Metallica
Death Magnet

3 out of 5

Metallica fans, well, they've had a rough decade. Between the "eh" ReLoad and the truly embarrassing St. Anger, only the live album, S&M, has been worthy of true admiration. Throw in the Metallica documentary Some Kind of Monster, which depicts band members as little more than 14-year-old girls trading verbal barbs through grown-man voices, and well, let's say there wasn't much hope for Death Magnetic.

But alas, Death Magnetic is pretty damn good. Sure, it's not Metallica pre-Black Album, but what is these days? No, this new release is just good, not great, but even that is a step in the right direction for a band that had seemingly taken the road to Pussyville, the seat of Mediocrity County.

Most surprising, and perhaps most comforting, is the band's return to actual full-length songs. Only one song, the single My Apocalypse, clocks in at under 6 minutes, the rest of the album is stuffed with 7- and 8-minute tracks that lull the listener into a daze, only to rock their goddamn face off seconds later. It's nice to have your faced rocked off, no?


Download: and Lars Ulrich will come for your family!
Sounds like: Metallica finally douched out all of their issues
Listen to it when: You want your ears to bleed, in a good way