New Metallica Album

[ade]

Lifted from Metal Hammer

 

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich recently spoke to Revolver magazine about the band's much-anticipated new album, tentatively due in the spring via Warner Bros. Records.

 

"This stuff is certainly a lot more dynamic and a lot more varied than the last couple of go-rounds," he said. "There's a lot of light and shade in these songs. There's heavy, fast, nutty stuff, and then there's some slowdowns and musical interludes. It's pretty different from 'St. Anger', and it's pretty different from the 'Load' stuff. This stuff is not the one-dimensional punch in the face that 'St. Anger' was. This is probably a little more like those couple of albums back there in the decade that begins with an '8.'"

 

When asked if the material represents a return to the "old school," Lars replied, "I hate to be that specific, because six months from now people are gonna go, 'What the fuck? Lars lied to us!' But it feels that way to me. It's been no secret that Rick [Rubin, producer] suggested to us that we use a couple of those records as reference points — that we spend some time kind of accessing that headspace. So when we would come to forks in the road, sometimes the exercise became, 'What would we have done at this point in 1985?'"

 

For more of Revolver's conversation with Lars Ulrich, pick up the February 2008 issue of the magazine, available on newsstands now. More information is available at www.revolvermag.com.

 

Back to the '80's? Sweet. There might be something worth hanging on for after all.

[Declan]

"This is probably a little more like those couple of albums back there in the decade that begins with an '8.'"

 

I know he's a pretentious knobhead, but does he really talk like that?

[ans]

Back to the '80's? Sweet. There might be something worth hanging on for after all.

 

Please. I bet I could dig out quotes where he said the same thing about St. Anger. It's a generally accepted rule that any metal band will give a vague description of an upcoming album, pronnounce it to be the 'heaviest ever' but with 'lots of melody' and 'fresh' and a whole host of standard phrases when pimping it. They'll imply that it's like their most successful albums, but wont sound anything like it. The only bands that actually did get heavier on every album were Pantera (I ignore Reinventing... as it was a turd) and Dark Tranquillity.

 

However, all that said. I do have a small measure of hope for this album. No doubt Lars is going to come along and take a gigantic dump on this expectation but there's a chance. I always viewed St. Anger as their reaction album. It was the cathartic output they chose to document in album form to the Load/Reload albums and Jason leaving. They wanted to show the world they were still angry, still fuelled by rage and full of aggression. They forgot they're in their forties, have mansions and are all millionaires. They don't have a great deal to be angry about anymore. The lyrics were comical and the sound was raw. Trujillo came in too late to remind them what metal was about.

 

When the album came out, my first thought was 'Ugh'. I even redownloaded it three times as I was convinced I'd grabbed some leaked unproduced demos. Then I started to find some merit in 'The Unnamed Feeling', 'Sweet Amber' and even 'Frantic'. Most songs, over time, I could find nuggets of a good section, a nice fill, a decent riff. What I always said though, was that this album wasn't important. It was the album after that, the one where they could take this raw reaction to the polish of Load/Reload and mix the two together and put out something strong. I've said this since I first heard St. Anger and I stand by it. They may even throw in a nostalgic nod to Master of Puppets seeing as it's so fresh in their mind with the anniversary tour.

 

I'm cautious and wary, but I'm ever so slightly hopeful. I'm not expecting Ride The Lightening, but a heavy Load/Black would do.

[VinnieK]

Back to the '80's? Sweet. There might be something worth hanging on for after all.

 

Please. I bet I could dig out quotes where he said the same thing about St. Anger.

 

He did, and if I recall correctly they've been promising a return to their roots ever since the Black Album: I seem remember them talking about ReLoad as a return to the bands roots, which took the piss a little given that it was an album of songs not good enough for Load. The only time they even remotely kept to this promise was with a cynical gesture in the form of Garage Inc. I'm not that bothered about the change of direction in itself; fair play to them if they decided they were tired of banging out the same kind of thing since Kill 'em All and saw they could make more money as a Thin Lizzy covers band (I think the video to Whiskey in a Jar may have been the worst in the history of metal. The naughty ladies having a party motif insults the intelligence a little, and Lars looked comically feeble trying to trash that room).

 

I do however just wish they'd just stop with the pretence and fully embrace their new position in the metal scene without trying so hard to hang on to their old reputation, which just makes them look a bit desperate. It's bad enough to hear a bunch of middle aged men talking about rage and anger, but the fact of the matter is that Metallica weren't even that hardcore when they were young - they were successful precisely because they took the most widely appealing aspects of thrash metal and presented them in a polished, more standard form that was more accessible than their peers' output. To listen to them banging on today about "being heavy" or dark you'd be forgiven for thinking that they've developed amnesia and started believing they were once Carcass.

[ai_Droid]

I do however just wish they'd just stop with the pretence and fully embrace their new position in the metal scene without trying so hard to hang on to their old reputation, which just makes them look a bit desperate. It's bad enough to hear a bunch of middle aged men talking about rage and anger, but the fact of the matter is that Metallica weren't even that hardcore when they were young - they were successful precisely because they took the most widely appealing aspects of thrash metal and presented them in a polished, more standard form that was more accessible than their peers' output. To listen to them banging on today about "being heavy" or dark you'd be forgiven for thinking that they've developed amnesia and started believing they were once Carcass.

 

Agree, and they showed some interesting progression with a few albums too. They'd have probably earned some new fans if they'd have grown up rather than focusing on being harder and heavier, etc.

[ans]

Well, see the different between their fanbase and Slayer, two bands that had a similar path until the diversification in 90/91 other Black and Seasons.

 

I agree with Vinnie really, unsurprisingly. While my favourite Metallica albums are Ride and Master, I can see plenty of merit in all the others, although it may surprise you to know that Justice is my least favourite, even though I like tight syncopated rhythms. It would be nice if they did just come out and say "Hey guys, this is how it is. We're going to be playing stuff that's like Load because that's what we want to play'.

 

However, with Rubin and Trujillo on board, I do have a little hope still. The soundboards of the two new songs I heard last year though weren't that good.

[ade]

I kind of feel that the band want to release something that resembles the style or substance of Lightning, Puppets and Black albums. Crunchy & heavy with a big dose of melody in for good measure. They know that the fans (well ok, me) want them to produce something that would be a true succession to these particular styles of Metallica. Of course, it was frustrating for me to see what was (compared to the first 5 albums) generally dross released as Load, Reload and St Anger. As ans mentioned, they had discovered real wealth thanks to the success of the Black album, and expensive drugs and 'ceegars' became common place. After the cheesy bonding and love session in the 'Monster' movie, there was really no anger left in the band, so the option left open to them was to release St Anger, showing how hard and rebellious they were (n't).

 

Regarding the early stuff, I still always have copies of Kill -> Justice lying round in the car which I still really enjoy. Looking back, I suppose Justice could seem to be disappointing, as the next in line to Puppets, but the hairs still stand on the back of my neck when Blackened starts (and Battery for that matter..), Shortest Straw is fantastic and I love One as it increases pace right to the end.

[VinnieK]

Justice is my least favourite, even though I like tight syncopated rhythms.

 

I seem to be in a minority in considering Justice my favourite album of theirs, followed closely by Master of Puppets. Most people view Ride the Lightning as their defining moment, but I felt it was lacking in substance.

 

Have to confess a guilty fondness of Kill 'em All, which, apart from Anaesthesia, sounded a bit kitsch even then, not least for the lines "No life till leather" and "the metalization of your soul".

[ans]

For mocking Anaesthesia, you must die. I'm going to assume you mean Whiplash, the song that leads off from Anaesthesia, the bass solo.

 

I don't think you're in a minority at all. The vast majority of Metallica fans love Justice. Puppets is usually considered their peak, which was why there was such a big hooha about the 20th anniversary in 2006.

[VinnieK]

For mocking Anaesthesia, you must die. I'm going to assume you mean Whiplash, the song that leads off from Anaesthesia, the bass solo.

 

I don't think you're in a minority at all. The vast majority of Metallica fans love Justice. Puppets is usually considered their peak, which was why there was such a big hooha about the 20th anniversary in 2006.

 

I didn't mock Anaesthesia though! I meant that Kill 'em All sounds a bit kitsch except for that one song, which if anything is probably one of the best and most thoughtful Metallica have ever done!

 

Glad to hear I'm not alone in my appreciation of Justice. I remember at the time of Load there seemed to almost be a competition to see who could make a case for Metallica "selling out" earlier than anyone else: Someone listening to Load would issue bitter cries of "sell out", at which point the guy in the Slayer t shirt next to him would say they sold out with the Black Album, and in turn the guy in the Obituary or Death t-shirt would confidently assert that it was in fact Justice for All that marked the point where everything started to go downhill. No one could quite bring themselves to slag off Master of Puppets (apart from maybe someone in a Marduk t-shirt, who claimed that Metallica were never true metal to begin with, but no one would listen to him), so for a while common wisdom held that Justice was shit and anyone who liked it was a traitor to Metal.

[ans]

Ah yes, I misread. You may live.