Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Metallica
Label: Blackened Records
Release: year_month
Runtime: 76:89
Rating: 3/5
There’s no denying that few bands have an influence as megalomaniacal as Metallica’s. For the vast majority of us, this writer included, Metallica was the first window onto the world of metal. Sure, those windows got pretty grimy over time and the light doesn’t shine through them like it used to, but Metallica will stay etched deep into the DNA of heavy metal forever, whatever the well-known missteps. They did their thing and said their piece a long time ago, and they could easily coast on their old laurels, give up writing new material altogether and play only tracks from the first four or five cult studio albums at their gigs.
But Metallica won’t throw in the towel, and even though a full eight years have passed since the last studio album, Death Magnetic, and it was an open question whether we’d ever live to see a new one, the old guys are back with a double album, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct. The first smart move the band made is audible right from the start. The dismal, flimsy production of Death Magnetic from under Rick Rubin’s fingers is history; Fidelman’s vision (with input from Hetfield and Ulrich) for Metallica in 2016 is a meatier, crunchy sound again, closest to a sort of modern … And Justice For All. And from the first moments it’s obvious the guys have tuned back into their thrash roots, because Metallica haven’t sounded as fiery as on the opening Hardwired in years and years. Childish lyrics aside, Hardwired, with its thrashy speed and memorable chorus, is a hugely promising start, and Metallica are clearly committed to playing »thrashy« heavy music again. Atlas, Rise! backs up the theory that Metallica are listening to metal again, since one of the album’s better tracks is an obvious homage to the guitar harmonies and »chord progressions« of Iron Maiden, and it also features Hetfield’s fat riffing and a gorgeous melodic outro coming out of Hammett’s otherwise pretty average soloing. After the more than promising start, the mid-tempo Now That We’re Dead slows things down, and with its uninspired riffs and Hetfield’s vocals reminiscent of the Load/Reload era, it doesn’t stick in the long-term memory. Moth Into Flame hits the gas pedal again and, thanks to its variety and dynamics, definitely ranks among the album’s better moments, while Dream No More without a doubt goes down as the most boring moment of the first disc. In it, Metallica remember Cthulhu again and touch on this »great old one« deity thematically for the first time since The Thing That Should Not Be on Master of Puppets, but far, far less effectively. The marching riffs in this track do try to tap into the otherworldly grandeur of Lovecraft’s creature, but the tediously droning verses and dismally dull riffs don’t get anywhere near Cthulhu’s first tentacle. Luckily the aftertaste at the end of the first disc gets fairly successfully fixed by Halo On Fire, the first track with fully clean guitar and vocal lines. It doesn’t manage to be the new Fade To Black, but Hetfield effortlessly steals the show with really well-executed vocals. After the first 37 minutes, enthusiasm might be too strong a word, but we haven’t greeted Metallica with this kind of nodding approval in years and years.
Sadly, though, the good impression of the album’s first half is largely spoiled by the second disc, which drags on like a dull Monday. Confusion is a new attempt at an (anti-)war epic, but it’s a long way from the brilliance of One, since it just strings together one boring riff after another. In ManUNkind, too, the only interesting moment is Trujillo’s bass intro, which he dedicated to the memory of Burton, while the bulk of the track is coloured by Hetfield’s annoying barking. Here Comes Revenge is a darker, more atmospheric track, but hardly a shocker, and likewise Am I Savage?, with its groove riffs and melodic vocals, is a return to the worst moments of the Load/Reload era. The tribute to Lemmy, Murder One, is also far too long and desperately dull; its lyrics are cleverly stitched together from Motörhead song titles, but that’s all that’s interesting about the track. By far the best, though, Metallica save for the very end, and in the manner of Damage Inc./Dyers Eve they surprise us and unexpectedly strike with a proper thrash crusher, Spit Out the Bone, proving they’re still capable of a real energy bomb when they feel like it.
It’s easy to tell from the lines above that the central figure and workhorse of the new album is solely and exclusively James Hetfield. His riffing is murderously precise again and his guitar tone is massive. Sure, in places he could have built riffs out of more than a single note, but obviously even his riff machine isn’t an inexhaustible well. He makes up for it with his best vocal performance in at least the last twenty years, which Spit Out the Bone probably shows off best, with the thrash beast baring its teeth again. On Hardwired, Hetfield and Ulrich took the songwriting reins completely into their own hands, which, going by what we hear from Metallica right now, is probably the only sensible option. Even though Ulrich sounds pretty lazy, repetitive and totally uninspired behind the kit (and the drums also have a really crappy sound), at least he contributed the lion’s share of the songwriting. Trujillo and Hammett stay fairly far in the background, though for the latter that might be very welcome. Hammett’s minimal contribution amounts to improvised, thoroughly unexciting and forgettable solos, and maybe it’s just as well that Kirk never found that lost phone with 250 ideas for the new album.
As always, Hardwired will split Metallica’s listeners into two camps. Some will celebrate their return, others will turn up their noses at the new album. As always, the truth lies somewhere in between, hence the middle-of-the-road rating. On Hardwired you can strongly and clearly hear the band’s desire to make a good record, in line with their best current abilities. In places the four of them pulled it off; Hardwired, Atlas, Rise!, Moth Into Flame and Spit Out the Bone are a joy to come back to again and again. But then there’s the bulk of the album, which is too long and stretched out. On an album that runs an hour and a quarter there are only 12 (!) tracks, and because of that most of them suffer from a lack of self-editing. There’s hardly a track that doesn’t hit its peak after five minutes and then get dragged out for another minute or two. Metallica really should cut deeper into the flab before putting everything that pops into their heads on an album. Hardwired… to Self-Destruct is far from ideal, but with it the curve has turned slightly upward again. If we don’t have to wait almost a decade for the next album and Metallica manage to draw the best out of the energy of this one, we might just be in for a nice surprise from them down the road.
Lineup
James Hetfield – vocals, guitar
Lars Ulrich – drums
Kirk Hammett – guitar
Robert Trujillo – bass
Production
Greg Fidelman, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich
Tracklist
CD1:
1. Hardwired
2. Atlas, Rise!
3. Now That We’re Dead
4. Moth Into Flame
5. Dream No More
6. Halo On Fire
CD2:
1. Confusion
2. ManUNkind
3. Here Comes Revenge
4. Am I Savage?
5. Murder One
6. Spit Out the Bone
