Can I get an “Ooh yeah-yeah?!” Day 21 sees us welcomed back into the Metallica familiyeah! With the brilliant Hardwired…To Self Destruct.
- Iamthemorning – Lighthouse
- Myrath – Legacy
- Touche Amore – Stage Four
- Ghost/Aeon – Metanoia
- Meshuggah – The Violent Sleep Of Reason
- Avantasia – Ghostlights
- Gojira – Magma
- Devilment – II : The Mephisto Waltzes
- The Dillinger Escape Plan – Dissociation
- Periphery – III : Select Difficulty
- Opeth – Sorceress
- Epica – The Holographic Principle
- Katatonia – The Fall Of Hearts
- Twilight Force – Heroes Of Mighty Magic
- Revocation – Great Is Our Sin
- Equilibrium – Armageddon
- Deftones – Gore
- Rage – The Devil Strikes Again
- Fallujah – Dreamless
- Zhrine – Unortheta
Of course I will get some flack for comparing the album to genius but when really looking at it, these songs will stand the test of time. Megadeth might have released a more immediate album this year and Anthrax have definitely wowed their fair share this year with For All Kings but ultimately the albums simply don’t have the staying power of Metallica. After losing his recorder with thousands of song ideas for Metallica, Kirk Hammett understandably might have been a bit annoyed and left all songwriting up to both James and Lars.What we’re presented with here are some of the best Metallica ingredients in a very long time.
Wanting to always push the boat out, yet forever remain the same band Metallica have capitalised on all of their material put forward before. Clever dynamics the likes of “Spit Out The Bone” tear through sonic bone or the marauding “Dream No More” a continuation of the Cthulhu theme which has been with Metallica since “The Thing That Should Not Be” and of course the Ride The Lightning epic “Cthulhu“. With a band like the Metallica their new material was always going to have people up in arms and they’re never going to do it right for some.
They’re never going to sound like the first four records and they aren’t going to stay in the Load / Black Album vein. Instead what you have here is a brilliant collection of absolutely rock solid material that will indeed stand the test of time. No mean fest considering the record’s daunting play time. Each tracks stands defiantly on its own two feet making for differential ideas. “Moth Into Flame” in keeping with the band’s Thrash aesthetic and the trickster “Atlas, Rise!” , comparative to “Halo On Fire” a more ballad driven style. Already being played the world over the songs will be perfect additions to jukeboxes, hurled back at the band live and on our stereos. Hardwired…To Self Destruct is Metallica doing what Metallica do best.
Is your tree Hardwired…To Self Destruct this Christmas? Then pick up a copy of the record here.
