Metallica returns to thrash roots

ALBUM: DEATH MAGNETIC

Artist: Metallica

Label: Warner/Reprise/Maverick

Best track: Broken, Beat & Scarred

Rating: 4 (out of five)

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Metallica has never had more to prove than they do at this very moment. With their new album, Death Magnetic released on Friday — thought it was leaked online in its entirety more than a week ago — the thrash pioneers must demonstrate they’re still a legitimate superpower of the metal genre.

They need to notch up a crushing, brutally decisive victory with this album. If they don’t, they’re in serious danger of being written off completely by their once loyal fans, many of whom consider the last decade or so to be an ever-escalating betrayal, with 2003’s awkward group-therapy project St. Anger the ultimate treachery.

Truthfully, the Load/Reload albums, and even the reviled St. Anger, weren’t the utter abominations they were made out to be, and the wrath Metallica incurred for daring to try other styles reflects a certain rigidity in the metal community, which is frustrating.

Even so, Metallica is doing exactly what they need to be doing on Death Magnetic. With longtime producer Bob Rock out and Rick Rubin at the helm, Metallica is desperate to reconnect with their thrash metal roots. They’re out to reignite the fire that burned in their young bellies and establish that they still possess the feral chops that once made them kings.

Death Magnetic sees that mission accomplished handily enough, though not flawlessly. The disc definitely hearkens back to the early Metallica records, bursting as it is with thrash fury, melodic, shredding solos and those stabbing blasts of raw power that characterized the band’s mightiest work.

There’s also a return to longer songs with complex multiple arrangements. Throughout the disc, James Hetfield’s growl is potent, Kirk Hammett’s guitar work is lethal, and drummer Lars Ulrich beats track after track bloody. The elusive missing ingredient — which keeps Death Magnetic from reaching the heights of, say, a Master of Puppets — is the savage, undeniable hooks that made fans foam at the mouth back in the day.

Still, Metallica admirably guns for that level of intensity. Among the finest cuts are Broken, Beat & Scarred, featuring a sinister riff and aggressive, battle-hardened lyrics; Cyanide, with its mean, rumbling groove; and All Nightmare Long, which is a nasty son of Enter Sandman that strives to capture the explosive fury of Battery.

In many instances, it’s a little too obvious exactly what part of their past Metallica is referencing on Death Magnetic. The End of the Line is going for a Master of Puppets vibe and The Day That Never Comes strives to be the next One. Both the new tunes are solid too, even though they pale before those original bursts of inspiration. As for The Unforgiven III, it starts off promising with a surprisingly elegant intro featuring piano, brass and a string section, but once the tune kicks in, it’s rather plodding and tedious compared to the first Unforgiven, heard on The Black Album.

Does the Metallica of 2008 lay waste to the rock landscape with the same awesome ferocity of Metallica circa 1986? No, not quite. But with Death Magnetic, for the first time in a long time, they can at least ride alongside that barbarous band.

- Metallica will perform in Vancouver, Dec. 2; Calgary, Dec. 4-5 and Edmonton, Dec. 7. For more information, go to www.metallica.com.

© Canwest News Service 2008

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