuff about this song but I like it. 8/10

All Nightmare long- My favourite of the album. Pretty much a solid metal track- kind of has a slayer vibe in places which is surprising because I don't really like slayer :-D In some funny way the solo kind of sounds more like a Megadeth one. The chorus is kind of catchy and the guitar just fits perfectly with it. Lyrics + Vox = awesome. Drums get a mention here too. 9/10

Cyanide- Yay another track with mellow/heavy contrasts! The ‘descending’ riff sounds quite cool. It's not instant classic material but still a solid track. It's really cool when they re-introduce the main riff at 5:22 :-D . 7/10

The Unforgiven III- Piano and Chello (I think) intro, then the guitars cut in. Sounding classy so far… Then the main riff cuts in rudely leaving one with a WTF feeling. The ‘calmer’ bits are more in keeping with the other 2 in the trilogy (lol @ trilogy). Personally a Master of Puppets II or a One, II would've been just as welcome but oh well. Bottom line is the song left me feeling more confused than a gay man hiding in the closet. I do like the calm bits though (kind of Stone temple pilots thing going on there). 5/10

The Judas Kiss – Kind of acting as a mouthwash to the not so pleasant aftertaste of the last song we have another solid metal song. Good crunching guitars and a relatively exciting track. Not really any more to say 8/10

Suicide & Redemption- Almost 10 minutes. I think Metallicas trying to go more progressive… This instrumental is argubly more metal than ‘Call of Kthulu’ and ‘Orion’ (note: did not say better than Orion). That said it still kicks ass and for an instrumental so long it doesn't drag. 8/10

My Apocalypse – ‘Death Magnetic’ is mentioned in these lyrics. More good crunching guitars but the track feels a little uninspired, not the best album closer. 6/10

Overall:

I don't believe this is going to alienate many tallica fans as the last album should've already done that. That said the production is lacking, though only people who want the absolute best sound will probably notice or care. For me at least, it fulfills that need for more half decent metal (read: not Trivium). It achieves it's purpose and gets better with a second listen.

Despite the last couple of fall backs, especially St Anger, Death Magnetic was always going to be a make or break album for Metallica. Did it make the cut? Hell Yes, and a whole lot more.

The album is very strong right from the heartbeat of the first song, to the Thrashy, Outro that is My Apocalypse. Metallica haven't returned to old as such though, rather they have evolved, taking inspiration from themselves, and making it more modern, especially with James's voice completely different to as it was.

There are at least 5 songs on this album that you can listen to again, again and again. And the other 5 are great too. It is a album you can listen to from start to finish, time and time again.

However – I must warn you of the poor sound quality. Most people won't notice it, but those Sound techies out there will notice that the quality isn't the best. Other than that, this has to be one of Metallica's best albums. ever.

Death magnetic would have to be the best album ever. All the songs are Classics and are great to listen to over and over again.