I've submitted at least 5 reviews almost a month ago, none of them were accepted. these reviews were already posted in the blog section in MeeMix.com, the internet radio I work with, but none were accepted nor was I given any reason for this. contacted Hellblazer and he told me to write about it here.
My Metallica review as an example:
Metallica - Death Magnetic
Every few years a big artist goes through the motions of a "return to roots" album, and probably the most anticipated one in recent years is Metallica's Death Magnetic.
I guess that if the band's last effort - 'St. Anger', wasn't just so damn awful, it would have much less of an event, but since that album is easily the Heavy Metal giants' weakest release in its career, the tension was truly great - can they actually pull it off, or continue a losing streak of mediocre to just plain bad albums?
Well, this isn't a complete retro album; it's definitely no 80's thrash masterpiece as was 1988's 'And Justice' For All or 1986's 'Master Of Puppets', though there are a few similarities. It's purely a 2008 album, with clear yet quite raw sound, and a solid sense of groove that wasn't part of the package back in the 80's.
It starts with a bang, 'That Was Just Your Life' throws in the first great riff the band has created in almost 20 years, Ulrich's drum attack is relentless, there's a classic Hammet Wah-Wah solo and finally - Hetfield's voice is one octave higher than his delivery in years. At this point - it would be very hard for this album to ruin it for the fans, if only the rest of the songs can keep this up.
And they do, 'The End Of The Line' is another fine tracks that combines a great thrash riff with more contemporary passages. What the band does here is actually quite brilliant; they combine the best of riffs straight off And 'Justice For All' with a chorus that would have sat well in the black album.
In a recent review I read in the alternative-oriented Pitchfork webzine, some guy criticized the album for not doing anything new and taking too much from the band's early works. He completely missed the point.
What makes this one great is the fact they were not going for anything new, it's the fact this is the first time in 20 years the band dared to try and re-explore what made it so great when it started out. While most current bands try and re-invent the wheel, or sound original and unique, Metallica's move needs much more guts - to try and re-create the feel in albums that are long considered milestones of the genre, and that is far more demanding and adventurous than anything other current bands are doing.
What makes this one work, and it certainly does work, is the clear feeling that the guys are once more influenced by what started them off - Punk and New Wave of British Heavy Metal, the two genres that helped spawn their earliest material. Unlike the American trad rock and Hard Rock basis the Load and Re-Load albums used, this one moves back to the far more aggressive and subversive music of the early 80's.
The album's first single - "The Day that Never Comes" may come off as a carbon-copy of their great epic ballads, such as "Fade To Black", and someone with just a basic knowledge of the genre such as that guy from Pitchfork may easily dismiss it as such, but there's much more to it. The song features some of Hetfield's best vocals in years and benefits from an almost Prog-rock structure. The up-tempo move in the 5 minute mark is pure NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal), with Diamond Head and Iron Maiden being the most visible influences. The closest thing the band ever did to this is actually their cover of Diamond Head's "Am I Evil back" in the mid-80's.
This album really doesn't let off, with just two minor mishaps. 'Cyanide's mid-section bridge is just to close to Alternative Rock for comfort, bringing to mind some of St. Anger's pitfalls, and 'The Unforgiven III' is just too much Re-Load. Slow and uninteresting hard-rock riffs with an unnecessary symphonic addition.
Suicide And Redemption is a great instrumental piece with some fine Heavy Metal riffs, showing off some possible Joe Satriani influences, proving that these guys can still write a solid instrumental, it isn't a classic such as Ride The Lightning's 'Call Of Ktulu', but still adds a great musical favor to the album.
Last is the absolute fan-pleaser 'My Apocalypse', a real thrash number that throws in fantastic riffs and one of the band's best choruses. Ulrich may not be the most accomplished drummer, but he certainly gives his best here and fits in perfectly with the guitar playing. Hetfield's delivery is quite relentless, the pre-chorus even reminded me of Slayer's Tom Araya, with an amount of aggression and energy that we didn't hear from Hetfield in 20 years.
So is it on-par with Master Of Puppets or And Justice For All? Certainly not, that would be like thinking that Pink Floyd can re-create Dark Side Of The Moon or The Wall. But it's still the best album in years by one of the best Heavy Metal bands in existence, and it's probably better than anything released by other bands in recent years. It seems they actually pulled it off, who would have believed...
Recommended tracks:
"The Day That Never Comes": the album's first single is anything but a typical single, more than 7 minutes long and epic in scope; this is one of the album's most impressive moments.
"All Nightmare Long": another epic track that combines some brilliant thrash riffs into an impressive hit to the head.
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