Death Magnetic. That's a great title.

Chris Adler has been quoted as being part of Team Megadeth when it comes to 80s thrash. And I have to admit, I myself have definitely leaned towards Megadeth more often than not when it comes to the two of four Legends of Thrash.

Metallica will, nevertheless, always be the benchmark metal band of our time, and their success and reach cannot really be contested. First of all, metal is in their name. Second, the fact that you can refer to yourself as an old school Metallica fan only further confirms their legendary status. Third, your sister likes them. But the most fascinating thing about Metallica is that, during their heyday, they made the right move again, again and again. And then again and again. They were an unstoppable behemoth of metal, and even Mustaine admitted that they brought metal to such a high level that it was damn near impossible to catch up to them. Rust in Peace, arguably better than Justice for All, was promptly followed by The Black Album, pushing the entire metal scene to pursue minimalism in the 90s. Every single metal band was behind those guys.*

After the Black Album, not so much. And as stupid as it was, the rage directed at Metallica for cutting their hair was just physical evidence for fans that Metallica had finally fallen off, at least musically speaking. Financially, they were sound - but the live show is a completely different discussion. No fan goes to see Metallica because they don't play the old shit anymore.

So after Load, Reload and the atrocious St. Anger, what can be said about Death Magnetic?

It shreds. It grooves. It dives and bombs and devastates your ear drums.

It rocks!

Don't you dare tell anyone I said that, though. I will deny deny deny.

But seriously folks, the record starts on high, and pretty much stays there. Much of this has to do with the loudness war. The record is compressed to the max, and honestly, did anyone really need to compare the CD with the Guitar Hero version to get that impression? But what I mean is, say what you will about their steady degradation in song writing, Metallica gets points for doing the one thing they do best - compelling arrangement. They have always had this eerie ability to make a riff that, stand alone, would be hard to listen to for 8 minutes. They are experts at variating on one riff and reappropriating the same idea in different contexts so that it sounds fresh and well done every time, whether or not the song writing is decent. Suicide & Redemption, while unimpressive as an instrumental for technical precision, is a great example of this, and even more so because the technical stuff is toned down.

I'm not going to say there aren't any lame tunes on this record. When it comes to songs, it's clear Megadeth is better at pulling the heart strings. The Day That Never Comes is sappy and really corny. Unforgiven III is the second song to reduce the greatness of the original, and proves that Metallica should just never use any instruments other than guitar, bass and drums. (Screw S&M. \m/) But Cyanide, Judas Kiss and All Nightmare Long put the cock back in rock, if you don't mind me saying so. And that's what this record tried to do. Did it succeed? Not totally. But it did kill T.I. which is quite an accomplishment. Even that dude is behind Metallica. And when it comes right down to it, people still love metal and still love Metallica.

*Right now, though, the position of innovator belongs to Meshuggah, who is so far ahead of the genre, however, that they have moved nearly outside of it.