Death Magnetic

随着新专辑《Death Magnetic》最终曲目的正式公布，有一首歌必将引起一大批Metallica忠实歌迷的热切关注和激烈的讨论，这就是《The Unforgiven III》。熟悉Metallica乐队的乐迷都知道，在这首《The Unforgiven III》之前，还有《The Unforgiven》和《The Unforgiven II》，分别收录在1991年的那张同名黑专辑《Metallica》和1997年的《Reload》当中。

　　

从歌名来看，其他歌曲基本上延续了Metallica以往那种黑暗的风格，比如《Cyanide》、《My Apocalypse》、《Broken, Beat & Scarred》和《Suicide & Redemption》等等。

　　

在《Death Magnetic》之前，Metallica乐队的上张专辑还是2003年发行的《St. Anger》。由于《St. Anger》令广大Metallica的乐迷十分失望，因此，据Nielsen SoundScan统计，这张专辑发行五年来在全美的总销量仅为176万张。对于Metallica的铁杆们来说，大家无疑都希望通过这张全新的《Death Magnetic》看到那支曾经伟大的乐队获得新生。

　　

在8月9日返回美国达拉斯参加奥兹音乐节之前，Metallica下周还有三场在欧洲的演出任务。在下月的奥兹音乐节上，Metallica的主音吉他手科克·哈梅特（Kirk Hammett）将和杀手乐队（Slayer）的凯利·金（Kerry King）、艾丽丝囚徒乐队（Alice In Chains）的杰里·坎特雷尔（Jerry Cantrell）以及炭疽乐队（Anthrax）的斯科特·伊安（Scott Ian）一起加入到一个向潘多拉乐队（Pantera）已故的吉他手Dimebag Darrell Abbott致敬的活动当中。2004年，在俄亥俄州Columbus的舞台上，Dimebag Darrell Abbott不幸惨遭谋杀。"

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Death Magnetic is the ninth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on September 12, 2008 through Warner Bros. Records. It was the band's first album to be produced by Rick Rubin, making this their first album since 1988's ...And Justice for All not produced by Bob Rock. The album received mostly positive reviews upon release, with critics describing it as a return to the musical style of their early albums. Death Magnetic is the band's first album to feature bassist Robert Trujillo.

Musically, Death Magnetic is a radical departure from Metallica's previous album, St. Anger, which featured no guitar solos. This album, on the other hand, features very long, technical guitar solos from both Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield, marking a return to the band's thrash metal roots. It was also the band's first album released through Warner Bros. Records, although they still remain with Warner Music Group, which also owns their previous label, Elektra Records. Outside of North America, they are distributed through Universal Music Group as they remain signed to Vertigo Records in the UK. The album is also Metallica's fifth consecutive studio album to debut at #1 on the US Billboard 200, making them the first band ever to do so.

(wiki)

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by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Call Death Magnetic Kirk Hammett's revenge. Famously browbeaten into accepting Lars Ulrich and producers Bob Rock's dictum that guitar solos were "dated" and thereby verboten for 2003's St. Anger -- a fraught recording chronicled on the 2004 documentary Some Kind of Monster -- Metallica's lead guitarist dominates this 2008 sequel, playing with an euphoric fury not heard in years, if not decades. This aesthetic shift isn't because Hammett suddenly rules the band: powerless to add solos to St. Anger, he couldn't reinstate them without the blessing of Ulrich and James Hetfield, the politburo of Metallica. The duo suffered some combination of shame and humility in the wake of the muddled St. Anger and Monster, convincing these two unmovable forces to change direction. They ditched longtime producer Rock -- who'd helmed every album since 1991's breakthrough blockbuster Metallica -- in favor of Rick Rubin, patron saint of all veteran rockers looking to reconnect with their early spark. Rubin may be the go-to producer for wayward superstars but as the producer of Slayer, he's also rooted in thrash, so he understands the core of Metallica's greatness and gently steers them back to basics on Death Magnetic.

Of course, Metallica's basics are pretty complex: intertwined guitar riffs, frenetic solos, and thunderous double-bass drums stitched together as intricate seven-minute suites. Metallica slowly weaned themselves away from labyrinthine metal during the '90s, tempering their intensity, straightening out riffs, spending nearly as much time exploring detours as driving the main road, all the while losing sight of their identity. This culminated in the confused St. Anger, a transparent and botched attempt at returning to their roots, crippled by the chaos surrounding the departure of bassist Jason Newsted. With all their problems sorted out in public -- including replacing Newsted with Robert Trujillo, who acquiesces to the Metallica custom of being buried far, far in the mix -- the group embraces every gnarled, ugly thing they eschewed in the years since "Metallica." Death Magnetic bounces the band back to the days before Bob Rock, roughly sounding as if it could come after ...And Justice for All. Such a deliberate revival of the glory days can be tricky, as it could make a group seem stuck in the past -- or, just as badly, they can get essential elements wrong -- but Death Magnetic is a resounding success because they hunker down and embrace their core strengths, recognizing that their greatest asset is that nobody else makes noise in the same way as they do.

That's the pleasure of Death Magnetic: hearing Metallica sound like Metallica again. Individual songs and, especially, Hetfield's lyrics -- less the confessional ballast of St. Anger, more a traditional blend of angst and terror -- are secondary to how the band sounds, how they spit, snarl, and surge, how they seem alive. Metallica isn't replicating moves they made in the '80s, they're reinvigorated by the spirit of their early years, adding shading they've learned in the '90s, whether it's the symphonic tension of "The Unforgiven III" or threading curdled blues licks through the thrash. Listening to the band play, it's hard not to thrill at Metallica's mastery of aggression and escalation. There is no denying that the band is older and settled, no longer fueled by the hunger and testosterone that made their '80s albums so gripping, but on Death Magnetic older doesn't mean less potent. Metallica is still vitally violent and on this terrific album -- a de facto comeback, even if they never really went away -- they're finally acting like they enjoy being a great rock band.