The tumultuous career of one of the worlds most iconic metal bands can be summed up nicely by the opening lyrics to one of their new songs on Death Magnetic, 'Broken, Beat and Scarred' which begins with signature frontman James Hetfield's lyrical eruption of "Rise. Fall. You're down then you rise again. What don't kill ya make ya more strong."
In their long history since their formation in October of 1981, Metallica has had a colourful past to say the least. They've played a major role in creating the 'Thrash Metal' sound, won Grammys, played alongside the San Francisco Symphony, and led the charge against Napster and its music piracy. Surviving pitfalls, rehab, and members coming and going over the years, not to mention, the less than satisfying predecessor to Magnetic, 2003's St. Anger, it seemed that the end of the road was fast approaching for Metallica.
If Death Magnetic has done anything, it has shown the world that this oncoming demise couldn't be further from the truth. One surefire example is Hetfield's pre-St.Anger style of solo lyric writing returning or as he iterates quite well about writing the new lyrics in this months Revolver magazine, "I really wanted to crawl back into 'the cave' and kind of get scared, dark, and scared." True to his word, he has tapped into some dark places in this newborn album, showcased in heavily radio played hit 'The Day That Never Comes', a tale of abuse between a father and son. In this latest album, the band has released a third installment into the 'Unforgiven saga' not surprisingly title 'The Unforgiven III', which stacks up comparitively with its previous incarnations.
Lyrics and rekindlings of older installments aside, this album very much has the feel, taste and smell of the Master of Puppets/Black Album days, and is almost a fusion between the two whilst still having a modern edge with tracks like 'The End of the Line', 'All Nightmare Long' and 'That Was Just Your Life'. Kirk Hammett's machine gun fast guitar playing and numerous solos will make any metal fan bang their head, and curl their lip, all the while pounding on their chest to Lars Ulrich's, pulse quickening drum beats and Rob Trujillo's bass riffs.
Death Magnetic, with its biblical commandment-like ten songs, is an angry cornucopia of deep seeded pain, anguish and nightmares. For the most part, these tales have needed to be conveyed for a long time in the over twenty six year history of the band.
Metallica has come down from the mountain with these ten 'commandments' after many years, and it has one clear message, they shall not go quietly into the mists of antiquity, they will, as 'Broken, Beat, and Scarred' reiterates in its second line,
"Rise, Fall, Down, Rise again, What don't kill ya make ya more strong!"
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