You rise, you fall, you’re down and you rise again…

I was just re-reading one of my very first posts on this blog which I posted before Metallica’s Death Magnetic was out and I have promised therein for another post after they have launched it.
So here is my view of the new album: There are solos in the new album happily in accordance with my former wishes so that is a quick plus. And there is a new instrumental called Suicide & Redemption after 20 years though not as striking as its predecessor To Live is to Die. In general, it is a leap forward from St. Anger and nothing like Load or Re-load, earning another plus. Shitty editing is gone largely, except for a dire need for remastering because the sound levels and the equailizer settings are rather uneven among the songs and which is unheard for Metallica and is extremely annoying in an IPOD with volume cranked up.
The solos sure are featuring swift fingerwinging licks but they are not nearly as innovative as they were in And Justice For All, just recall The Shortest Straw for instance for an amazing benchmark. The rhtym tone tying the whole thing together is very much “Diezel” (well James have been using a VH-4 for a while apparently)which is, and annoyingly for my taste, keeps on staying over-crunchy even when open string licks are palm-muted. Speaking of amps and guitars, there is nice link for youtube videos for an updated look to their current touring rig which I came across at Guitar Player’s magazine web site:
http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/exclusive-metallica-video/nov-08/90185

So, what else I can add to my scattered views on it? Well, lyrics solely written by James is a nice touch and very clever as to be expected from Hetfield flair. The drumming is tighter, better sounding, more techincal and fast. Well there is this age-defying statment scattered all over the album that is for sure. Trash and ageing bands do not go in hand in hand from a fans point of vantage obsivously.
What we do not know is how long they are going to be able to continue playing those songs proberly and without compromise. So my final verdict would be that I liked Death Magnetic. But by no means it gives you this spine shivering feel when you first start to hear the tape-reversed interlude to Blackened or the majestic end we now know as the Dyer’s Eve.