Death Magnetic - new Metallica album

[the unrepentant]

I just bought this yesterday on release day, having looked forward to it for a couple of years, and i have to say it's much better than ST anger, much better lyrics, much better feel to all the songs, they have solos for a change! Also the riffs are better and don't just sound... well crap, for lack of a better word. I do think some of the songs are a bit too long though, the intro track being about 7 minutes long, and some of them sound a bit samey, but some of the tracks (unforgiven III, beat broken and scarred, the day that never comes and suicide & redemption) stood out from the rest to me. I wouldn't call the album awesome, but definitely a step up from ST anger, and probably somewhere between justice and the black album in terms of sound. IE a pretty good album, worth buying i think.

What do you guys reckon?

Sorry for a crap review

 

[edrod]

I mean this in the nicest way possible. The mastering/mixing is by far one of the issue that ticks me off the most. It sounds compressed into oblivion. This makes the guitars sound very thin.

As far as the music goes, it's definitely a step up from St. Anger. One thing I noticed is that some of the songs sound like they were put together at the last minute.

I hope I don't come across as an @$$. It feel that Metallica has unlimited funds and time which could have led to a better album.

Just my 2 cents

 

[the unrepentant]

I don't think you're being an ass, i'm a huge metallica fan and i just thought the album was a bit "meh" so to speak. I think you're right about some of the songs being a bit hashed together, a lot of them sound pretty similar and boring and some parts don't seem to go too well together, like the fast part at the end of the day that never comes.

I've only listened to it a handful of times so far and haven't paid too much attention to the mix yet, but you're right, it does sound very compressed.

 

[Meedleyx10]

I'm actually pleasantly surprised by it overall

Likes:

-most of the songs are pretty good. They had a lot of ground to gain back after St. Anger and I at least think they've done that
-The raw feel works for most of it I reckon
-the price is right (only 9 bucks for it...not bad for a new release)
-They managed to find a nice middle ground between Load-era metallica and Justice-era metallica. Being as big of a fan of the Loads as I am of Puppets and Justice, that is a good thing

dislikes:

-tremendous amount of autotuning on the vocals
-Kirk's solos....just terrible
-the drummng
-the overall mix/mastering
-some of the heavier moments do seem a bit forced

 

[the unrepentant]

i actually liked some of kirk's solos, it seems he's learnt to sweep.

 

[Warg Master]

I like it, however, the compression causes unwanted distortion in places... I'll agree the mixes sound terrible. It's not bad, and a lot better then st anger, but the production value is so lacking. Could have done much better. I do like it over all.... just got to get past the compression issues.... glad I didn't buy the "premium" garbage

 

[dwells]

i love this album its very addictive the more you listen the better it gets!!!!!

 

[Zaarin]

I think I'll download it...

Somewhere you can hear the echo of Lars screaming, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

 

[73h Nils]

Still have to hear it before I reserve judgment. The mixing/mastering issues are keeping me from buying it, and I'm not a big enough fan seeing as I only own Master of Puppets and rarely listen to it anyway.

 

[A.J.]

I dig it.

 

[Dizzy]

My wife bought it for me a couple of days ago.

I was like "errmm, babe, I haven't listened to these guys for 10-12 years!"

Put it on anyway - didn't get through the first song (chose Unforgiven III first).

Mix is woeful, lyrics / vocals shyte, guitar tones thin-as, and solo.... well, Kirk-like.

The Black album was the beginning of the long, drawn out end.

 

[Sasquatch]

I agree with Unrepentent on the production of the CD.
It's my understanding that Rick Rubin uses a technique where he max's the volume. So everything from the guitar, the bass, drums and whatever else, are all produced at the same volume, so nothing stands out.

I don't like it. If you listen to some great CD's like Toto, Pink Floyd, DT, there are times when certain things have to stand out or are pulled back in order to add texture to the overall sound.

 

[Slingy]

Check out this video, press the high quality button. Apparently the Guitar Hero version is not compressed like the cd.

YouTube - Metallica Death Magnetic - CD vs. "Guitar Hero" comparison

 

[Josh O]

I agree with Unrepentent on the production of the CD.
It's my understanding that Rick Rubin uses a technique where he max's the volume. So everything from the guitar, the bass, drums and whatever else, are all produced at the same volume, so nothing stands out.

I don't like it. If you listen to some great CD's like Toto, Pink Floyd, DT, there are times when certain things have to stand out or are pulled back in order to add texture to the overall sound.

I guess the term for this method is "brickwalling". Other Rick Rubin albums I've listened to didn't seem to fall victim to this methodology, at least not as noticeable. The compression and obvious clipping at the mixing console really detracts from the album overall but man, I'm really digging the riffage. Plus, maybe the solo ban on St. Anger was a blessing in disguise because alot of Hammett's solos seem alot more original/interesting to me.

 

[Rufedges]

Pretty good album, glad they are coming back to their roots. Anything is better than St. Anger,...a close step behind the black album and better than everything in between Black and Death Magnetic. Some of the songs do sound like they were rushed a little, I don't find the mix to be that bad, nothing as bad as the new Staind album, that mix sounds terrible.

 

[TCJ]

The iTunes download sounds like complete crap! I've heard even the audio quality on the CD, which is better, still sounds compressed to hell. Kind of disappointing coming from Metallica. I read they are doing this intentionally so that the overall volume of the CD is louder. I prefer better sound over initial loudness any day. After all isn't that what the volume knob is for?

 

[RaginRog]

I just bought this yesterday on release day, having looked forward to it for a couple of years, and i have to say it's much better than ST anger, much better lyrics, much better feel to all the songs, they have solos for a change! Also the riffs are better and don't just sound... well crap, for lack of a better word. I do think some of the songs are a bit too long though, the intro track being about 7 minutes long, and some of them sound a bit samey, but some of the tracks (unforgiven III, beat broken and scarred, the day that never comes and suicide & redemption) stood out from the rest to me. I wouldn't call the album awesome, but definitely a step up from ST anger, and probably somewhere between justice and the black album in terms of sound. IE a pretty good album, worth buying i think.

What do you guys reckon?

Sorry for a crap review

I love Beat Broken, Scarred.

It is their best album in quite sometime, but their songs can get all over the place. It was popular to do back in the 80's, but I'm not a huge fan of it now. Otherwise it's a good CD.

 

[Dmanlamius]

So far i've heard one track off the album-"Suicide and redemption".

Firstly, I don't like to listen to a track for ten minutes unless it keeps me interested.

Secondly, the drumming is lazy and doesn't feel tight in the track at all. I'm not sure if that's because of the massive compression, which is making the drums poke out like a sore thumb. The bit I mean comes in at 0.54.

I'm going to try the whole album, because I used to be a big metallica fan back in the MOP days. I enjoyed the black album as well...

 

[Dmanlamius]

this is the first metal album i bought and i love it. its really good

Get a copy of master of puppets...

Or ride the lightening!