Comment from CARTER
Time: August 7, 2008, 7:03 pm

I didn’t know it was possible to Demise more than once, but i guess metallica have huh

Comment from Freud
Time: August 8, 2008, 8:13 am

At least you are still interested by what they do…i don’t understand what people like you want, i mean you keep spitting on them while other heavy metal band are available!!!Feel free to ignore them!!!!
I am a metallica fan for about 18 years, load reload st anger, weren’t that bad, but i took distance from them during this period and listened to plenty of underground band from black metal to xtrem hardcore, and one thing is sure mastodon DEP, converge, the red chord etc are fuckin great!!!
Thus i feel good about the new album, but if it’s not so what??? I think we ll have good tunes on this record a lot of energy and inspiration.
but that’s my opinion…

Comment from Rhodeislandrock
Time: August 9, 2008, 1:25 pm

I’ve been with Metallica since ‘83 and I have to agree that the Load/Reload/St. Anger era has been hard to take. Many people lump the Black album in there but it’s a solid record, slower than the first four and more radio friendly, but good.

The problem I see is that they just don’t care. They all have money, they all have families, personal demons, and other interest……they don’t need to care. If they cared like they did in the ’80s then they would have followed St. Anger with the most brutal album a couple of years earlier. Back then, they could have cared less about the establishment, about success, all they cared about was being true to Metal…..now they steer clear of the term. The only time they are true to their roots, to the fans, is when they play live. Ever notice their setlists? It’s all old school stuff from Kill’em All to the Black album.

I will buy Death Magnetic, just like I have bought every other Metallica record. I won’t preview it online, I won’t download it, I won’t pay attention to pre-release reviews. When it’s in my stereo and I press PLAY, i will know if it sucks or not. I knew about St. Anger almost immeadiately…..hopefully Death Magnetic is better.

Steve
Heavy Metal Addiction
http://hardrockheavymetal.wordpress.com/

Comment from Rhodeislandrock
Time: August 9, 2008, 1:26 pm

BTW, I agree with Freud (2nd comment)…..there are better bands out there.

Comment from Eric
Time: August 10, 2008, 12:23 am

I wasn’t saying that there isn’t better metal out there. In fact, metallica hasn’t been metal, they are hard rock with metal influences from their past. No one can disagree with that point Steve & Freud. But considering that most of us grew up with the “Metal” branding source direct via Metallica, it is just sad as we watch them dissapate into the nothingness. The talent is there, the heart is there, but the music has stopped. Plus, I wanted everyone reading to understand that critics will hype up this album as a back – to – roots type album. I guess we will wait and see.

Comment from coled24
Time: August 12, 2008, 3:26 am

Its going to be straight up garbage. St. Anger was probably the worst album I have ever heard by anyone. While I am sure there are worse albums I have heard by incredibly bad artists, this was a Metallica album and it was abysmal. Nothing about this band is good anymore. “Jaymz” can’t “syng,” Lars is an embarrassment, Kirk is a pushover and Rob Trujillo is just another solid bass player. Rick Rubin will help but if anything he’ll try to market it to the mainstream just like he does with every other metal act he handles. Metallica is dead and should be gone. They are the Magic Johnson of Metal. They are slowly killing their great career by coming back fatter, older and much shittier.
Look forward to the review (podcast, hopefully!) of Death Magnetic by yours truly (Cole), Nate and off and on AMR contributor, CARTER. If we can get our technical situation out, you will have AMR’s first ever audio review and on top of that, we’ll be piss drunk!

Comment from Nate
Time: August 12, 2008, 8:02 am

Cole, the laptop recorded stuff pretty well, even without a voice recorder so I think we’re set in that department. Now we just have to wait for that piece of slimy shit to drop into our all-too-readily waiting hands.

Comment from jeff
Time: August 13, 2008, 4:24 pm

of course they dont sound the same as that clip you provide from 20 YEARS ago. If I sang like hetfield I dont think I could keep it up for 5!!!! They’ve been around for a quarter of a century. They want to try new things and faggots like you dog them for that. If I ate nothing but cheeseburgers for 20 years I’d think fuck, lets do something a little different. I love metal but some of the bands that you all praise such as slayer and slip knot, well, they fuckin suck. A bunch of mish mashed shit. I think all of you all need to get a job and get out of your parents basements and maybe try to get laid. Although it might be by fat chicks but hey, they need lovin too.

Comment from cody
Time: August 13, 2008, 8:16 pm

Jeff – Ahh the ole “get a job and get out of your parents basement” routine. Isn’t this played out Jeff? And what would compel you to believe that we reside in our parent’s basement, or need to get laid? The bottom line is, I was waiting for a Metallica fanboy response, because I knew it was inevitable. If you read this again Jeff, please tell us the legitimacy of latter day Metallica, and why we should give a damn about anything they release besides the fact that we write about this stuff?

Comment from Nate
Time: August 14, 2008, 8:53 am

Wait. Jeff — what!? You sound retarded. I don’t think Metallica got together and said “Guys let’s try something different, I want to start making shitty music”. They actually think they’re getting back to their roots, or playing “what metal is all about” with no solos. Have you heard “We Did it Again”? Back to the roots for sure. Listen to that and tell me if you have any respect left for them.

By the way, if the answer is “yes”, don’t bother replying to this post.

Comment from mark
Time: August 18, 2008, 3:56 pm

I think the new album is gna be pretty fucking good! Cyanide gave promise. And i dont understand why people are always bashing metallica, its “cool” to bash them? Load and reload where diff BUT still pretty darn good.
Ok metallica became more mainstream, they made a bunch of cash…you know what i say to that GOOD FOR THEM.
If we were in there place we would have done exactly the same, everyone wants money.

PS. St.anger did suck cock thou.

Comment from hardcorefiend
Time: August 21, 2008, 3:06 am

I THINK, AS A NATION, WE HAVE BEEN CONDITIONED TO EAT ANYTHING THAT IS PUT IN FRONT OF US.
If I could no longer do a studio album of quality, I should recognize that. Metallica should just remain a live band. They perform a great live show! Metallica IS my favorite band, yet I am ashamed to admit it lately.
Janes Addiction was smart enough to call it quits. As Joey Ramone said “There should be a mandatory
retirement age for all bands” enough said!

Comment from CARTER
Time: August 21, 2008, 2:50 pm

Mark I have to disagree.. Load and Reload were not that good. Reload had like 2 listenable songs, and Load is just.. ugh. It’s just like crap rock. Bands that actually play that kind of music normally do a much better job at it. Soem of the songs on Load are just so drawn out and over dramatic, and the drumming is laughably bad. Lars has absolutely no feel, he barely knows how to play drums. I can’t take anything past the Black album, i honestly can’t. St. Anger? whoof. Nobody should ever have heard that.

Comment from Podge
Time: August 27, 2008, 9:40 pm

Heres an interesting idea… try and count how many metallica bashing comments youv all typed in your live… DO SOMETHING MORE CONSTRUCTIVE!!!… try and write kill em all 2… cant???… then stop complaining that tallica cant either… THERES STILL NOTHING LIKE METALLICA LIVE!!!

Comment from mike
Time: August 28, 2008, 10:26 am

Why does everyone think that a 25 year old band is going to sound exactly the way they did when they first started out? I’m not saying the last 3 albums were great but Damn it people will ALWAYS bitch about something. No matter what they do, someone will say I hate this or Metallicas washed up…but yet you ALL KEEP BUYING “the next CD you’ll never buy again”. Stop expecting Master of Puppets on ever new release!! They are a differnt band then back then..get a grip!

Comment from cody
Time: August 28, 2008, 12:15 pm

Mike and Podge – What would you do if Iron Maiden or Judas Priest made an album that threw in modern hardcore breakdowns or industrial death metal (yes, I know Metallica has used neither of these)? Or even worse, what would you do if they did a tour with Staind and Disturbed?

We don’t expect another Master of Puppets or Kill’Em All, we just want a METALLICA album, not modern rock or an angsty album like St. Anger. Metallica built their reputation on thrash, and once Bob Rock got a hold of them, it was all about acquiring a mainstream sound, thus destroying each of their souls. Cliff Burton has been rolling in his grave for awhile now.

Comment from metahz
Time: August 28, 2008, 11:39 pm

“It seems Metallica still doesn’t consider why they make music: for the fans. And, sadly, it has been this way for a long time.” Who the fuck are you to tell Metallica why they make music?!? They’ve always said what Hetfield stated. They make music to make themselves happy, then they show it to whoever wants it. That, my dense friend, is called artistic integrity.

Godammit. You DON’T define who Metallica is or does. Metallica define Metallica. You either like it or not. No one is force feeding you. How can someone judge an album they haven’t heard? Is that rational? Has it any logic to it? Grow the fuck up. Stop Bitching! when I don’t like what I hear, I go away, I turn it off, I just don’t listen to it in the first place. I don’t bitch about it for eternity. Metallica don’t owe you jack shit. Metallica don’t have to make music for you. Get that through your dense skulls. And pleeease stop usin Cliff Burton’s name to make your points. Respect the dead. You didn’t know him, you didn’t tour with, made music with, got drunk with, were friends with him. Leave his memory alone.

Comment from Hingo
Time: August 29, 2008, 8:52 pm

LOL You are a fucking joke mate. You think Metallica should write music just for their fans? You think when they wrote Kill ‘em All they wrote it for fans? No, they wrote it because thats the kind of shit they wanted to play. Grow up douche bag.

Comment from coled24
Time: August 29, 2008, 10:14 pm

Sweet jesus. I cannot believe I am hearing all of this. Metallica is DONE. I was a HUGE metallica fan for a about 5 years. All I listened to, literally. They were great, no doubt. The metal band of metal bands when they were in their prime but that was then, this is now. People who peddle off this garbage they have released for the last 15 years as “changing style” are completely off. While the style is different, the quality has dropped off incredibly. Its slow boring rock and thats just Load and Reload. St. Anger is still the WORST album I have ever heard by anyone. This band needs to stop because they are making a mockery of everything they once stood for and were all about.
And as for Metallica live being amazing, I completely disagree. Maybe 20 years ago but I saw them in 2003 and “Jaymz” was dropping lyrics all over the place. Lars sounds about 1000000 times worse because he can’t doctor his sound with production. A bunch of pyros and a band that was good 20 years ago doesn’t automatically mean a great show. I’ve seen a lot of shows in the last 5 years and Metallica doesn’t even rank in the top 15. Dark Tranquillity in a room with 75 people in South Burlington, VT blew Metallica at Giant’s Stadium out of the water.

Comment from coled24
Time: August 29, 2008, 10:16 pm

And Jeff… take a look at Mikael from Opeth, amazing growls and an A class clean singing voice and they only gotten better over the years and Opeth has been making music for almost 15 years. James Hetfield is lazy, egotistical and overrated. His vocals sound like shit, he needs to go home and take care of his kids and go to parent teacher conferences.

Comment from Miles91
Time: August 30, 2008, 3:41 am

I’ve heard three NEW metallica songs in the past two weeks… And all three are good.. They are different, Fast, hardcore, in your face dont give a fuck music.. Kirk Hammet is back doing amazing solo’s. Lars is back using an actual snare drum… This whole Demise comment is such shit. I bought into missionmetallica.com and i’ve seen them work, been away from their families for a very long time, which in fact, family is the most important fucking thing in life you tools.. Metallica is far from done, after reading many interviews from Hetfield, even admitting himself that St Anger was the lowest point of Metallica.. This album is going to kick all you haters asses and im gonna laugh so hard when you come back to this or another site and say how good the album was, how much improved it is from the previous 3 studio albums… Seriously, this album is the missing album between Justice and the Black Album, that is exactly where I would put this and compare this to.. Sure its got alot of old school feeling mixed in with the newer type of thrash thats out there.. Fact is this, I’ve heard 3 songs from the new album, all 3 have fucking kicked ass.. So keep on hatin Metallica, keep saying they are done, etc etc. Because when this record comes out in FULL, you’re going to feel so fucking stupid for talking shit in the first place… And thats a fact.

Comment from Shangshaptak
Time: August 30, 2008, 3:40 pm

I have only one thing to say : Forget Metallica. However hard it is to do so, force yourself. In the end you’ll be the gainer. Metallica, in the form we knew and loved…….died loooong ago. Expectation for the new album? Obviously zero. And to the people who are saying things like ” Ooh metallica played for so long….they evolved…..must evolve…got bored..must change…..” – that’s simply jackshit. Look at iron maiden, Judas Priest, Overkill, Testament etc. etc. etc…..hell, look at Ozzy. The guy can’t fucking speak two words without getting his tongue in a slipknot……but at least he’s trying.

Comment from Jeff W
Time: August 30, 2008, 10:56 pm

I can’t even begin to explain how stupid this article is.

Comment from Podge
Time: August 31, 2008, 7:51 am

You saw them in 2003! i saw them 11 days ago… they kicked fuckin ass!!!

Comment from coled24
Time: August 31, 2008, 11:57 am

No one should ever describe Metallica as “hardcore.” Metallica should have kept on boozing and playing thrash and not this stupid post-therapy garbage.
I will revel in how much this album will suck. If these first few songs are any kind of example… its just going to be, as my friend puts it, “Re-Anger.”
Thank you Shangshaptak for making some sense. For all of you who think that bands HAVE to change look at Slayer. Been around for just as long as Metallica and listen to Christ Illusion and compare it to their past work. They show their age but they are still thrashing. What I’m noticing more and more is that Metallica is music for people who don’t actually care about music itself and just want something to blast out of their pick-up/Camaro around small town USA in a feeble attempt to look badass.
And finally, giving Lars a “real snare” doesn’t change the fact that he doesn’t actually know how to use it. There’s a reason why he’s not in the AMR Top 10 Metal Drummers. There are no videos of him at international drum festivals and conferences because he doesn’t get invited. Just watch the Joey Jordison video of him playing Creeping Death in place of Lars. Jordison is overrated as hell but even he does SO much better. Listen to a real drummer and then listen to Lars. I did it. It’s a jarring experience for those of you who only listen to Metallica.

Comment from Capz
Time: August 31, 2008, 12:49 pm

Hard rock is better then thrash anyway, imo. I love the load/reload/garage inc style of metallica. They just have more variety. Sure if you like thrash, metallica is dead…thats’ fine. Move on. But if like variety etc, I think as far as hard rock bands go Metallica is the best.

Comment from Zelmo
Time: August 31, 2008, 5:16 pm

I think “My Apocalypse” just about single handedly demolished this idiots article…My question to you, Mr Idiot, is that when the album comes out and is good, which after hearing The Day That Never Comes, Cyanide, and My Apocalypse, (plus all thw advance word) it really seems like it will be , will you have the balls to come back and write a whole article saying what a fucking dumbass you were.

And while your article is dumb enough as to need no rebuttal, I do want to say one thing. Metallica didn’t sell out by exploring new musical terrain as a band. Selling out is when you make music not from the heart just to get people to like it. Your concept of why bands make music IS selling out. In fact, had Metallica kept thrashing through the 90’s when inherently they felt like making Load, then thrashing would’ve been selling out, comprimising their musical integrity to make pansies like you happy.

Comment from Zelmo
Time: August 31, 2008, 5:22 pm

Just to rub it in:

Metal Hammer
http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/podcast/

Thrash Hits
http://www.thrashhits.com/2008/08/album-me…death-magnetic/

Music Radar
http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/met…ck-guide-171254

Terrorizer
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermo…wsitemID=103679

The Quietus
http://www.thequietus.com/articles/metalli…-track-by-track

These aren’t vague reviews…they are very specific and very positive.

I’m waiting for your article about how you’re a good for nothing know it all. Only your bitterness will keep this album from being enjoyable. Dont do that to yourself man. It’s safe to like Metallica again, and let the music world beware.

Comment from coled24
Time: August 31, 2008, 10:13 pm

All but one of those links works and it doesn’t take you to a review.

I stood by Metallica for years. I was a huge fan. If it wasn’t Metallica, then fuck it. I used to hate Megadeth because Dave Mustaine got kicked out of Metallica and as a Metallica fan, that was the right thing to do. I am now a bigger Megadeth fan. Mainly because Megadeth can still make good music and it still sounds like Megadeth. Frankly, I think Metallica should’ve just bagged it after Reload and just formed a new band. New name, new sound. Look at a band like At The Gates. After three albums, they released Slaughter Of The Soul, an album that defined a style and influenced so many bands, and that was it. At The Gates, done. They knew when to stop. They recently came back to tour a bit for some reunion shows and when asked whether they would make a new album, they all said “No.” They said they would consider starting a new band to try different things so the legacy of At The Gates would stay intact. Completely respectable and admirable thing to do. Metallica could’ve done the same thing but they didn’t and now you have a band that is just making a mockery of the fantastic work that they we’re known for. In addition, what will sell better? THE NEW METALLICA ALBUM or A BAND WITH MEMBERS FROM METALLICA?
I will say that My Apocalypse is definitely the most intriguing song they have done since Outlaw Torn (the only good Metallica song from Load, ReLoad, and St. Anger). It still doesn’t do much for me. I’m not fiending to hear it again any time soon. I think I’m just over Metallica. They would need to seriously WOW me and thats not going to happen. I’m not going to hear something from them that compares to an album like Still Life by Opeth. So say what you want about us being dumbasses and how we’ll eat our words but we were all diehard fans like you guys but eventually we all saw through the bullshit that is Post-Black Album Metallica.

Comment from coled24
Time: August 31, 2008, 10:23 pm

And I just noticed the comment that defines every rude, stupid fuck non-metal, diehard Metallica fan:
“I love metal but some of the bands that you all praise such as slayer and slip knot, well, they fuckin suck. A bunch of mish mashed shit. I think all of you all need to get a job and get out of your parents basements and maybe try to get laid. Although it might be by fat chicks but hey, they need lovin too.”
Why do you assume that we LOOOOVE Slipknot and Slayer? Every Metallica fan that knows jack SHIT about metal thinks that everyone loves Slipknot and Slayer. I’m not a fan of Slipknot and Slayer is alright. As for the mish-mash shit comment, this proves that you know NOTHING. Slayer and Slipknot, while not my favorite bands, are made up of some very talented musicians. Dave Lombardo, Joey Jordison, Mick Thompson, KERRY KING, Jeff Hanneman… You don’t have an ear for music. You don’t understand it because you don’t listen to anything more than Lars playing the same shit over and over again and Kirk playing decent solos. Open your mind and go listen to a band that does things a little bit differently. Odd time signatures, varying vocal styles… Learn why a lot of death metal bands are so respected in the music community.
Thanks, Mark, for showing that you’re understanding of music is nothing more than “METAAAAALLLLICCCAAAA!!!! FUCK YEAH!!!!”

Comment from coled24
Time: August 31, 2008, 11:30 pm

One more thing…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWsSC8VBPyI

Nope. Not sell outs. Not one bit. Never. True Metal. The Heaviest of Heavy Metal.

The prosecution rests.
eeeeeeeeeeeee

Comment from Luke
Time: September 1, 2008, 7:44 am

Hetfield’s absolutely right. Music has to be written from the heart and released according to what Metallica wants and not to appease pissed of fans. Admittedly, i thought St Anger was total shit and as such am balancing on the wrong side of optimistic about Death Magnetic. But to write off an album before you’ve even heard it is just fucking idiotic. Pull your head out of your ass and listen to it WHEN IT COMES OUT, listen to it like you’ve never even heard of Metallica and then post an unbiased review,….then i may pay attention!

Comment from Fabio
Time: September 2, 2008, 1:49 pm

All i know is that of the 3 songs i heard, i liked one a lot (my apocalypse), i consider one a good song (The Day That Never Comes) and i unfortunately really dislike one (Cyanide). 2 off 3. I can’t say much about the 30 seconds previews, but they actually sound old school and i renewed my enthusiasm about the album, waiting to hear songs like “All Nightmare Long” (very heavy-old school sounding riff), “The Judas Kiss” (same), The Unforgiven III (bad title choice, i’m just curious about this one), “Broken, Beat & Scarred” (again for the preview). Then, old school or not, sell-out or not, i’ll just enjoy the music. (Then i mean, no hypocrisy, we can all listen to it before buyin’it.. If you’re afraid of being screwed “St.Anger style”, just listen and then you’ll decide to buy it or not.. i’ll do that). Metallica will never be the same as the 80’s, but if this album is a good one, i’ll buy it.

Comment from Matthew
Time: September 3, 2008, 3:47 am

I think people who have a negative perspective towards Metallica’s new album will be eating there own words!!!! Unfortunatly for some reason certain people have an issue with Metallica, anything good musical piece they bring out people flame it straight away!! I swear man, If they brought out an album that sounded like Master Of Puppets haters wouldn’t even notice it and still flame it. If you only listen to heavy metal or speed thrash metal than I must say you people have a limit musical vocabulary.

Stupid arguments I laugh at are as follows

*It’s not like their first four albums (The first four albums are totally different, speed may be the same but the tone and quality of the music differs)
*They’re not the same as they were back in 80s
*Metallica owe me a proper metallica album (Metallica don’t owe you jack)
*Metallica sold out. (Metallica heard that argument before when they released Fade To Black on RTL)

Comment from Zelmo
Time: August 31, 2008, 5:16 pm

I think “My Apocalypse” just about single handedly demolished this idiots article…My question to you, Mr Idiot, is that when the album comes out and is good, which after hearing The Day That Never Comes, Cyanide, and My Apocalypse, (plus all thw advance word) it really seems like it will be , will you have the balls to come back and write a whole article saying what a fucking dumbass you were.

And while your article is dumb enough as to need no rebuttal, I do want to say one thing. Metallica didn’t sell out by exploring new musical terrain as a band. Selling out is when you make music not from the heart just to get people to like it. Your concept of why bands make music IS selling out. In fact, had Metallica kept thrashing through the 90’s when inherently they felt like making Load, then thrashing would’ve been selling out, comprimising their musical integrity to make pansies like you happy.

Well fuckin said Zelmo

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 3, 2008, 8:34 am

I listened to the three tracks, as if i had never heard metallica. And if these were not released BY Metallica nobody would have listened to it. It’s disjointed, VERY poorly drummed, and even poorly vocalized music. It’s just crap. I try to like it, try to pretend its ok, but I can’t. Metallica fanboys need to fucking get over it and find better bands, which takes about 4-8 seconds with an internet connection. Oh and Zelmo, you are fuck-tarded. Metallica compromised their musical integrity many times after 1990. The bottom line is Metallica want to make money, and don’t give a fuck what their fans think. Fans make bands sucessful, ignoring them is a luxury only bands like Metallica with their zillions of dollars have.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 3, 2008, 8:36 am

Oh and by the way, this may sound blasphemous, but Metallica was never that incredible. Search for videos of live stuff from even the 80s – they could never even play Disposable Heroes right. Lars has always fucking sucked. I used to love Metallica, but I grew out of it and found muhc better music.

Comment from Nate
Time: September 3, 2008, 9:17 am

Well said Carter. Metallica should have given up long ago. Then at least, I might have still liked them.

Comment from Ryan
Time: September 3, 2008, 4:11 pm

Hey, CARTER open mouth insert dick.

Thanks, if you never even liked Metallica WTF listen to Death Magnetic? It’s a fucking amazing album. I’m not a fanboy either…St. Anger was fucking horrible.

Comment from Matthew
Time: September 3, 2008, 10:32 pm

“Metallica fanboys need to fucking get over it and find better bands, which takes about 4-8 seconds with an internet connection.”

Hey Carter I listen to Megadeth, Dream Theater, Iced Earth, Down (Stone the Crow doesn’t even come close to a heavy metal song), Black Label Society, Pantera (Including Albums prior to CFH), Drowning Pool, Disturbed, Led Zepplin, Satriani, Steve Vai, even Michael fuckin Buble etc the list goes on.

I’m a fan of hard rock/metal, blues, jazz, etc. Neither of these bands are better than the other. Like I said “If you only listen to heavy metal or speed thrash metal or whatever kind of metal than I must say you people have a limited musical vocabulary. ” Speaking as a musician I don’t think you understand what it means to have soul in your music. You think Dimebag Darrel gave a fuck that Pantera was a hair face paintin hair metal band, I don’t think so, he never apologized for it he was never embarrased about it, his favorite band is Kiss.
But let’s look closely, Kiss’ music is totally different to any Metallica’s first four albums, and albums from CFH onwards, yet Dimebags favourite band is Kiss’. Go figure that one out!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QsV2Jg7tSE <<Listen to zakk wylde HIS PLAYING FUCKIN PIANO!!! That doesn’t even come close to anything heavy or metal like. If you think metallica’s music should always be like the first four albums than you have a warped sense of what music should be. You can like whatever you want to like I’m not here to force anything down your throat but a song doesn’t have to be fast, heavy, crunchin guitars or have long massive solos just to make it a good song. Listen to Mama Said off the Load Album, you think Jaymz dedicated that song to his fans? Very Unlikely. And it’s more unlikely he made that song for money, including Outlaw Torn. You don’t pull that kind of musicianship for the sake of millions of dollers it’s just not possible.

You guys don’t care about music, you just want some band to play for you own egos.

Comment from Matthew
Time: September 3, 2008, 11:08 pm

And just to rub it in. If Metallica’s Black Album Sold millions why come out with Load. If they really are money hungry musicians Metallica would have come out with a Black Album 2, even Reload is way different than Load. Hell, Master of Puppets sounds different from Kill’em All. Money didn’t change them, it was their popularity that made Metallica huge.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 3, 2008, 11:37 pm

Because they wanted more money. Celebrities like Metallica spend money and want as much as possible.
As for this comment about not liking music… you like Metallica. A band that did NOTHING adventurous at all. They played good music but a lot of total idiots can play their shit. Check out bands like Opeth, Necrophagist, Meshuggah. In order to be a fan of those bands you have to be a fan of music to pickup on the nuances and different styles of music. Bands like that rank very high on my list and I can say the same of the authors at AMR. A lot of us are into pretty progressive shit, so don’t think to know what we listen to just because we all think that Metallica shoulda hung it up 18 years ago. The fact is that you really don’t music. You defend Metallica’s last 15 years and you list DROWNING POOL and DISTURBED as favorite bands. The fact of the matter is that Metallica is about no one but themselves. I know a kid who asked Lars for an autograph real nicely and he fuckin spit on him. Yeah real fan-friendly class act. They fuckin suck now and have for the last 15 years. You CANNOT begin to tell me that the song Ronnie or even King Nothing compares not in STYLE but in QUALITY to ANY song off of the first 5 albums. Its fucking preposterous that anyone could defend this washed up pieces of trash. They aren’t for the fans, they are for Metallica. I was once a huge fuckin fan of this band. Most of my t-shirts as a kid were Metallica shirts. Its what I was known for. I knew all the songs and they were all I gave a fuck about and I stuck with em and even tolerated Load and Reload. I wish they were good again, I really do. So does every person that HATES Metallica. But they just gave up on their real fans, they gave up on their roots of being fans of the music and not the fame. Selling art? Doing group therapy? Come on. If you told James this after Master Of Puppets came out, he probably would have shit himself. This was a band you could depend on for cool lyrics about war, fast paced riffs and badass solos. What is it now? Corny, mundane lyrics, boring riffs and the typical kirk hammet post 1990 solo. Please, just go listen to extremely technically proficient bands and listen to the variation in the music as compared to Metallica. Open your mind before you become what I was like in high school: a kid who didn’t like other bands… because they weren’t metallica.

Comment from Adi
Time: September 4, 2008, 3:25 am

This thread is really loooooooong and i did have time to read it all…but i got to listen to the whole album, and i can say its…..AWESOME. They have become heavy again, its polished and clean, not like st.anger… and all the songs except maybe the 10min long instrumental ’suicide and redemption’, are good. Now, people, if u still hate metallica, bcoz they are money hungry, or bcoz their songs aren’t about war(coled24 i hope ur reading this), dude it would be LAME for all their songs to be based on war and shit like tht. U want fast paced riffs, and this album has that. Death Magnetic is gr8, but they could have made it better(especially the instrumental), and we would have something like a M.O.P II, except for the badass image, and the angry hetfield voice. But James isnt in his early 20’s now, so for what he can sing now, he’s singing really well, his vocals are brilliant for his age. For those who STILL hate metallica, then get the fuck out of this site, and stop listenin to metallica, its not like metallica’s short of fans…

Comment from Adi
Time: September 4, 2008, 3:32 am

And by the way Carter, u keep talkin shit bout metallica…why are u here??? if u hate them so much, and u think that they dont gve a shit bout the fans..why do u still show that u care, by even visitin the site???? And if u think that metallica cant play disposable heroes rite, who the fuck wrote that song??? AND METALLICA IN THE 80′S DID NOT SOUND BLASPHEMOUS, THEY SOUNDED FUCKIN AMAZING. Period.

Comment from stalker
Time: September 4, 2008, 4:29 am

What are you talking about? “Real fans”, “sell-outs”, “going back to their roots”… Why most metal fans are so narrow minded? They’re are humans, you know. They grow up. They change. Their interests change. How can you expect them to make Master v.2.0? They made it back then because they felt like doing it – and it was good. Or Kill ‘em all. Why do you expect grown up males to write songs like Seek and Destroy? o_O People just don’t stay the same all their lives, that’s ok, that’s normal. They have a right to change, ffs, they have a right to give up music completely and focus on something different. They live their lives, they do what they like, you cannot tell them what to do and how to live. What the fuck is wrong with cutting your hair? 0_0 Keeping long hair to prove to somebody they belog to some group of people, calling themselves metalheads – that’s just so immature. Wake up, Hetfield is 45. He’s not a teenager anymore. He doesn’t have to prove something to somebody or stay true to something. That’s what teenagers do, y’know. You can’t be a teenager at 45. Well, you can, but that’s not a good idea, that just looks sad…
What’s the big deal anyway? Why do you need all this shit – being true fans and all that? They released some music you enjoyed greatly once – that’s all that matters. Feel good about it. What if they’d never start a band? Be thankful for what they gave to you. So, they changed – they don’t feel like doing it anymore. What’s the big deal? Go on live your life, listen to other bands. Be open minded. If you have problems with Metallica changing their music – that’s your problems. You created those problems by chosing closemindedness and you’re responsible for solving them. Don’t focus on one band, they’re not your slaves and can’t all their lives write music you personally like at the moment. What if you change to and start listening to jazz or funk? You can do that, it’s your life, you’re in control and you can try something new and interesting. Why people involved in a band called “Metallica” can’t do the same? Are they less human beings than you are? Why don’t you give them a right to be in control of their lives? You can’t make someone do what you want, just deal with it. If you can’t deal with it – that’s sad and you really should do something about it instead of complaining. That’s just life and you have to deal with it. Nothing stays the same – just find yourselves some new sources of enjoyment. Or start your band already and express yourself. That’s fun. No other band will express your views and emotions better than your own. Seriously.

Comment from Deccaz
Time: September 4, 2008, 6:39 am

Hey mate, Death Magnetic has leaked. All 10 tracks are available from your favourite (albeit, illegal, torrent site) All ten tracks I have heard. Prepare to suck on those long, veiny, throbbing words of yours. September 12 (Or rather, September 4) is the day that all haters “demise” as you put it. Happy listening.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 4, 2008, 10:21 am

Matthew, I’m also a musician, and yeah. Just the fact that you like Disturbed is reason to discard any comment(s) you’ve made thus far. I said “better bands” not “shittier bands”.
Retard.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 4, 2008, 10:22 am

And just because you can play Ride the Lightning on guitar doesn’t make you a musician either. “Just to rub it in”.

Faggot.

Comment from Mark
Time: September 4, 2008, 10:37 am

Hate to point this out to you haters but the new album is actually REALLY good and is getting a tonne of good reviews. It actually is a HUGE step in the right direction. so up yours

Comment from Nate
Time: September 4, 2008, 11:47 am

Drowning Pool. Disturbed.

Should’ve said “I’m a fan of [shitty] hard rock/metal, blues, jazz, etc”

Fuck off. Cole’s right: bands with talent that shows — Opeth, Meshuggah, Necrophagist — and to a further extent, Textures, Withered, and Neuraxis, to name a few recent favorites of mine…these bands should be praised, not some washed-up piece of shit assholes that made a few good albums and then forgot how. Good for you, we all appreciate non-metal artists, but don’t come on the site and say Disturbed, Drowning Pool, and praises for Metallica and expect credit. Death Magnetic may be better than St. Anger, but that’s like saying getting kicked in the nuts is better than getting them cut off.

How is making a false point rubbing it in? “Money didn’t change them, it was their popularity that made Metallica huge.” Yeah — money changes people. But they made money, and gained popularity, by making bad music. When they got rich, it made them into pompous, untalented, and worst of all relentless, garbage. Like you…advocating Drowning Pool. What is wrong with you? You should be ashamed.

Comment from Kewls
Time: September 4, 2008, 11:59 am

I’ve got an early copy and I’ve listened to it front to back about 4 times now (as I write this I’m listening to All Nightmare Long). Here’s my review on this new disk: It is classic Metallica…and really, isn’t that what everyone has been wanting for the last 10 years? Come on people, give these guys a break. They step out of their comfort zone (admittedly the last 10 years were pretty sad) and everyone rags on them. Fine. They know they’ve produced shit, so…….they go back to what they do best and everyone compares these 10 tracks to the past. I get it…its natural to do that. And yes, I can hear so much of the old ‘tallica in these songs, but shit, this is why I loved this band in the first place…so wouldn’t it make sense that of course we’ll think this album kicks ass? Well, it does. James sounds like he’s 21 again and he can still write great songs. The lyrics are awesome and you can tell that James is in control of this again (thank god). This is what he does best. Speaking of that, Kirk is fantastic and there’s at least 3 solos that just scortch and (sorry to say this) but take you back to the old days when he did it better than anyone. I won’t get into Lars that much…all I will say is that I’m glad he’s decided to put all this shit behind them and again, do what they all do best—and he’s up to the challenge.

All the songs are excellent except for Unforgiven III. Sounds too much like the other two and hence this is probably why its my least favorite. The opener “That Was Just Your Life” is such a good choice to kickstart the album. It will become my favorite song on the disk for sure. And as for the Metallica trademark, you can always count on the last track on the album to kick you in the nuts and “My Apocalyse” does. This will be awesome live.
For true Metallica fans this is a return to glory days with some new updated riffs and hooks…just what you’ve been asking for….I’m sure you’ll love it. For those not so convinced, Celine Dion is on tour and comes to your town soon…

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 4, 2008, 2:58 pm

I wouldn’t call it a return to the glory days – Lars plays horribly and James voice is nowhere near as cool as it was back in the day. I hate people that are just falling for this cash in by Metallica. All of the riffs are such lousy progressions, its like the riffs themselves practically say “See? We can still do it!” but it just comes off as lame to me.

Comment from Mike
Time: September 4, 2008, 3:18 pm

This is a new low for the heartbroken trail of former Metallica fans who clearly gave Metallica too much power over their happiness: a pre-emptive review of an album you haven’t heard yet. I wonder how many other people wrote blog entries to “kill the hype,” and how many of them know that the best way to move on from the Metallica that’s supposedly been dead for the last twenty years is to ignore them completely. There’s no such thing as anti-hype, by the way. There’s positive hype and negative hype, but it’s all hype. BTW the album leaked and it’s pretty decent.

Comment from hoov3r
Time: September 4, 2008, 3:54 pm

Carter, shut your fucking mouth. This cd is bad ass, and imo… the bridge between anjustice and the black album. I would even say it rivals justice if james voice was still as bad ass as it used to be.

I just see these tired comments trying to justify why they don’t like it. Go listen to you six feet under you fucking cunt, I know your breed of meta head. Opeth loving disrespect to those who gave way to real metalhated shit bag. The reviewer is a fat fuck aswell.

As for the “reviewer” You are spouting off shit about it not sounding good astheticly <– spell check. They created pop music for that kind of thing. Or better yet, try out some under oath, They can grow out there hair, but the fucking hair flipped to one side thing isn’t hiding there real emo intent very well. You pop loving break down faggot.

Comment from silverpaddy
Time: September 4, 2008, 5:01 pm

isnt it funny the way some people take ownership of a band?? then demand what that band should play, and how they should sound, what they should look like, how they should wear their hair, how they should speak, how they should sing, how they should play thier instruments…….holy fuck, what ever happened to artistic freedom. people you are all entitled to your opinions, but metallica dont belong to you, they can do what they like, and you can ignore them, you can choose not to listen, you can listen to irion maiden and testament and all that other shit, go ahead they need your support, the onkly thing metallica has sold out is stadiums…..you dont sell over 100 million records by being consistently shit……i dotn know any band that didnt have a dry spell, or a major donkey in their back catalogue, load/reload (it was the 90’s!! what did you expect??) st anger? james was away with the fairies and kirk was afraid his mate was about to top himself so probably just kept his mouth shut when it came to solos…..
fuck me, most of you tossers who are complaining are the ones who cheer the loudest at the gig when nothing else matters kicks in, or when fade to black fires up, what i remember was you lost the plot when those songs made their debut…..the funny thing is you also probably didnt even BUY the cd/casette but recorded it off your mate next door who had the actual manners to BUY it……shock horrow Metallica arent a charity band either……

Comment from Loki
Time: September 4, 2008, 7:57 pm

Looks like it’s cool to bash metallica and some people don’t feel good unless they do that..i have to say: just get a life,fuckers! you don’t like it then don’t listen to metallica! what the fuck is wrong with you people?! it’s normal that they’ve changed,everything that sorrounds them influences how they think and feel and that reflects in their music…they’ve always been like that and they play whatever they want to…and another thing:if you didn’t like the load,reload and anger albums that doesn’t mean they suck! i bet that if other band band had released those albums they would have had been great (at least load and reload) but beacause it’s metallica let’s shit on them,huh?! yeah,i love the old albums but i don’t hate the after load era…and i really think that the new one is a great album! my apocalypse kick ass man!it’s fucking thrash!!!

Comment from MR SCOTT
Time: September 4, 2008, 8:21 pm

You’re wrong. This is no cash in or gimmick, this is simply the kings of metal coming back to reclaim their crown. ‘Death Magnetic’ is an album that can stand proudly alongside all their pre-1991 output. Lars’s drumming is fucking incredible, Kirk’s better than ever as is James and Rob is the bassist Metallica has always needed. Not just that but the songs are incredible. ‘St Anger’’s songs were overlong without even going anywhere, wheras the songs on ‘Death Magnetic’ go everywhere. This is how metal should sound, and to all these people whinging i ask you what else could you ask for from Metallica?

Comment from cody
Time: September 4, 2008, 9:37 pm

Why is it that most of those defending this album don’t know how to formulate correct punctuation and grammar? Is it just me who is noticing this?

Comment from Greg
Time: September 5, 2008, 12:07 am

OK. I’ve heard the three songs released so far, and I loved every one of them. Especially My Apocalypse. As I write this, I’m listening to the opening of the first track (That Was Just Your Life) and so far it’s impressive. Brings me back. Unlike many people, I consider Justice to be the last good album, fuck the Black Album. I’m hearing this now and I’m having flashbacks of the 1980’s! The only difference being that you can tell James is getting old, but he still sounds great considering he’s pushing fifty. I’m at about three minutes into the first track now and I’m more and more impressed with every minute. I’m having Justice flashbacks, seriously! I’ll post again once I’ve heard the whole thing, but I have a feeling that for the first time since 1989, I’m going to hear an amazing Metallica album!

Comment from coled24
Time: September 5, 2008, 12:22 am

Mr. SCOTT,
Its not thrash. What other thrash albums would you know about that aren’t by Metallica? This had better impress me.

Comment from Adi
Time: September 5, 2008, 12:50 am

Most of us who have to defend the album are expected to give an argument on why the album is good, which means we have to write quite a bit..so we cut it short by using slang, so cody, if you were defending the album and you had to write A LOT…then would you bother writing everything in perfect english or not? And guess what? I wrote THIS without any slang or sms language….:D

Comment from Greg
Time: September 5, 2008, 12:59 am

you don’t want to get in a thrash argument with me, it’s not even about that. It’s about Metallica putting out good music again. I love thrash, and I love good music of any type, whether it be classic rock or fucking Scum Bitch.. ah good ol black metal..but that’s a different subject. But, if you must know, some other thrash bands i’m into: Voivod, Motorhead, Slayer, Death Militia, ANY Megadeth except for Risk, older Xentrix, Fastkill, Wehrmacht, Defiance, fuck.. I’m not even going any further because I’m tired of going off the topic at hand.

Anyway, I’m a little over halfway through the album now (at 2 minutes into Unforgiven III, and I have to admit, it’s my least favorite song on the album.. but then again I was never a big fan of the first two.) And except for this one, I’ve gotten exactly what I wanted, and then some, being that my expectations for Metallica had drastically dropped. Sure, Metallica may be a bit more mainstream then a lot of other thrash bands, but I’m not looking at it on that level. Is it a great album? So far, yes, it’s fucking amazing.. No, I wouldn’t consider it thrash per se, although it’s a lot closer than anything they’ve done since 1989, but it has a lot of thrash elements, mixed in with some other shit.. But it blends together well, and makes for an extremely solid album, and regardless, it’s STILL got some blistering fast riffs, and a few of the songs I’d definitely consider all out thrash. Anybody who’s into old Metallica and is on here trashing this ENTIRE album is either a.)lying or b.)so pissed off after 20 years of shit that nothing from Metallica could be good again… and I admit, I thought I’d be in that category, especially after St. Anger (which I’ve only heard two songs from, and to this day refuse to listen to that album), and seeing Some Kind Of Monster, but I’m happy to admit that I was proven wrong. Sure, James in particular has turned into a whiny bitch. But he’s still good at what he does. Lars, well, he’s always been replaceable, and I’m amazed that wasn’t done years ago. Kirk.. well, he’s still a badass..and Robert makes a great addition to the band.

Anyway, Judas Kiss is starting up, and trying to type is taking my concentration away from the music. So I’m done with this typing shit for now.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 5, 2008, 3:09 am

Just heard it. Not impressed. This is no return to classic Metallica thrash because its not a thrash album. You want a good new thrash album by an old thrash band, Formation Of Damnation by Testament. Better yet, Enemy Of God by Kreator. How bout some new thrash bands with recent releases? Skeletonwitch, Municipal Waste and Warbringer. Listen to those before calling this drek a THRASH album. This is just like cutting room floor stuff from the Black Album – Load years. Its also ungodly long. Long songs are cool when they don’t stick on mundane riffs for 90 seconds. I’m still planning on getting loaded and reviewing it but I am going to release a full review sober and hopefully get my message by to some of the obnoxious fans that seem to think that Metallica is the only real metal band that exists.

Comment from jackulator
Time: September 5, 2008, 4:49 am

I haven’t heard the whole album yet, but I will say that if you like pretty much just the first four Metallica albums, you WILL like Death Magnetic – period – for my money it’s like seeing an old friend after a long time

I’ve only bought like 3 albums in the last 5 years or so – audioslave and radiohead – but I will be proud to buy this one next Friday

Comment from Jones
Time: September 5, 2008, 5:26 am

Please, coled24, don’t write a review. Or anything else for that matter.
You don’t like it. That’s fine. Don’t listen to it. But don’t go around and say it’s bad and “mundane” from an objective point of view. Because the bottom line is: DM is just not your cup of tea (or music). So shut it and listen to something you like.
I think it’s an awesome album and rocks harder than anything they did the last 20 years – most of which I liked btw.
They do what they please, they make the music they want to hear, they still are really good musicians (esp. James) in my book. I downloaded the album, I listened to it about 5 times now, I will buy it. How often did you listen to the album? Because if you really like metal (or rock music overall), you should know it takes time to ‘get’ an album. Justice for all was HATED by most right when it came out, for the production, for not being MoP part II – it’s regarded as a masterpiece now.
You just want to be an ass. Be an ass somewhere else. I’ll listen to Metallica.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 5, 2008, 8:40 am

MR SCOTT: “Lars’s drumming is fucking incredible.”
Hahahahahah. You are officially retarded. Have you HEARD a real metal drummer before? Lars literally doesn’t know how to play drums. He does the most ridiculous fills that no drummer in their right mind would ever do, can’t keep time on his double bass parts, is sloppy everywhere. You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. Get off your knees fanfag.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 5, 2008, 8:42 am

Yeah, why are these people coming to ALL Metal Resource when they should just go right to http://www.metallica.com?

or more like http://www.metallica-is-the-only-band-ever.tv

Comment from TommyG
Time: September 5, 2008, 9:04 am

Is this 80s thrash Metallica? Naw.

But anybody expecting that 20 years later is fooling himself.

What this is is a vast improvement over their last few albums, and their best effort since the Black Album.

The sound isn’t bad. It’s a mish-mash of their rock sound with nods to their thrash roots. After listening to everything on the album, there’s some that I consider mediocre (Unforgiven III), a handful I really like, and nothing I really rate as being bad.

Moaning about it as being a sell-out just sounds like pettiness because somebody can’t get over the fact it’s not speed metal. This is a solid album with a good sound. After the previous three releases, I think there’s really no room for complaint – at least they’re making the attempt to go back to what worked for them as Metallica.

It sounds to me like they’ve done a good job of it.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 5, 2008, 10:47 am

Bottom line: All metal fans know Metallica not all Metallica fans know metal.
If you say you know metal because you listen to Pantera, Slayer and Slipknot in addition to Metallica, theres an entire world that you don’t know about. Different sub-genres, styles and bands that will turn your understanding of music upside down. Look through our postings and see how many bands you recognize (example: go to the Labor Day Random Album Pile-Up post and tell me if you recognize any of those bands). Listen to other things and then go back and listen to Metallica. I guarantee your thoughts about this once incredible band, will change. And even if you do and you comeback still loving Metallica more than anything, that’s fine. But don’t come onto a metal website telling the people who write for the site that they don’t know shit about music, when you’re not even into the real genre. There are 40 year old women out there who claim to be Metal fans cause they did some drugs in the 80s, have a copy of the black album kicking around and have seen Godsmack 3 or 4 times. Anyone can say their into metal, but you better be able to back it up when you come onto a metal blog spouting unintelligible bile.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 5, 2008, 11:45 am

This is the also the last time I say this on here, Lars fucking sucks. I cannot believe anyone is actually arguing for this idiot. Maybe if he spent more time playing the drums instead of standing up and making stupid faces and gritting his teeth, he could grow as a drummer. I would bet that he doesn’t practice in his off time. He probably played a lot in his youth and because of that he stayed somewhat tight but he never tried anything adventurous. Now he probably doesn’t practice at all so he’s off pace and cannot hold a double bass beat for more than 3 seconds. The man is a laughing stock when it comes to drumming. As a metal drummer he is AWFUL and this is an accepted fact by many people, even a lot of Metallica fans.

Comment from belt_fed_lead_head
Time: September 5, 2008, 3:40 pm

In one corner you have carter and cole, so blatantly anti-metallica. In the other corner you have the metallica fanboys. both sides can’t review the album subjectively. the album is decent. better than any of their other albums (except the first four, which themselves didn’t have much in common except speed)

Here’s something for you guys to think about. Real metal of today has gotten heavier. Shit, sanitarium, south of heaven, peace sells and other older songs wouldn’t even be classified as metal today. Drummers and guitarists of today, while not necessarily more skillfull, seem to be playing at a more blistering pace than 20 years ago. and there are so many fuckin metal genres too.this is a good album. Metallica does show their age in it though, and it is not true thrash, but getting closer than previous efforts

If you like it, get it. If not, get something else. i will get it, and will also get a shitload of other metal albums too. death, thrash, black, hardcore, melo-death, viking, folk, metalcore, they all fucking rock.

Comment from culapipaw
Time: September 5, 2008, 5:00 pm

ok, i just got the new album. and man… i think you need to apologize.
i can still hear kirk’s riff bursts echoing in my brain…
it’s like holding up your crap for 1 month and finally dropping the big bomb [insert randy marsh].
WELCOME BACK METALLICA!!!

Comment from Dave
Time: September 6, 2008, 1:35 am

I just need to add a few comments. I’ve only heard half the album so far so I’m not going to review it, but I think it’s pretty impressive so far. Here’s the thing though…speaking as a musician, you cannot write for the fans. Maybe they are a different case with their longevity, but if you are writing for the fans and not yourself, what’s the fucking point? The point of music is an artistic expression and creative outlet, and if you’re foreced towards one style or another because that’s what you’re “supposed to do”, then you’re just a hired gun and you should just fucking stop. The shit rocks so far, even if it doesn’t quite pack the bunch the old records did. Personally, I don’t think you can fault a band for trying new things, even if you don’t like them. This is coming from someone that was genuinely dissapointed by Load, Reload and St. Anger. Just my opinion…

Comment from JDub
Time: September 6, 2008, 2:46 am

I got the new album I like the new songs but wouldn’t say the new stuff compares to pre black album stuff. i like it though, some of the guitar work is cool I think kirk is awesome i kinda think lars blows and his input makes the band donkey at times i kinda feel like hes mostly to blame for st. anger he seemed like he was a butt buddie with bob rock and his drums were a major reason people shat on the album

Comment from Eric
Time: September 6, 2008, 5:27 am

Boy, the writer of the article above must feel like an ass. Death Magnetic is the best metal album of the Millenium so far. I know Dave Mustaine must be pist they just out did all his efforts i.e. Rust in Peace and so forth.

Comment from 5150
Time: September 6, 2008, 9:26 am

Death Magnetic sounds to me like a hearty “fuck you” to anyone who would doubt that these guys have lost anything over the decades.

Comment from Eric
Time: September 6, 2008, 12:57 pm

What I find funny is the people here are talking about talent but it is all subjective. A good example is Slayer. I love them but they can not play a solo to save there life. In fact I would say all the solo’s on St. Anger are better than the ones on Seasons in the Abyss. My opinion but I bet alot would agree.

Comment from Moonfrost
Time: September 6, 2008, 5:30 pm

I liked most of the review (or should I say preview?) except for the part where he says that they are supposed to make music for the fans, totally wrong but I don’t want to go over it because some people here have already explained it quite well.

Anyway, I have heard the whole album and I’m not impressed at all (wasn’t expecting to be either) but I have to say compared to St. Anger I think even a Limp Bizkit album is better than that so I obviously will say that this album is MUCH better than that, but it’s still not very good at all and of course, it’s most definitely NOT thrash metal.

It’s really lame how close-minded Metallica fans are towards metal and even music in general, most of them know absolutely nothing about metal…or music for that matter it seems. I have to mention that as many people have here, Lars’s drumming sucks, the riffing by James and Kirk is alright but nothing special. Some people get pumped because Rick Rubin did the production, while I felt the exact contrary about that because he tried to make bands more mainstream and he IS NOT a metal producer and should never be, because he produced Slayer’s Reign in Blood doesn’t mean that was him who made the music or whatever, it was the band themselves.

I don’t think a producer can change the band’s ideas unless they are puppets (like many on the pop and other mainstream-music industries). There are many things I have to say but many of them have been said here…

PS: coled24 seems to nail it every time he starts typing to post a comment, read his comments and think a little bit, I’m not saying anyone is going to change your minds people (Metallica die-hard fans) but “think” a little bit about it.

Comment from Moonfrost
Time: September 6, 2008, 5:37 pm

This is kind of a continuation to my last comment…

Metallica die-hard fans, open your minds to other metal sub-genres (including Thrash, a new kind of metal genre which you have probably never heard in its real state) like (in no genre order) Kreator, Sodom, Destruction, Opeth, Necrophagist, Decapitated, Warbringer, Finthroll, Ensiferum, etc etc etc…

Also, age doesn’t mean anything, look at Overkill, they are almost if not older than Metallica and they get sicker every time I see them live (and on studio too), also bands like Judas Priest (waaay older than Metallica) and Iron Maiden should show how age has nothing to do with Metallica’s incompetence to make good music (notice I didn’t say good “metal”).

Comment from coled24
Time: September 6, 2008, 11:08 pm

Moonfrost, couldn’t agree more and thank you for the compliment.
Now then, this Eric fellow seems to be a bit confused. St. Anger had no solos and Slayer is absurdly talented and showed it. Dave Lombardo is one of the great metal drummers and a master of thrash. Kerry King is easily one of the best thrash metal guitarists of our time. Saying that he can’t play a solo is absurd, you just didn’t like the music because you don’t really like thrash. Slayer in the 80’s-early 90’s were pure thrash, moreso than Metallica. Metallica brought in a popular/mainstream feel to thrash towards the end of 80s. So the thrash that most Metallica die-hards say they love really isn’t what the true definition of thrash is. Bands like Nuclear Assault, Anthrax, Slayer, Death Angel, Megadeth, Testament and Demolition Hammer are true examples of American Thrash bands of that time. Metallica took thrash from a different angle and definitely was thrash but not “classic” thrash. Another reason why is simply because Lars is not a thrash drummer. Too slow, sloppy. I would have love to heard metallica with someone like Paul Bostaph, Dave Lombardo, Nick Menza, or Thomas Stauch. Talent is not subjective. You can either play well or you can’t and in metal, you aren’t going to hold back instead of making your song sound that much faster or crazier and in turn that much better. Death Magnetic is NOT the best album of the millenium. Its not that great. Better than the last 3 but that doesn’t say much.

Comment from Eric
Time: September 6, 2008, 11:27 pm

LOL so your saying Slayer has a talent for playing guitar solos? I lOVE Slayer but now I know how tainted this blog is. LOL,LOL,LOL give me a break. I’ll give you Dave Lombardo is a fine drummer and their rythem section is good but to say they are good at any soloing is absurd. I laughed through the eighties everytime they did a solo and that means live too. Moonfrosts idea that Overkill has any talent is laughable The Years Of Decay was ok just OK. After that it was down hill especially the lame ass girly singing. Sometimes a voice says it all and his said I suck.

Comment from cody
Time: September 7, 2008, 12:48 am

Eric, by saying Overkill’s talent is laughable and calling Blitz’s vocals “girly” absolutely takes away any credibility you have as a metal fan. Contrary to popular belief, Overkill was the world’s first thrash band, and one of the first to add in heavy bass lines to thrash. D.D. Verni is one of the best thrash bassists in existence (save for Cliff Burton who was always the most talented member of Metallica). Oh, and btw, Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King BOTH play solos and lead in Slayer, so there really is no real “rhythm section” in Slayer, and if it weren’t for their style of playing lead guitar, death metal would have never manifested in the way it did. Simple as that.

Comment from Moonfrost
Time: September 7, 2008, 12:52 am

@ Eric…girly singing? and I didn’t say Overkill has any talent…………….but they do, and compared to Metallica anyone does, by the way, have you heard DD’s bass? please, you shouldn’t be on a metal forum if you don’t know anything about METAL ITSELF!

I mean, even the US that’s all based on trends and crap like that has MUCH better bands than Metallica, even in the 80’s and of course so does Europe. If you don’t like bands like Kreator or Sodom for example then you shouldn’t be on a metal forum discussing THRASH metal. It’s pointless to keep explaining really.

Comment from popy
Time: September 7, 2008, 1:14 am

coled24…….How old are you man?…Now I have to disagree with you…mmm…you are not the owner of those bands man, you are just a listener. If you do not want to listen to our guys(Metallica) just step aside, do not fill all these heads with your ideas. The objective of this post is to talk about Death Magnetic, that is all.

Comment from popy
Time: September 7, 2008, 1:22 am

Those Grammys cannot be wrong!

Best Metal Performance
1990 – 33rd Annual GRAMMY Awards
Stone Cold Crazy

Best Metal Performance
1989 – 32nd Annual GRAMMY Awards
One
Metallica

Best Metal Performance
2003 – 46th Annual GRAMMY Awards
St. Anger

Best Rock Instrumental Performance
2000 – 43rd Annual GRAMMY Awards
The Call Of Ktulu

Best Hard Rock Performance
1999 – 42nd Annual GRAMMY Awards
Whiskey In The Jar

Best Metal Performance
1998 – 41st Annual GRAMMY Awards
Better Than You

Best Metal Performance
1991 – 34th Annual GRAMMY Awards
Metallica
Metallica

Comment from Eric
Time: September 7, 2008, 8:34 am

To be honest i’m not a Metallica fan but alot of Overkill sounded at the time to be Metallica knock off’s. I never doubted Slayers rythm section its the best but come on with the solo’s. The same thing that was mentioned about Lar’s drumming above could be said about slayer solos’. A very inexperienced player could do better. Kreator is a good listen I have always enjoyed Coroner’s Grin album myself.

Comment from Eric
Time: September 7, 2008, 8:41 am

And yes the singing was girly E…limination. Boy the versus’s on that track rocked but the Chorus E.limin..I need a voice. After that album the voice got worse…and higher..I was a fan, tried to be, but their music went downhill, DD is a great player with a great sound to bad one bad singer with an affection for high octives ruined most of the music. Playing with spiders/skullcrusher shined…I loved it…where did that talent go.

Comment from Eric
Time: September 7, 2008, 8:42 am

By the way I own all these albums have studied them for years…know how to play most of them, have jammed them with lots of people…I know a thing or two.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 7, 2008, 10:44 am

No, you cannot compare Lars’ drumming to Slayer’s guitar work. Lars Ulrich is HORRIBLE.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TD-_FM8_d9c&feature=related
Listen to his feet, he’s absolutely AWFUL.

Comment from cody
Time: September 7, 2008, 11:21 am

Eric – I suppose you think Rob Halford, Geddy Lee, and virtually every falsetto vocalist are girly? That’s a lot of rock and metal vocalists man. Oh, and Overkill sound NOTHING like Metallica, hence the division between bay area thrash and NY style thrash. NY is much more bass driven which you can clearly tell in Overkill, Anthrax and Nuclear Assault albums. And about Slayer’s solos, you do understand that purposefully play off key right?

Comment from cody
Time: September 7, 2008, 11:23 am

Popy – Did you really just pull out fucking Grammy wins as evidence of greatness? Yeesh.

Comment from Eric
Time: September 7, 2008, 12:44 pm

I did not say falsetto was girly i said E…limination as a chorus with his voice just flat ruined the song along with plenty of other Overkill songs. The only time I can tolerate it is when they really rocked like E.N.D’s and those are few and far between. You guys are a joke in your basement right? Metal Resource is a joke? Wayne and Garth its time to come out of the basement…

Comment from Moonfrost
Time: September 7, 2008, 3:43 pm

*yawn*…the basement cliche is getting old please, why would you assume such a thing anyway? and I don’t think you have “studied” any of those bands…I don’t even think you know that many metal bands, specially non-american bands.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 7, 2008, 10:34 pm

Popy – First off, the word Grammy means nothing to a metal fan. And furthermore, look at the songs they won for; BETTER THAN YOU?! Seriously? I’ve heard catchier riffs come out when I’m taking a shit. Secondly, I’m old enough to know how to properly express my opinions with proper grammar and spelling, also known as age 24. Judging by the way you write, you can’t be more than about 11. And NO, this was not a post to discuss Death Magnetic, it is an editorial about how this album is going to be another failure for this once great band. So I can say whatever I want, not to mention the fact that I write for this site. And please, come on guys… the mother’s basement cliche is getting a bit ridiculous. However the fact that you use that saying lets me know that originality is something that must have passed you by years ago and its probably why you actually appreciate Metallica albums released after ‘91. On top of that, you don’t know shit about music and you never will judging by the things you have written. Listen to Death Magnetic, I don’t care. Love it, hate it, I couldn’t give a fuck either way. But don’t come around saying its some kind of magical achievement for a band that fathered albums such as Master Of Puppets and …And Justice For All. Don’t make excuses about their age or whats in their heart, thats a bunch of bullshit that James uses as a cover for the truth. The truth is that they shot their load after they stopped touring for the Black Album. Load sucked, Reload sucked, St. Anger REALLY sucked and Death Magnetic is tolerable at best and fuckin atrocious at times. I’m tired of people coming out and getting all huffy any time Metallica gets criticized. Metallica is probably the most important and influential band in the history of metal and hard rock. No one can take away from them. But they are still human, they’re still a band and I’m going to judge them like a band. All you Metallica fans act like you give a shit about the band and what they want to play and what comes from their heart. Well guess what? Fuck you, cause you’re really a hypocrite don’t give a fuck. If Metallica decided to bring in Fred Durst to do split vocals with James and the decision was made from “their hearts,” you’d all shit a St. Anger fist. Get it straight, Metallica says that shit to cover for the fact that they just can’t play the style of shit they wrote years ago, to sell fuckin records and captivate close-minded Metallicaholics like yourselves. They should change the name of the Official Metallica Fan club to “Naive-ica.” Go read the reviews I write for this blog and listen to the albums, maybe you’ll learn “a thing or two.”
I’m done.

Comment from bob
Time: September 7, 2008, 10:52 pm

I dunno man, the new record actually DOES sound like them getting back to doing what they do best. It sounds like a cross between “Puppets” and the “black album,” except the production is cleaner and James Hetfeld sings on pitch now. I know that every album we hear that “this one is them getting back to their roots” jive, but this actually does sound like Metallica not experimenting and just being Metallica. Lots of doubled up lead stuff, caveman yelling, and four on the floor grove against bygodchuggachuggachugga thrash. It’s kinda predictable, but in a good way. It sounds like a solid, unpretentious, FUN Metallica record. They’ve never made a record quite like that, since they’ve been experimenting (not always for the better) in one way or another on every damn record they’ve ever made. It sounds like they’ve realized what they are good at and decided to do that. No, this doesn’t live up the standards of what they did in the eighties, but come on. Those records pretty much defined underground heavy metal. (Yeah I know, Venom blah blah blah……but can you name a good black metal album made before “Kill ‘em All” showed people the right way to thrash?)

If you judge it as a modern metal record it’s a little puny (give me Pig Detroyer or give me death), but that’s not the standard. This is certainly the best mainstream rock record of the decade so far.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 8, 2008, 12:54 pm

Eric’s been around guys. He can play Slayer on guitar. He knows a thing or two.

Comment from Brandon
Time: September 8, 2008, 5:35 pm

New album was leaked and it sounds very good. Your intial review is simply shit bait.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 8, 2008, 8:40 pm

Metallica fans are just fuckin stupid. Simple as that. Just a bunch of naive idiots that apparently cannot read or write.

Comment from meta
Time: September 8, 2008, 9:41 pm

“Metallica fans are just fuckin stupid. Simple as that. Just a bunch of naive idiots that apparently cannot read or write.”

Thanks for the brilliant insight. All of this on a thread about an album you “don’t care if people hear or not”. What a patethic “guardian of metal”. Grow the fuck up.

Comment from Eric
Time: September 8, 2008, 9:58 pm

Coled24,

I’m not sure I get why you’re being so disrespectful of folks on this board.

The bottom line is, you made an initial prediction stating that Metallica’s new album will not bring any change to the new sound of Hardrock-illa (Metallica).

You were absolutely wrong about that prediction. You can argue it any way you want and you’ll still be wrong.

The truth is, I absolutely shared your point of view when you wrote the initial article. I was so glad I was wrong though.

I don’t really know what your problem is. Just be happy man.

Comment from art
Time: September 9, 2008, 12:43 am

well in case you guys decide to listen to this guys view on Metallica as a hole i suggest you listen to there new album and decide for yourself the writer of this preview seems terribly troubled by the what he thinks will be another bad album but its one of the best Metallica albums in years in my opinion and i think many Metallica and metal fans will agree on. another note i gota laugh how people say lode relode and st.anger where terrible they where good they just weren’t old Metallica but they where still better than the other metal bands out there people are so quick to judge them on there old stuff why cant you just except change and see the good in the new albums? but people will continue to be close minded so decide for yourself. but i say “The Metallica machine has greased its gears with blood again, and its turning fast” Ps i didint say that somone on another blog did it was just to cool i had to quote it lol

Comment from art
Time: September 9, 2008, 2:18 am

oh as fore this Coled24 guy you seem to think you know more than everyone else on this blog its quite ridiculous you have stated your opinion but judging metal fans (Metallica fans in this case) as and i quote “Metallica fans are just fuckin stupid. Simple as that. Just a bunch of naive idiots that apparently cannot read or write.” is pritty immature and presumptuous i cant spell or punctuate at all that doesint mean shit becides the fact that my grasp on literacy is lacking but your comments on age and what not are stupid and bias im 18 younger than most of you im sure but i can see the immaturity in you comments and its quite amusing that you have no better way to spend your time than to harp on people with oposing views than yourself its rediculious i duno you dont like the album fine some do cant you leav it at that?

Comment from Skip-GR
Time: September 9, 2008, 4:24 pm

Well well, I dunno what everyone is expecting of the new album. I’m a fan of many types of music(moby,Satyricon,Cradle of filth,Greenday,Nirvana, Guns N Roses, Pantera, Slayer, the cure, Smashing Pumpkins Listen to XYU for real heaviness in a song).

Metallica have a couple of weak albums in their past, what band doesn’t? But Metallica were in the forefront of the trash scene (the big four etc) and I dunno what the hell is up with the metal know it all at the beginning of this page, his head is firmly up his arse. He’s not into sell outs? Jesus; it is a living of course and money is an influence, what does he do, charity all the time?

Point is, its music and it appeals to many people and money is to be made. I’m reluctant about the new album but I believe the hype for many of the tracks I’ve heard, it is back to the days of maybe AJFA or puppets. Give Metallica a break and let go of the past (nerd at the top humble metal fan blah blah blah) there will be no pleasing you, go back and enjoy the music that is “underground” or hasn’t got a massive fan base so you can call it your own. You say you’re a humble metal fan well why do you feel then to slag off an album you haven’t given a full listen to? I think you’re a pretentious twat that thinks being a dissenter/against popular opinion, is somehow making you feel like your the true metal fan and more superior as opposed to the fans that Metallica have aquired over the past 27 years…

So I hate the pretentious slant on the argument that I have read above (maybe it’ll be below when this is posted) anyhow, as they say; opinions are like assholes, eveybody has one. You don’t believe the hype ( you sound like public enemy) if you don’t fair enough but don’t blog if you are trying to be sounding smart, you come across in a weird way, a smug know it all and trying to go against the tide that metallica is creating just so you can feed your own ego as some who knows better and hark back to “the good old days, when I remember…” blah blah blah. Death Magnetic is a good album, it will probably not trully please the the humble metal fan, but thats a lonely voice in the wilderness or the select cult that he has aligned himself with. Maybe you also think Mayhem has sold out in the Black metal scene, or maybe Satyricon has too… Go listen to Gorgoroth and shut up…

To finish, a word to all normal music/metal fans, take the album for what it is and try not to listen to pretentious, contrary W@&k3rs that post premature opinions on albums without giving it’s fair listen to, there will be no pleasing the “humble metal fan” . Death Magnetic will be an excellent album make no mistake.

Comment from Skip-GR
Time: September 9, 2008, 4:38 pm

coled24 – You haven’t a clue and maybe you’ve just showed how stupid you are – presumptious knob.

Comment from Slord
Time: September 9, 2008, 4:41 pm

Fuck The Reviewer.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 9, 2008, 5:15 pm

Why am I being disrespectful? Because Metallica fans are stupid egomaniacs that think that there is only one type of music: Metallica. Simple as that. They shit on everyone else because they align themselves with the most popular metal band of all time. Every time I meet some diehard Metallica fan and try to talk about the metal genre with them and other bands, its like talking to a fucking wall. Your run of the mill Metallica die-hard doesn’t know shit about music or have any semblance of taste for other styles or genres but according to them, they know everything. And while it is water under the bridge, a guy by the name of Eric wrote the initial article, I’ve just commented on it profusely because I cannot agree with him enough. I’m just really tired of the people that come around making broad and idiotic statements about metal and metal fans. And while I made a broad statement referring to Metallica fans, I’ve talked to more close-minded know-it-alls to make that statement.
And Art, your lack of puncuation, grammar and spelling detracts from your argument drastically. Take the time. For fuck’s sake, is a period that much to ask for? And then you call me immature. Well, I’ve branched out, explored different styles of metal, read books and now I write for this website and have received positive feedback on my work. However, when I contest Metallica all of you come out of the woodwork to cast your stones at me. Not a single one of you has ever commented on any of my other reviews or articles. Is that because the only band you care about is Metallica? Probably. Variety is the spice of life and the way that we as humans grow is by trying new things and by learning that some of things that we stood by weren’t as great as they seemed.
Now then to address Meta… When did I say that I didn’t care if people heard it or not? Search the page, the only time it was written was in your post. Secondly, I never dubbed myself as a guardian of metal. I see myself as someone tired of having to hear people praise this band after they’ve taken an immeasurable nose dive in quality over the past 15 years.
Feel free to comeback and fling even MORE shit at me in a few days when I post my full review. And, no it will not be in the comment section of this post.

Comment from J-K_D
Time: September 9, 2008, 5:56 pm

I have enjoyed all of Metallicas music, even St. Anger. I have also listened to many of the bands mentioned above Testament and Megadeth being my favorite out of those groups….. but I still come back to Metallica. They may be mainstream, have gone through rough times, but in my opinion their music has always meant something. I love the songs off of St. Anger… especially Shoot me Again and The Unnamed Feeling. I know all of the lyrics from Kill Em All through Death Magnetic. I am not trying to argue anything, I just think in the end its all opinion. I love metallica and not because they are an image, but because when i crank Metal Militia, Until It Sleeps, and now My Apocalypse it takes me to another place, much like Last Rites/ Loved to Death by Megadeth or Souls of Black by Testament……….

Comment from meta
Time: September 9, 2008, 9:00 pm

@coled24
“Listen to Death Magnetic, I don’t care. Love it, hate it, I couldn’t give a fuck either way.” you wrote it.

What defines a ‘guardian of metal’ is someone, like you, who can’t live with the praise given to others. You can disagree of course, but people like what they like. You like something else, fine. I don’t need to tell you what I think about the bands you like, it’s completely unnecessary. Besides that basic point, your arguments are weak. In respect to you “review-to-be”, as with all other reviews, I either agree or disagree. I’ll say something if I think the points are not well made or solid, or if blatant lies are thrown around, but that’s it. You’re entitled to your opinion. There’s a saying around these parts: “presumption and holy water, each one takes as much as one wants” wich means, in respects to vanity and devotion, there are no set limits.

Comment from Jason
Time: September 9, 2008, 10:28 pm

I like all of Metallica’s albums, including St. Anger. I thought the production on St. Anger was weak in spots, but the personal message from James shined through in the lyrics and the fierceness of the guitars. Load and Reload were an acquired taste to be sure, but after spending some time with them I have come to love them as much as the earlier efforts. The only album that is hard for me to listen to all the way through is The Black Album, just because I have heard alot of the songs on the radio over and over again. Death Magnetic is a brilliant piece of work, and I really like the lyrics to Unforgiven III which surprised me because I am not a fan of sequel songs. It does seem like they are striving really hard to replicate the old sound, but I have to admit it is very successful. Metallica is my 2nd fav metal band behind Yngwie of course.

Comment from That_Guy
Time: September 9, 2008, 10:45 pm

Download the album – if you like it then BUY IT. IF not then find something else to listen to.

ARGUING ON THE INTERNET MAKES ALL OF YOU RETARDED!

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 10, 2008, 9:11 am

hahah “liked st anger”
If any other band released that CD you would hate it. It’s pure garbage. I think even the band themselves has all but admitted it. I actually bought that abomination. Ugh.

But yeah. Metallica fans are fuckin retarded. Enter Sandman.. the ultimate White Trash anthem.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 10, 2008, 9:23 am

And guys, Eric knows a thing or two. He can play guitar.

Comment from Eric
Time: September 10, 2008, 9:28 am

Wow! Open that can of worms! Remember it’s west coast thrash, (pssst. it’s more guitar driven.) LOL get out of the basement boys! I’m glad Hetfields back to shouting because if I have to here one more band with a lame singer like Iced Earth i’m going to shoot myself. All nightmare long… heard it? it’s like Slayer but improved. Great song. The solo is in key too. Playing a solo in key is like singing in key. No one sings out of key on purpose because it would sound just awlful. No one solos out of key either if they know how to stay in key.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 10, 2008, 10:54 am

See? Eric knows a thing or two.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 10, 2008, 11:52 am

hahahahahaha wow. Thank you Eric for proving my point time and time again. Metallica fans don’t know SHIT.
So you don’t like power metal singers.. thats fine. I like Matt Barlow but I hate power metal. What about the rest? What are your thoughts on growling?
This ought to be good…
meta – then use my quote and don’t be half-assed. If you’re going to bother to quote someone, at least use the write phrase. This ‘guardian of metal’ thing is a total crock of shit. I’m not going to sit here and listen to a bunch of fools that know nothing of the metal genre call Death Magnetic the best metal album in years while other tremendously talented bands released albums within the last 6 months that tower over this piece of garbage. Just because it says METALLICA on the cover doesn’t make it good.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 10, 2008, 12:12 pm

Eric – the fact you keep saying “get out of the basement” tends to suggest a notion of “projecting” as psychologists say…
I think someone arguing FOR Metallica instead of AGAINST is much more likely to be in Mom’s basement, trying to learn the solo from Trapped under Ice on his Ibanez Gio.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 10, 2008, 12:13 pm

But don’t worry.. Eric’s been around. He knows a thing or two.

Comment from meta
Time: September 10, 2008, 1:55 pm

ok then. let me use arguments you understand. your are a pompous self-righteous arrogant totally metal dude. Now STFU.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 10, 2008, 3:02 pm

I think its pompous to talk about Metallica like the be-all and end-all of metal when they dont even qualify as a fucking metal band. They release horrible, poorly executed music and their brainwashed fucking idiot white trash fans who haevnt found anything better to listen to eat it right up and throw more money at them, when bands that are 100,000,000 more talented struggle to get heard.

It’s fucking BULLSHIT that this band gets away with the music they release.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 10, 2008, 3:05 pm

You ever got to ozzfest and see the throngs of shitty lookin 45-year old rednecks drinkin budweiser and screamin because they only know ozzy?
That’s metallica fans in like 10-15 years. Acutally that already IS Metallica fans.

Expand your horizons. Go find better music it’s not hard.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 10, 2008, 3:09 pm

What frustrates me most about this whole thread is that cole and cody make really good points, but nobody ever responds directly to them – they just go off on a spiel about something completely different.
That’s because there are no rebuttals to any of the poitns theyve made that make any sense.

Lars sucks – Hetfield can’t sing anymore – the riffs are boring and the songs are too fucking long.

Metallica sucks, they couldnt even play their own fucking songs live even in the 80s. If there’s so many musical geniuses here, look up disposable heroes live (from any era) and tell me theyre playing it on beat.

Go fuck yourselves fanboys, go flood another post with your “metallica is back” bullshit. because thats all it is, simple fucking bullshit.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 10, 2008, 4:28 pm

Thanks Carter for addressing the most important thing here: The fact that no one ever responds to a single argument I make. No one can argue why Lars isn’t a bad drummer. Not a single rebuttal. No one argues why James still can sing. You just say I’m wrong, so form some fucking points before you call me pompous and tell me I have weak arguments. I have a pretty open taste to music but it just bothers me that this band has so many people that are ready, willing and able to suck their cocks when the music is just not good anymore. It’s 2008, not 1988. Get over it.

Comment from MR SCOTT
Time: September 10, 2008, 6:36 pm

OK then carter and coled44 or whatever the fuck your name is YOU are the retards. ‘Death Magnetic’ is even supposed to be a 100% thrash album, its 2008 not 1984. and i could name u loads of other thrash bands apart from metallica, but like with most of us here metallica were the ones who introduced us to thrash! and for that retard slagging off lars’s drumming i wonder whether he could do any better! and unlike some other metal drummers lars does what he does with a tight precision. so stop slagging metallica, they were doing this before you were even in nappies. and the world of metal would be a different place if it wasnt for them, so quit your whinging coz metallica made metal what it is now end of story.

Comment from cody
Time: September 10, 2008, 8:04 pm

Mr Scott – Someone who picked up drums a year ago could outplay Lars. To answer your question directly, yes, I could/can play drums better than Lars, even on the Death Magnetic songs I haven’t heard yet. And if you could, please name us some metal drummers who don’t have the “tight precision” that Lars seems to possess?

Comment from Metallica Fan
Time: September 10, 2008, 9:27 pm

Lars himself admits he is not the best drummer out there but he knows how to play with James better than anyone on this earth and their chemistry is what makes Metallica work. A Band is not supposed to be an all star individuals. Its supposed to be a team effort . Obviously this is a team that has worked better than any thrash metal group in history. They are they are founders of this genre and to disrespect them shows your ignorance. The fact that they are still even relevant in the music scene is amazing . Death Magnetic sounds excellent. Is it MOP? No but its good enough that it can stand on its own and that might be more of an impressive a feat than trying to sound exactly like their old self. DM does sound old school but it also has its own style that makes it unique and excellent. Metallica after 20 years is still relevant whether or not some of you haters like it or not. The bottom line is this CD sounds good and as NOTHING ELSE MATTERS!!!

Comment from coled24
Time: September 10, 2008, 10:24 pm

LARS IS TERRIBLE. He has NO precision. He drops beats left and right, his double bass is slop and rare. There is no chemistry between james and lars for fucks sake. All they do is argue and when it comes to music they aren’t on the same page. James and Kirk will play a cool riff but Lars can’t do anything cool to back it up. He plays elementary shit and he doesn’t do it well. This is a KNOWN fact. Bruce fucking Dickinson from Iron Maiden has said it, Dallas Coyle of God Forbid said it and every drummer I know thats into metal laughs at that clown. Every time someone has filled in for Lars (dave lombardo, joey jordison), Metallica songs sound SO much better because the drums are actually metal drumming and not 6th grade music recital level. He’s not the best in the world, he’s not even good. Average at his BEST.

Comment from cody
Time: September 10, 2008, 10:26 pm

Metallica hasn’t been thrash for over 10 years, so perhaps they have actually been the biggest failures in thrash? As for Metallica being the first thrash band, this is also inaccurate. In fact, the supposed first real thrash song in the bay area “Hit the Lights” wasn’t even written by Metallica, it was written by Leather Charm. Do some research before your next rant please.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 10, 2008, 11:08 pm

High fuckin Five, Codeman.

Comment from jamie
Time: September 11, 2008, 2:31 am

while i agree that ulrich, technically, is not a good drummer, that’s just one facet of it. drumming isn’t entirely about precision. feel is a big part of it, how it fits with the music. if all that mattered was precision, the drum machine would have replaced people in the 80s instead of just substituting for a few years. listen to Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” album and then Dream Theater’s cover of it. sure, Dream Theater can play the songs better technically live in concert than Metallica tracking in the studio, but the feel on the Metallica recording makes their version *much* better. the imperfections (not just drumming) are a big part of what makes it better. the Dream Theater cover sounds robotic and emotionless, like much of modern prog music. anger and aggression, like all emotions, are not mathematical.

i’ve been a drummer for 18 years. i am actually a huge prog fan and love bands like Rush, Dream Theater, Opeth, Mastodon, etc. (getting harder and harder to find good bands though) however, i find ulrich’s drumming highly entertaining and his style relatively unique. he plays complex stuff for someone who admittedly does not practice and has no technique. i don’t know any drummer that sounds like him. some of the prog drummers often sound more like machines, which has its time and place, but it’s refreshing to hear someone that sounds human in the mix.

Comment from meta
Time: September 11, 2008, 8:10 am

Stating an opinion and trying to shove it down everyone else’s throats doesn’t make it an argument. It makes for boring, self righteous and pompous drivel. Get it? The retarded part here is making a review without hearing what you are reviewing!! It’s fucking illogical! It’s fucking stupid! Get it? As for your opinions about what Metallica fans are or are not, you’re entitled to them, however basic and idiotic they are. (And Leather Charm was James Hetfield’s band, fucking moron.) You fuckerz can’t live with others sucess, it eats at you. But you know what? That’s your fucking problem. So keep tag teaming about whats thrash or not, whats metal or not, why James can’t sing and Lars can’t drum and all other bullshit that I’ve been hearing for years and years. At this point, it’s noise in the background.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 11, 2008, 8:53 am

noise in the background? “Yeah ill just keep listening to shitty music”. That’s all I gather.

Meta you are a fucking retard why are you even on this site? Do you even read teh reviews of other bands? go back to metallica.com ya fuckin faggot. Yeah we’re real jealous of metallica’s success and we can’t deal with it. We deep down love Death Fagnetic. No, we just hate the fact that people will slurp up whatever metallica blows on their faces. You are a fanboy retard. end of story. done. Go find another site to argue on.

Comment from meta
Time: September 11, 2008, 11:42 am

What’s it to you if I want to listen to ’shitty music’? What’s it to me if you’re an jealous inbred dick? Nothing much. Reviewing records before listening to them is still pretty stupid. Even ’special needs’ people like you can understand that. Now you can stop arguing and go take your pills.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 11, 2008, 11:48 am

I did listen to it you jerkoff and it sucks.
I think this says it all: http://www.metalsucks.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/one_ish.jpg

SOO BADASS.

Comment from Nate
Time: September 11, 2008, 12:12 pm

hahahahah that picture is great.

Comment from Eric
Time: September 11, 2008, 1:49 pm

You can hear the full album now on missionmetallica.com. Finally you can stop with the editorial and do a unbiased review. Seriously I want to read Cole & Carters review.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 11, 2008, 2:29 pm

I think Cole already wrote one, and is waiting for the actual release date to post it? not sure. We are going to be doing an audio review of it this weekend, an AMR first, which will be posted here.
As for my opinion thus far – downloaded the album last week and listened to it in it’s entirety. Overall there are potentially cool songs that are dragged out too long, and riffs that are repeated too many times. And of course the drumming is laughable. It’s just not something I’m into, and I think will be met with praise just “because it’s better than St. Anger”. Which is like saying “Well this chicken is pretty tasty because it doesn’t taste like cat shit”.

I’ve lost energy for this.

Comment from Eric
Time: September 11, 2008, 3:21 pm

The big fault for me in the drumming is the constant use of snare for drum fills, why? He has a whole kit in front of him. He uses the snare to mimmic the guitar rythm way to often, it’s annoying once you notice it(even more annoying if it sounds like a tin can on St. Anger), infact it work on One and The Shortest Straw, but move on dont do it in every song.As far as song length there are a couple that are stretching it, it is a matter of taste, but the use of two solo’s in a song make it work espicially since Hamett seems bent on making up for lost years its entertaining. As far as actual song riffing Hetfield can not be faulted on this one he shreds. A major annoyance, I dont know if it will pass with more listens but does it seam like lyricaly, he had several great choruses from different songs and used them all pasting them together. A good example is “The Judas Kiss”. With each new phrase i’m thinking is this the chorus or was the last phrase? I was disappointed with the instrumental it’s good but not great. With the time and experience these men have under their belt they should be blowing our socks off not 5 minutes of slow build up riffing. My question is why go there? If you have written The Call of Katulu, Orion etc… dont go there unless you got the goods…which they did’nt on that one, seems like they wanted to follow the old album format so they through an instrumental together. It does not deserve praise for just being better than St. Anger, it is light years better than that album. Cole is right though if it was not Metallica would anyone even listen? At this point i’m not sure. Clearly the drumming is the weak point but other metal bands have weak points also. Rob can be a pretty dynamic bass player at times…boy they muffled him just like Jason. My opinion is Hetfield does enough good riffing and punk influenced shouting on this record that if we did’nt know him at all people would still notice.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 11, 2008, 4:42 pm

It’s because Lars does not know how to play the drums. From day one he’s always hit crashes in the wrong spot, and done really boring fills. Not to mention his double bass is not exactly “air-tight”. I don’t know. I guess he works for Metallica?

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 11, 2008, 4:50 pm

Aslo, you mention Call of Ktulu and Orion, which were both heavily influenced by Cliff Burton. He was responsibly for a lot of the great Metallica tunes back in the day, I think the best things about that band died with him.

Comment from Eric
Time: September 11, 2008, 4:52 pm

my feeling is the drummers who have tight double bass, a few of them use it too much, it’s boring, seems like he has some tight double bass on this effort, triplets on All Nightmare Long comes to mind… you think he can pull it off live. Or is he going to make it a sloppy mess. wait I already know your answer.

Comment from Eric
Time: September 11, 2008, 4:54 pm

Well Dave had a writing hand in Ktulu that helped.

Comment from Eric
Time: September 11, 2008, 5:05 pm

Yeah I agree Cliff came up with alot of the great melodies/harmonies. Ride the Lightening and Master were famous for these. AJFA had them too but I think this was because they were still in tune to what Cliff brought to the table when recording. By 1990 his influence and style was a memory they could not reproduce it. A shame musically I think Cliff was limitless.

Comment from cody
Time: September 11, 2008, 6:32 pm

Meta – Leather Charm wasn’t Hetfield’s band, he just happened to be in it at the time, and contrary to what people may realize now in the liner notes, “Hit the Lights” wasn’t originally written by James and Lars, it was written collectively by Leather Charm which Lars wasn’t even a part of. So Hit the Lights was NOT a Metallica song originally. Hell, if you want to get technical, Exodus was writing thrash around the exact same time that Metallica was too. Metallica’s claim to fame is releasing the first thrash ALBUM which is indisputable in my opinion.

Believe it or not, I am a Metallica fan, I just happen to believe St. Anger isn’t worth wiping my ass with.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 11, 2008, 11:55 pm

META: THIS IS NOT A REVIEW. Read the article, its a preview, a forecast. I didn’t even write it. MAN, you’re stupid. You can’t argue for shit because nothing you say makes sense. “You fuckers can’t live with others’ success. it eats you.” What the hell are you talking about I love the fact that the bands I listen to are very successful. I just can’t stand Metallica because once they hit it really big, they gave up. They knew that they go to sleep on a pile of money every night no matter what they put out. So they put out shitty records under the guise of it being “From their heart,” “the recovery from alcoholism” or “what they want to play now.” Its all a bunch of bs. Seriously, if you went back in time with copies of the last 4 albums and a picture of Lars in court and handed them to the band, I think they would probably puke. The Lars that was thrashing to Venom in an apartment in LA is not the Lars that is playing racket ball with the former Surgeon General of California (True story.Surgeon General Rutherford’s daughter is a friend of mine). They are celebrities, not ass kickin’, jager swilling, “FUCK LOS ANGELES” Metallica anymore.
The review that is posted now is mine. So read it and cry me a river. Open your fuckin mind and get a an education about metal before you come and tell the people that run a fairly well respected metal blog what we know and don’t know.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 12, 2008, 8:33 am

Let me guess. Meta won’t respond to any of your points, he’ll just say ridiculous shit that makes no sense. Because he is, and im sure his doctor told him this, “fucktarded”.

Comment from Dave
Time: September 12, 2008, 6:36 pm

Yeah, and you are a fucking joke. No true artist does their work for the fans, it’s straight from the heart, strictly for them, because that is what they feel. Of course, if you are in Metallica’s shoes, it is important to consider some things in your art for your fans, but honestly, that’s just not the priority. If you don’t want to like Metallica’s music, because it’s too different for your close-minded ass, then don’t, but pointless name calling for changing their style isn’t necessary. And neither is loathing them. I’m really tired of people’s pointless bitching about this great band. Just listen to music for the music and stop picking apart every little fucking detail of how it’s not Master of Puppets. Grow the fuck up.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 12, 2008, 9:53 pm

yeah but it sucks

Comment from under662
Time: September 13, 2008, 12:37 pm

Everyone seems to hate everyone elses music……. idk its funny to me….

Comment from coled24
Time: September 14, 2008, 11:52 am

I love all of this shit about how its all “from the heart.” The old Metallica wasn’t from the heart. Do you think they gave a shit about what their heart was saying when they were piss drunk and writing badass riffs? No. They were having a good time. Writing from the heart works for some bands but others not so much. I think in metal, certain songs work well from the heart, but basing your entire albums and style off of some morose, overly dramatized BS about recovering from Alcoholism and shit is just a bunch of BS. Keep that shit to yourself and write the same style songs they did in your glory years. There are snippets of it that you see in the last 4 albums. Individual songs that make you say “I know there’s something still there.” The problem is that they know that they can just rest on their laurels and put out whatever they want and it will get praised because of the word METALLICA being on the cover.

Comment from Fuckyouoldschoolsissies
Time: September 15, 2008, 10:21 pm

this is a great album, tied with St. Anger as my favorite Metallica record

Comment from longshanks
Time: September 16, 2008, 5:27 pm

If you liked “justice for all” this album is very similiar. Delete all albums from Justice to Death Magnetic because those inbetween years sucked. I can’t believe changing producers made such a difference. Good for them.

Comment from Eric
Time: September 16, 2008, 7:06 pm

Album of the year! Runners up are all the pusses in bands from Sweden, one day they too will learn to Rock. Hey Cole if you want to hear old shit from Metallica live you should have seen them in the 80’s. I’m still waiting for your review that thing you posted was not a review, it was hate mail. When you review music you review it with an objective ear not what you personally like or dislike or the bands personality, you are reviewing their music. Anyone who posts such a review has lost any credibility and would not find work reviewing music any where but on an internet blog run out of that persons basement. P.S. Lars is having a party back stage with a bunch of 40 year old Maiden tribute guys. OH ooooooo yeah thats what I want to do. I think not! Ever think Lars never wanted to be a celeb. he cant help it if he rocks on the drums.

Comment from Ken
Time: September 17, 2008, 12:19 am

This little post ranting about Metallica was interesting to read… but now that Death Magnetic is actually out, it’s nice to see all the nay-sayers eat crow. The masters are back.

Comment from crymeariver
Time: September 17, 2008, 4:46 am

1. You don’t like Metallica anymore, ok we get it.
2. Just because you didn’t like they’re last 3 or 4 cds doesn’t mean you HAVE to hate this one.
3. You’re opionions about Metallica and bands that you DO consider “metal” doesn’t make you any more right than anyone that has the opposite view. (just because I don’t like slayer/slipknot/megadeth doesn’t mean I don’t know music, and I actually do like a couple of their songs but that’s about it)
4. It’s hilarious that you even listen and like bands that you all named and say that Metallica is shit, because 90% or more of those bands are at least influenced by Metallica. Think about that for a second.
5. This “review” or preview or w/e you want to call it is nothing more than another long rant about how Metallica sold out, is too old, too sober, or too mainstream. The truth is you are just one of the many fans that threw a tantrum when they didn’t record another “puppets” and now claims Metallica is dead.
6. Leave Cliff out of it, he was good and contributed and his death was tragic. Honor him, don’t send the whole band with him because you don’t like what they are now.
7. I’m obviously a Metallica fan but that doesn’t mean I’m ignorant to you’re interpretation of “metal”. That’s why sub-genres were invented because people interpret things differently.
8. If you want a band to stay the exactly same for every single cd then you may need to “broaden YOUR horizons”. And if you want a band to make a cd just for the fans then that’s just as bad or even worse than going mainstream, it’s practically the same by the way.
9. I bought the cd, I love it. It’s by no means better than MOP/AJFA but it is definitely worth giving it a chance if you thought they were done. And no i’m not their #1 fan that forced himself to love St. Anger. I think it’s awful but does has spots in that mess that are good. Sure I like the Black Album, but I’ll listen to Kill ‘Em All just as much.
10. And last but not least, I’m not trying to make all of these Metillica nay-sayers sound stupid…because honestly they did a good enough job on their own. Both sides need to grow up though. METALLICA HATERS: They’re one of the best Metal bands of all-time whether you agree or not. METALLICA LOVERS: They’re are other bands that in some ways better and no one on the planet can say that a single band is the best or only band ever.
Congratulations to Metallica for Death Magnetic.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 17, 2008, 8:55 am

“Runners up are all the pusses in bands from Sweden, one day they too will learn to Rock.”

Sigh….

Eric name a swedish band.

God I hate ignorant people so much… Eric, I hate to say it once again, but you should really check with your doctor and make sure you’re only REtarded, not FUCKtarded. FUCKtardedness is somethign that requires constant care and medication, and is a condition – along with “white-trashness” – that comes with being a die-hard Metallica fan (past the year 1988).

YOU ARE AN IDIOT.

Comment from Nate
Time: September 17, 2008, 9:14 am

Eric, most of the bands I have heard from Sweden are technically much more proficient than Metallica. Metallica spends tons of money on production, advertisement, marketing, (and therapy) to produce an amateur album that no one would pay attention to if it wasn’t by Metallica. Especially not now that there are so many other bands that have to scrape up the money to get someone to produce their album, work their asses off to get a record deal, and they still have time to practice, write, and perform stellar music. Maybe switching producers helped Death Magnetic, but it certainly didn’t help Metallica.

Take Opeth, for instance. Opeth writes complex songs that are sometimes unbelievably long, and the riffs, vocals, and overall sound are never boring. They can switch from heavy distortion to acoustic melody seamlessly, and the vocals are superb (they don’t sound forced, or like they’re making up for lacking in other areas). Meshuggah, or Textures…these bands play music that is original, complex, and they never have to try hard to sell it. Those who like to listen to technically proficient music will find it. It doesn’t mean they make a lot of money though — and the reason they are still not as popular as a band like Metallica is not for lacking musically. They simply choose not to sign a record deal that will limit their creativity and force their direction, because the music they make is something they love to do and will not tolerate it being a media machine.

I don’t get that interest at all from Metallica. The more I listen to their later material, it seems like they lost interest in the music but held on to that interest in celebrity. Their music practically sounds like it was made for the money, no matter how much they (or anyone else) says they’re doing it for themselves.

It’s unfortunate that you can’t hear the music, because Metallica is just suckering you into making them richer by providing music that is just good enough to stay under the radar. All they had to do was make something better that St. Anger, and they did that. It’s unfortunate they’re no longer interested in making good, interesting music that people truly don’t have to defend — music that speaks for itself.

It is kind of funny, to be honest, that you’re calling this “album of the year”. Maybe it’s a joke, and you’re trying to piss off Cole and Carter. But if it isn’t a joke (and if I was a nice guy), I’d feel sorry for you. Eric, people call you retarded because a 2-year-old could use Google for 5 minutes and find 10 bands that are better, more interesting, and more genuine than Metallica has been in 15 years, or ever. So while Death Magnetic may actually get album of the year (I honestly wouldn’t be surprised), all of it — the phony awards shows, the praising reviews, the media reception — is for retards like you that can’t find 5 minutes or the balls to say Metallica isn’t as good as the hype.

They’re washed-up at best. A once-good band that the media saw fit to exploit, despite the fact that no one in Metallica had it left in them. They’re garbage for going along with that, and spoiling the name that was Metallica, and that fans like me used to listen to without shame. Now I get a sour taste in my mouth even when I listen to their older albums. Thank you Lars. Thank you James, And thank you, all of you Metallica fans, for condoning this bullshit.

Comment from Jameson
Time: September 17, 2008, 3:42 pm

The review author, while a little over-the-top cynical, is basically right. Honestly, put in anything pre-1990 from this band, pay attention to what you see and hear, then pop in anything after. It’s shocking.

Freud & ilk: I’ve seen your question plenty, and I used to even ask myself the same question for awhile. Why DO we (the elder Met fans) give a shit that they’re horrible now? The answer is simple: it’s BECAUSE we’re fans of the old. We loved the band when they were doing what they do best… when they were a force to be reckoned with… when they made good music. We still do. So when we see the potential pissed away, it can’t help but make us angry, wistful, sad. It’s paradise lost. A once godly thing reduced to a steaming pile. And if that doesn’t piss you off, I question if you have any passion at all in you, my friend.

Btw, I’ve listened to about half of Death Magnetic so far (in the process of it now), and while easily the best thing they’ve done since the Black Album (which I can’t stand), there’s something big that’s just off. It feels forced. It’s still missing the magic. Sure, this comes as no surprise, but I guess as much as we (fans) hate to admit it, there’s always that tiny glimmer of hope in the ass of our brains that thinks… “Maybe?” Nope. Ah, well.

Comment from Eric
Time: September 17, 2008, 6:04 pm

Do you think I cant use google or dont listen to bands like Opeth? Laughing rolling on the floor! You guys are thinking to much. Heavy Metal is HM you take it to serious. It’s for enjoyment! Even in 1986 when MOP came out their were plenty of HM acts who were more technical than Metallca. So to say now they are not good, or use the angle that soo many bands are way more technical is no arument ( the same way in rock, Early U2 or Beatles were never very technical but they had qualities that vastly more technical bands could not emulate). Music is about having fun and there are many ways to do that. Opeth has their way and you may enjoy it, I do. But a fan is along for the ride. If you like what they do than follow it. I dont believe people who enjoy mainstream rock or metal are narrow minded. I listen to music if it is good, not wether you can buy it in Target or it has to be imported from Sweden. Good example st. Anger I gave it a listen, overall its not that good..so I dont listen. Blackwater park great so I listen. DM a quality release their having fun they can have my 9.99. Look forward to seeing both of them having fun jamming their tunes live. Again it’s about having fun..

Comment from coled24
Time: September 18, 2008, 4:14 am

That’s right. There are bands that use less talent that make great albums. A good example is The Sword. Fairly straight-forward doomy/stoner metal. No crazy double bass patterns or wild solos but it all comes together. Death Magnetic to me DOES NOT. Its forced. You don’t read the articles, you don’t read my points. You just come at me with no debate or argument. You damn Swedish musicians but quite honestly, albums like Slaughter Of The Soul, Clayman, Still Life, The Conductor’s Departure, Nothing, and a myriad of others are better than anything Metallica has ever released. Those albums sport a more cohesive sound that Metallica rarely has ever touched. Listen to the way the guitars harmonize on “Downard Spiral Into Madness” by Anata off of the Conductor’s Departure. The Swedish metal muscians care about the music. Metallica just wants to have some army of fans to help them boost their egos. The sooner you figure that out, the happier you will be. Rid yourself of your training diapers (Metallica) and learn how to wipe your own ass (the rest of the metal world).
I don’t have the energy to deal with Metallica fans anymore. I went from loving Metallica to hating them because of the evolution of their sound. I went from hating them to absolutely loathing them for their diehard, rabid, and naive fan base.
as for this guy with his numbered points: save it. You seem to think you are some kind of neutral party but all you do is defend Metallica. The only people who look stupid on here are those that can’t express a point or just fling shit at me and others because we don’t like Metallica. If someone disagrees with me and damns my opinions for no other reason than that they go against some band, I’m going to fight back. But apparently, that makes me look stupid because its futile to fight back against Metallica fans. They are the be all end all of metal fans. It takes a lot of experience and listening to like the most popular metal band in the history of time.
Just form an argument. Someone. Anyone. Just an argument that is in favor of this travesty of an album. And please be creative. I don’t want too see “Dude, at 2:43 of All Nightmare Long it totally sounds like the second bridge in Leper Messiah” or some foolish crap like that. Be their advocate. Form a response. Don’t come here and talk to me about why I’m an idiot or a hater. Take the high road and engage me in a debate. That’s what we are here for but you guys have just brought this thread down to you level, which is shit-flinging. There’s no way to combat that civilly because it just gets people riled up. Try to change my mind, try to make me see this album in a different light. Please punctuate and make yourself sound somewhat educated. Its a matter of self-respect.

Comment from JB
Time: September 18, 2008, 7:04 am

As a long time Metallica fan, I enjoyed Black, Load, Reload but never listen to them much. They were just never engaging enough for me. However, I’m still surprised when I see and hear all of the negativity for St. Anger. I can honestly say it’s my favorite Metallica album for several reasons:
1) its the heaviest album they’ve ever done,
2) the riffs are incredible on every track,
3) songwriting that engaged my mind for the first in a long time – the ongoing theme’s of maturing and being true to yourself were needed,
4) Some Kind of Monster – for my money, THE Metallica theme song… ‘This Monster Lives’
5) ‘Shoot Me Again’, to me, addresses directly all of the so-called ‘fans’ who froth at the chance to trash the band.
6) No solos! What a novel idea, make the jam like never before and eliminate unnecessary noodling and quite ususally the most boring and cliche part of a majority of metal songs. Solo’s are fantastic when done right but when they’re not, it’s a snoozer section for me.
7) The Drums. While I understand that not all will enjoy a different twist on the snare choice, I loved it. Something new and different that made for a rawer, less over-produced sound.

I’ll finish my rant with this thought on the criticism of Metallica’s last 18 years. Black album, Load, Reload and maybe St. Anger all had some issue that fans may not like (I disagree, but I understand). But if you don’t like Death Magnetic, face the facts, you don’t like Metallica. It’s everything that Metallica has always strived to be, done up just right. And if don’t like it, that’s OK too, just don’t call me a fool for enjoying it.

Comment from josey
Time: September 18, 2008, 7:57 am

Some people here don’t get that music has no pre-conditions to be good. It can be made by extremely technically proficcient musicians and by people with one finger and one arm. It can be the most difficult thing to play, it can be the easiest. You guys just put up barriers, justifications, explanations that don’t matter one bit at the end of the day. What the hell does it matter if the musicians are rich or poor? There are alot of poor musicians that are crap. There are alot that are good. The same for rich ones. Why are there so many metal fans that are so narrow minded and partitioned? Why this need to be so elitist? At the end of the day, all it matters is if it moves you. Not if the musicians are celebrities, richer than you. And how can you possibly blame someone for liking something you don’t? How is that in any way your business? Why not practice the fine art of indifference? Why engage in useless name calling, and deriding musicians just to say you don’t like an album?
It makes no sense.

Comment from Cobra
Time: September 18, 2008, 8:25 am

I’m a total fan of the first three albums. AJFA was alright, but it could have been better with proper production and mixing.

IMO, everything after AJFA was total crap. There are garage bands out there that sound and play better than what Metallica does. I had high hopes for the new album. It’s definitely better than St. Anger but that’s not saying a whole lot.

Metallica lost their sound in 1986 when Cliff died.

R.I.P. Cliff.

Comment from Eric
Time: September 18, 2008, 8:29 am

Easy big guy. Their is no debate because there are no facts, most of what you or I have stated is a matter of opinion. I can agree with alot of what you have said and i’m not attacking you or try to convince you otherwise. When I talk about less talented bands making great music it was a general statement and not neccessarily meant for Metallica. If your one who wants to believe it and clearly your not than fine. My main point was HM is about having fun. If a band is having fun doing what they do how can I go against it. Can we get off this topic. Cole have you ever heard the song “The Ladder” by Yes. I’m not really into Yes but this song rocks.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 18, 2008, 10:45 am

I just listened on Youtube. It’s not my cup ‘o tea. I’ve never really been a fan of this kind of prog rock like Rush and Yes.

Comment from cody
Time: September 18, 2008, 12:30 pm

Josey – If I am going to lay down money to buy an album, it does and should have a pre-condition to be good. If you are Toxic Holocaust who is basically a one man thrash band who basically only releases material so people can actually get ahold of it while relying on live performances to spread his gospel, then it really doesn’t matter who mixes your album or how many songs are on it. However, if you are a legendary act like Metallica, it is your job to deliver a package of material, both written and produced, that is deserving to be purchased. If you think Death Magnetic is deserving then more power to you, but I wouldn’t pay for an album that is so compressed you actually get feedback regardless if your volume! This has nothing to do with the writing, but EVERYTHING to do with production, and there is no excuse the band can come up with for why the album came out the way it did. Basically, if Metallica didn’t care what fans think of their music, they wouldn’t have hired Rick Rubin, or Bob Rock for that matter. This isn’t even touching on the writing portion either, which you are right, is completely up to the listener to decide. But there are things that fans should be able to expect from their favorite bands…simple as that.

Comment from Eric
Time: September 18, 2008, 5:25 pm

Not a big fan either just that song. I agree with the production talk. These guys are getting paid big bucks to do a quality job. I think it goes beyond the artist though. Yes they shoun be involed in the process and inspecting the work to ensure a quality product. I think the record label that is not looking out for their artist are also at fault. Many new artists dont know the complexities of recording an album so they are at the mercy of the people provided to them. You get feedback? When? I have the CD version and I dont have feedback. I blast the album in my Toyota and have noticed at a certain volume(very loud) or above it clips but this is almost at max volume. So this issue does not effect me. I dont think it’s the stereo because all the other albums go to max with no clipping. I think and can not be sure the band did this on purpose. They wanted an album that sounded loud.

Comment from crymeariver
Time: September 19, 2008, 2:29 am

This is so pointless, all of you will believe the exact same thing you believed before coming to this site. Unless you were just on the fence to start with. Coled, you say I’m just defending Metallica and yet all you have done is bash them…how are we different? Then you want someone to enlighten you over a subject you obviously aren’t budging from. All I’m saying is that if you don’t like them anymore then why are you on a Metallica related website wasting you’re time, when you can just not listen to them. I don’t go to websites looking for a so-called debate over something I don’t like. Express your opinion but don’t keep coming back again and again to say basically the same thing. Don’t bother writing a long retaliation, I won’t keep coming back like you.

Comment from ethan
Time: September 19, 2008, 11:17 am

this is the first time i’ve ever been on this site.

and its good to argue about something…. but why don’t you stay on topic. I won’t say if i agree or disagree… i just want to see more angry metal kids yelling at each other

Comment from felbs
Time: September 19, 2008, 2:27 pm

i dont understand. you say you are metallica fans, but you are just fans of heavy music. i had every metallica album on tape, yes cassett tape (whats that?) as soonas they came out. i grew up on them and understood who they were as a band. AS SUCH, i followed with them through load and reload times and considered them great albums, allbeit no master of puppets, but i respected their sound because i lived through 4 albums of it before hand. bands mature and change, its a fact. i would rather have a band put out new albums along their career than release the same album every time. with this said, i am a big fan of death magnetic and really do think they have gone abck to their old style, maybe not master but deffinetly justice. im my opinion, they can do no wrong so stfu

Comment from quitpouting
Time: September 19, 2008, 2:31 pm

People…. seriously…. stop. You are wasting minutes of your life you won’t get back. If you have nothing better to do but bitch about how crappy music is, go out and start a band and fix it. Problem solved.

Comment from TBAM
Time: September 22, 2008, 1:52 am

I’ve listened to the bands that the Metallibashers have quoted, as well as listened to ‘Death Magnetic’ and to say your perspective is objective would be extremely naive.

Many bands still play music like Metallica, many bands played music like Metallica even when they were at their peak. You can’t listen to early Testament and say there is no resemblance to Metallica. If you want to bag drumming out and then quote Kreator, again, you are being very naive. The majority of Kreator’s early music is filled with terrible drumming that somehow manages to keep the snare in time.

That’s not to say I don’t like it.

Quoting extreme metal bands like Decapitated and Opeth(even though they aren’t really extreme) and comparing them to Metallica….once again…very naive. It’s like comparing Bjork with Mayhem, they can both do some pretty screwed up stuff and be tits about everything, but they have nothing in common aside from music.

The problem is, deep down, you still love metallica. Their’s a sense of nostalgia there. They’re like the child that betray’s you. You’re not angry, you’re dissapointed, yet somehow they are successful where you are not.

Part of your emotions are jealousy, aswell as a desperation for them to recreate that nostalgia for you, to be your “son” again. But they will never be the same, and until you come to respect them, you will never appreciate a thing they do or accomplish. You’ll keep seeing them as your little boy, even though they have matured into a man. Back when they used to call you “Dad”.

Now, they are off touring the world, earning more money than you could ever see, and they really don’t give a sh*t about you. So all you have is your comparisons, and spiteful jealousy for the way they were and never will be again.

I’ve been playing drums for 15 years, there’s nothing wrong with Lars drumming, it’s not Nile or Cryptopsy, but then again they never wanted to be. Put some triggers on his bass drums and the sound would open up a hell of a lot. Joey Jordison is a hack that needs a double bass pedal to pull off decent fills, yet people praise him like he is the best drummer in history.

I love Slayer, but as for them progressing, the only thing that has changed in their dynamics, is on some albums there’s more clean guitars, or on others the beats aren’t 250bpm. But you could hardly call any of their albums, markedly different from each other. But that’s what people like.

They don’t want to lose the gem they discovered, their youngest child. They want the world to stay the same and never change. But unfortunately, living that way will eventually leave you very disillusioned about more than just Music.

Comment from cody
Time: September 22, 2008, 12:28 pm

TBAM – You summarized our reasons for being disappointed in Metallica quite well, because the sting is greater when this band releases sub par music because of what they once were. When Dead to Fall broke up, I was disappointed because they released a great final album, but I wasn’t distraught because they never built up a legendary status. Metallica were metal legends, even before the Black album because they built up their underground cred. Suddenly though, all of that didn’t matter, nor has it mattered since. Tradtional Metallica fans who have been fighting their latest material, aren’t jealous of their popularity or money, that’s just ridiculous and you know that. We simply want to hear Metallica release an album that lives up to their name, which despite their lackluster albums over the past 15 years, still hasn’t been completely tarnished, and probably never will be because of their once glorious rendition of thrash that will never be duplicated.

We are like disappointed parents, and like every good parent who loves their children, they can be disappointed, angered, and saddened, but will always maintain vigilance. Unfortunately, because of that loyalty, we always take disappointment harder with Metallica than virtually any other band. Sorry if you think Death magnetic is getting an unfair shake on this and other sites, but that’s just reality. Hardcore metal fans are hardcore for a reason, and when you disappoint us, we will fucking let you know. And Metallica are once again huge fucking disappointments.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 22, 2008, 3:02 pm

Well said, Codeman.
TBAM… I could give a shit about Metallica and their money. I don’t see them as my child either. I see them as a band that I worshiped and depended on for great music. And now they suck. Its frustrating but I’m not on Prozac because of the last 15 years of Metallica. As for comparing them to more technical or heavier acts, you damn well can compare them because Metallica is THE metal band. People go around calling them the best METAL band ever and Opeth, At The Gates, In Flames, Deicide… whoever you want… are all METAL bands. I’m bringing up those names as a means to educate the naive fans out there that think that Metal is only good because of Metallica, as well.
This is all just one big double standard. Say something bad about Metallica, tastefully or not, and you’re going to be attacked by a bunch of mongoloids with nothing better to do.
And for everyone who says I’m wasting time arguing, I wrote an article, when someone challenges me and uses the terms that they do to describe my work, my tastes and me in general, I am going to provide an ample comeback. I’m not gonna bend over and get fucked by a bunch of people who’s opinions carry no more weight than mine do.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 22, 2008, 3:12 pm

Cole.. Language.

Comment from TBAM
Time: September 24, 2008, 7:44 pm

I understand, in a way. You don’t want people misunderstanding the genre you are most passionate about because of a band/album that you don’t think is worthy to wear that moniker.

People will always do this however. Just like people will listen to Linkin Park and say they’re into metal.

But metal is many different things to many different people, I love metal in many forms. For example, just last night I threw on Anathema’s Judgement album which is hardly what you would call heavy, but is still moving and captivating. Their progression has been very maturing, and their style has changed. But to me they are still Metal.

Some people will always slate popular metal bands as sellouts, or bands that do not conform to the “underground” ideal of metal. Bands like Emperor got called sellouts when they released their ‘IX Equilibrium’ album because it wasn’t as ambient or distorted as ‘Welkins at Dusk’. Yet their fanbase probably didn’t increase exponentially. You’re still not going to see them on Video Hits. Their album sales still probably won’t push 500,000 the world over. Yet they still get called sellouts.

Metallica are quite mainstream now, however 70% of the worlds population would still say “That’s too heavy for me” in regards to the majority of their releases. Metallica are now successful, and their style has changed from what it originally was. But, even though you may have been dissappointed with their change in direction their mainstream success has changed the metal world, I think, for the better.

I am quite an extensive metal fan nowadays and you will more than likely criticise me for this admission, but Metallica’s Load album is what really got me into Metal. It was from that album that I got intruiged and leant Master of Puppets from a friend, then got into Pantera, then Machine Head, then I found a local extreme metal store and started to get into Opthalamia, And Oceans, Aeternus, Krabathor, Morbid Angel, Emperor, and the rabbit hole just got deeper and deeper.

These days I like everything, but Load was still (even in reflection) a very creative album, with some great songs on it. It wasn’t thrash, but it was good. I prefer Load over Black anyday. Reload wasn’t so good, and Garage Inc / St Anger just plain sucked. But for me, Death Magnetic is a return to form, atleast in a creative way. Death Magnetic is not thrash or back to their roots. It’s an amalgam of everything they’ve ever done. It’s a modern metal album, and that is all.

I understand you’re dissappointed that they are not releasing music that is up to standard with Opeth. But it is all a matter of perspective. I love Opeth, but I think they’ve been sounding like ‘My Arms, Your Hearse’ for years and years now. Despite Blackwater Park being brilliant and Damnation being a refreshing departure. They are now repeating similar things they’ve been doing all along, and that, it seems, is what people like. Familiarity and consistency.

You let something go in your post Coled24. You do still love them, Metallica that is. You just feel dissappointed and angry that they haven’t put out an album you liked or respected since …And Justice for All. Which is fair enough, but is more an example of your tastes than the validity of the album. However, I guess this blog was always an example of your opinion than a static representation of public opinion. However we do have a right to disagree, and these disagreeances are no less valid than your opinion.

Just curious, I know you don’t have to like it, but since listening to the new album, what particularly don’t you like about it? Too contrived? Too generic? Too soft? Too amateurish?

There were parts in that i thought reminded me of crap in St Anger, but then they did something really interesting with it that really captured me. St Anger however, for me, was tripe due to it being so monotonous and long.

Anyways, a good debate is never a bad thing

Comment from Eric
Time: September 24, 2008, 11:38 pm

Comparing Opeth and Metallica is apples and oranges. Two totally different bands, sound, style. They both are good in what they do. Oh except Metallica does not know how to hire a good album mixxer. What are they deaf from years of playing? How could you not hear the distortion and clipping on the disc? I enjoy the songs hate the sound quality.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 25, 2008, 1:41 am

Thanks TBAM for a mature reply, I do appreciate it. I wouldn’t say that I love Metallica anymore. Even going back and listening to the old stuff is hard. I’ve heard it so many times and I just cannot think of anything but St. Anger when I hear the old stuff because that was the album that poisoned me against Metallica. You can also get the whole rundown of my feelings on Death Magnetic in the review that was posted on the Friday of its release.
I don’t think that Opeth has sounded like My Arms, Your Hearse for a long time at all. While they stick to a formula, they elements in that formula are continually changed. And I think it’s hard to look over Still Life when you talk about their best work.

Comment from TBAM
Time: September 25, 2008, 4:59 am

Still Life was a killer of an album. Being a drummer though, I get all anal retentive about the kick drums being so low in the mix, especially since he does some great foot-work on that album.

Yeah, St Anger was a b*tch. Garage Inc was the one that really ruined them for me, but I just can’t seem to dislike Death Magnetic yet, I even went in with low expectations. Perhaps that’s the reason.

As for Opeth and MAYH, I agree they have changed it up here and there, and obviously come out with better albums, however as for dynamics and riffage, you have to admit that Mikael’s style of riffage has maintained very similar to that album. Just like Slayer, to say Opeth don’t change would be a sweeping generalisation, but for me, their albums since MAYH seem like songs that were written at the same time, but recorded in different bunches with varying productions. Though on the last two albums they put out, they went a bit experimental, but the patterns and tones were still very same-ey to me.

ANYWAYS, I digress.

With the old tallica, you have to get into a Vibe I reckon. Everything is so familiar, and the taint of the albums you didn’t like will just creep in. Maybe mix old tallica in with some old Testament, Exodus or Megadeth in a playlist. I always find myself going back to …and Justice for All, because it’s still as brutal as a lot of stuff that is out there at the moment.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 25, 2008, 10:58 am

This is getting off topic, but I tend to disagree with you on Opeth – I think their style has changed from album to album. MAYH and Still Life. If you listen to “When” and then “Reverie/Harlequin Forest” from Ghost Reveries.. the differences are fairly apparent.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 25, 2008, 11:05 am

*Meant to say MAYH and Still Life are a bit similar.

Comment from bryan
Time: September 28, 2008, 5:59 pm

You know read this article and and a month ago I would have aggreed whole heartedly with everything it had to say. Now all the busshit aside that is being said in here, all I have to say was my god we were all wrong. Sorry everyone but grow pair of ears and truly listen to death magnetic. Metallica has made a metal record something they haven’t done in my opinion since justice. Hammit is back in full force, and hetfield sounds better than he has in over 20 years. Lars is still mediocre at best, but lars has always been that way. This album is excellent in every aspect, beyond the half as drums. All you neo-metal head fagot fucks, pull the dicks out of your ears and take this album for what it is trying your best to rid saint anger, black album, load, reload, from you mind. It’s fast, it’s heavy, they solos are phenomenal, and while we will never get back all the lost years metalica had its head up its ass, I’m thankfull for what this is. Now I’m a metal fan for life, and old school metallica holds a dear place in my heart. I think rick rubin has done a fine job slapping this 40+ arrogant rich fuckers right in the face, and saying hey make a metallica record, not a hard rock album. All I am saying is this is thrash metal, and anyone who says it isn’t doesn’t know what the fuck they are talking about.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 28, 2008, 10:06 pm

This isn’t thrash metal at ALL. Thats like calling Reload progressive. In case you forgot what the definition of thrash is, old school or more modern thrash, listen to Enemy Of God by Kreator. Does Death Magnetic sound like that? Not at all. The Day That Never Comes and The Unforgiven III are not thrash tracks. For that matter, neither were the first 2 Unforgiven songs.
I have listened to this album more than a few times and have gone over every song carefully and I can tell you that its NOT a good album or any kind of achievement. And what is a neo-metal fan. Everyone who writes and contributes to AMR listens to a myriad of different styles, so please enlighten me and all of us as to what the hell you are talking about. Wait wait… I can probably guess what you’re going to say. Growls suck, all of us probably have hard-ons for slipknot, etc. So I’ll just go ahead and tell you that you’re wrong because from what you have posted, you have just told me how dim and naive you are. You want a good thrash album that pisses on Death Magnetic from 2008? The Formation Of Damnation by Testament. War Without End by Warbringer. Metallica hasn’t been a thrash band in 20 years. DM will get filed under thrash because that’s how Metallica made their name but that doesn’t mean they can still do it. This album proved they cannot do it at all.

Comment from CARTER
Time: September 29, 2008, 9:08 am

haah this is still going?

Comment from TBAM
Time: September 29, 2008, 8:49 pm

Just an open musing, after being involved in this topic.

Fair enough Death Magnetic isn’t a thrash album. Fair enough if some people don’t like it. Fair enough, even, that Metallica used to be a metal band.

However, one thing that sprang to mind recently, is why do they have an expectation to be Metal? Why do they get compared to Testament, and Kreator? Is Metallica claiming to be a thrash band? Is Metallica even claiming to be Metal?

You could say that, in the name alone, therein lies the answer. But are the members of Tool, tools? Do they like to resemble a shifting spanner, or ratchet? Do the Eagles of Death Metal resemble anything close to their title?

In Australia we have a music video program called Rage. It plays from around 11pm at night until 9am the next morning, and usually features “guests” or bands who program that night’s playlist.

One thing I remembered from long ago when Metallica programmed Rage, was that I didn’t really like much of the music they programmed. Their tastes appeared to be nothing like the music they were producing. This also reminded me of a quote by Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns, who said something along the lines of “I don’t want to write and play the music I listen to, or make music that I want to listen to, I want to make music that is an expression of myself. That I am expressing myself through the music I create”.

This struck me as quite poignant when you compare this to the majority of bands and musicians that are around these days. I guess it is a natural thing for people to do, but the musicians I have met and bands I have seen these days all seem to write music that is like the music they listen to. It is granted that we take influence from what we ingest through our senses, however upon further review, it could be considered quite contrived.

All the metal bands these days listen to metal. Kreator and Testament probably got a large part of their influence from Metallica (amongst others). However It has always seemed that Metallica’s music has been almost a coincidence of sorts. Their influences tend to involve mostly old-school rock’n'roll, as well as blues and jazz. I don’t get the impression that they would listen to thrash metal regularly as a point of pleasure and draw influence from it. Wheras I get the impression that Kreator and Testament would.

Perhaps this is the biggest gap in perception between the people who are fans of Metallica and Metallica themselves. Metallica’s album’s changed significantly after …And Justice For All. Do we have to like it? No. Is it surprising? Not really.

As a musician, my tastes change, and invariably these changes in Taste find their way into my musical expression, and in many cases for musicians – creating a side project to manifest those different tastes, is not an option.

Perhaps the problem is two-fold. Metallica changed because the musicians behind the music changed. They kept doing what they do, making music that they wanted to make. However the audience who is now part of the genre that Metallica helped substantiate – being metal, now wants to listen to Metal. They make metal and want Metallica to be Metal.

Then along comes Rick Rubin who says, hey fellas, the last more-than-a-few albums weren’t really metal. Everyone wants you to be metal. You even have Metal in your name. C’mon…I mean c’mon.

Then Metallica have written a Metal record, when evidently their tastes and influences aren’t a part of that genre.

I’ll admit, that Death Magnetic is quite contrived. I don’t think it’s bad, but for me, I actually prefer the majority of Load. It was more creative, had more fervor and passion behind it. They weren’t “trying” to be or do anything. They were just letting their influences at the time come through their instruments.

Metallica is always going to be a heavy(or harder) band, because that’s what they like to play, however their influences have passed on from heavy music, creating quite an intresting juxtaposition.

Perhaps it’s time that the listeners move on and stop expecting Metallica to be a reflection of their own(the listener’s) tastes, and just like any other CD you find in a store. Try it out, if you like it, buy it. Id you don’t, don’t.

I guess i’m pondering over why people are expecting Metallica to compete with Testament and Kreator when it is quite obvious to me now, that Metallica don’t really like Metal, or thrash metal at-least, whereas, Testament and Kreator are still as much a part of the thrash scene as they ever were.

However, perhaps the better option after …And Justice for All or the self-titled album would have been to take a hiatus and release albums under a different name, to remove that expectation that seems to be their biggest selling point, as well as their biggest achilles heel.

Comment from bryan
Time: September 30, 2008, 8:03 pm

coled you wrote that opinions bare no weight whatsoever, and my opinion my vary from yours greatly. Metallica fell off the map for me entirly a long time ago. Now what I have to say is that this is metal, and it has many elements of thrash metal. You might not enjoy what you hear, but I find it to be pleasing to my ears. My point in writing what I did was that this album was written off before it even hit the shelves based upon the article written here. What I’m talking about is the one dimensional, closed minded views that are quite normal when it comes to metal or anything for that matter. Comparing metallica to testament, or warbringer proves exactly my point. So on topic of being dim, I say to hell with genre’s and praise to the artistic expresssion from the musicians themselves. The term neo-metal head was a quick term I came up with for describing such analytical pre and post judgment of what is or isn’t. For the record I like all the bands you have mentioned here. I said in the beginning that I am an avid fan of metal, I love ear piercing screams and growls (once again for the record). Which further proves my point of how quick you are specifically to pre-judge something before YOU know what your talking about. I’m saying dm has elements of the early days, and is the best thing I personally feel they have produced in over 20 years. A month ago I didn’t like anything but pre black album metallica. It just so happens that when I listened to dm I wanted to break something and bang my head, which is the general asthetically pleasing aspect of metal for me. Now on the subject of being naive, naive would be liking something because I’m told it’s this or that. Because the majority of the media or overall mass’s classify something into what I’m supposed to like, based upon the fact that I like metal and this is labled metal. Now I like dm because that is my opinion and I was expressing that. The only thing I did was express how I feel, which music is something that is felt. Now comparing apples to oranges “In case you forgot what the definition of thrash is, old school or more modern thrash, listen to Enemy Of God by Kreator. Does Death Magnetic sound like that? Not at all.” Shows me how clearly dim and truely ignorant you are. I only compared metallica to itself, and made a mistake of using a term such as “thrash metal” and putting something into a box. But by doing that you proved my point.

Comment from coled24
Time: September 30, 2008, 10:02 pm

“All I am saying is this is thrash metal, and anyone who says it isn’t doesn’t know what the fuck they are talking about.”
“…I say to hell with genre’s…”
Pick one and go with it, dude.

Cut the crap about music being something that is felt. Give me a break. This whole tirade you just wrote is about how much you like it and how much you disagree with me and how stupid I am but nothing about WHY its good. I explained in my article WHY I didn’t like it and why I think its crap. No one has said anything to me about why its GOOD. Everyone just talks about how I’m biased and an asshole. Tell me, why is this album good? “Its their best album in 20 years.” Why?
And how does my comment about Enemy Of God make me dim? That is a thrash album, Death Magnetic isn’t. Its just a harder version of Reload. They haven’t recreated a thing at all. The solos are fairly typical, they cool riffs get played for so long that it gives a feel that they had NO clue where they were going during the writing process, the lyrics are abysmal and all about James (surprise, surprise!) and Lars’ drumming is just inexcusable. Metallica was a great thrash band and now they aren’t.
Whats sad about all of this is that you’re going to comeback call me an idiot, naive and dim. You’re not gonna address any of my points for more than maybe 6 words and walk away feeling like you’ve beaten me in a debate without even putting up an argument. Just like EVERYONE else that does not like my views. Which further proves my point that this band could release an album called “Our Fans Are Retarded” and it could be an album completely full of hip-hop mashups and every Metallica fan would be salivating over it.

Comment from TBAM
Time: October 1, 2008, 12:53 am

Cole, Just quickly (and bear with me if i’m off the mark here)

Perhaps noone is describing why the album is good, because this particular page is more about a pre-view of your opinions of the album, as opposed to a review of the actual album (which you have under another topic). So naturally, the responses are going to be in reply to you judging the album prior to it’s release, the most common being others’ opinion that you are biased to the release (as this article is a negative review prior to reviewing it).

So perhaps those that wish to argue that the album is good, should post on the topic where Cole has reviewed the album and not this one.

Alternatively, perhaps replies to this pre-view should be reserved to people debating Cole’s article and not the album itself.

Comment from CARTER
Time: October 1, 2008, 9:57 am

Cole didn’t write this.

Comment from bryan
Time: October 1, 2008, 1:51 pm

coled you love to debate, this is clear. But when it comes to music dude you will go on forever. You prove many points about how metallica is not as good as this or that, and you know what your right. Now when it comes to music being felt, thats what it is man. If you lose that you lose any sort of element about music is supposed to do when you listen to it. Now you may pick things apart and analyze them to death, and argue everyday with metallica fans about how stupid they are for liking something, who is the idiot here? I never claimed to be a huge metallica fan, I just said I liked dm uposed to anything they have done for over 20 years. Now you being the argumentative, analytical, dick head that you are will come back and say give me the evidense as to why this is better! Now I say because I fuckin think it is, and now I become the ass here because you will come back and say well this sucks about it, and this band is better, and blah, blah, fuckin blah. As far as being a retarded metallica fan, fuck off pal. Load sucked ass, reload was it’s horrid cloan, and I believe you said it yourself, st. anger was possibly the worst peice of shit album I have ever heard. What I am saying is this is better than those albums, nothing more. I’m not getting a fuckin metallica tattoo, or digging out old t-shirts here. I’m simiply stating this album is better, and that it was written off by assholes like yourself before it was released. So if you hate metallica so much, why, oh why are you wasting your time arguing with metallica fans pretty much everyday from what I can tell? You have hit the nail on the head many times over man, all metallica has to do is put their name on an album cover and bam, MONEY. All I am saying is that to me this may be more worth the money spent than any of their releases in 20 years. Believe me metallica isn’t at the front of the list of my favorite bands. So arguing with me is pretty futile, and an utter waste of your time. But you seem to like wasting your time given your history on this blog alone, so have it fucker. Because now I am wasting mine….