Metallica - Death Magnetic Print
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The heavy-metal band Metallica needs no introduction.

Since the release of the likes of the timeless classic ‘Enter Sandman’, still one of the most instantly recognisable heavy-metal songs of all time, Metallica has sustained a successful musical career (although the less said about lead singer’s James Hetfield’s private life the better – he almost makes Amy Winehouse look like a saint).The band has always held massive crossover appeal, which explains the considerable levels of anticipation across the media prior to the release of their new album ‘Death Magnetic’, their first release since ‘St Anger’ in 2003. However, funnily enough, much of the mainstream media and self-confessed Metallica ‘fans’ would probably not know much of their work beyond the more commercially friendly hits such as ‘Nothing Else Matters’, ‘The Unforgiven’ and ‘Enter Sandman’. ‘Death Magnetic’ definitely strays from these commercial inclinations.  Opening track ‘That Was Just Your Life’ packs a punch, but it is the well-constructed and more vocally-driven ‘The Day That Never Comes’ and ‘The Unforgiven III’ that are the album’s standouts. It has always been the case that the more vocal and acoustic-guitar driven songs of Metallica highlight the band's real talent – that of James Hetfield’s powerful and resonating voice. ‘Unforgiven III’ is stylistically similar the song’s first two parts, and oddly the track’s beginning featuring piano and violin is almost touching! This song is definitely the album’s highlight and is Metallica at their best.

This is an album with less-commercial roots than ‘the Black album’. However, despite the fact it may lack instant chart-toppers, ‘Death Magnetic’ is bound to continue Metallica’s successful reign as the world’s pre-eminent heavy-metal bands.

8/10