Friday, October 3, 2008

Metallica - Death Magnetic

Originally posted on xanga.



I picked up Metallica's latest CD Death Magnetic this week. I had heard three or four songs from it last week on XM's Mandatory Matallica. That channel isn't on air anymore.

Growing up in the 80s, it was very hard to avoid "Heavy Metal" music. From Twisted Sister to Ratt, it was the 80s version of coming of age in terms of rebellion. Grunge and hip hop carried on that tradition in the 90s and 00s.

However, thrash metal or speed metal was like the alternative. I remember seeing the video for "One" back in the day. I promptly looked to see if my older brother had the LP of "…And Justice for All". He did and I also got really into Master of Puppets.

Part of what I like about both were the long instrumentals. The long songs that just thrashed and had a lot of aggression. I was just entering Junior High and eventually High School. The music was very appropriate for the mind set I had that time. I've since mellowed way down. If I had a number for angst of my teenage years, its negative numbers in my 30s. Well, the angst is totally different now.

With Death Magnetic, I feel that they've gotten back to some of that. I was in unusually long commutes with it on this week and a lot of it was just them thrashing. No gimmicks, no "poppy" tunes, not symphony. Just thrashing. I enjoyed it.

If you got on board Metallica with the black album, you might like this. But if you were onboard with One and Master, this is a welcome return to their mid 80s sound.

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