It’s not been officially released, but according to a story on Blabbermouth.net, Metallica aired their first new song since St. Anger at a concert in Berlin, Germany. The article contains several links where you can download the song. It’s an audience recording, but the sound quality is pretty good. There’s no title, and the band hasn’t finished working on it yet, but you do get to hear about eight minutes of new Metallica music.

My first impression is that it’s better than anything on St. Anger, if only for the fact that Kirk Hammett has been allowed to play guitar solos again. However, I keep hoping the band will return to their thrash metal roots, and once again, I was disappointed. Then again, I think the last really great song Metallica recorded was “The God That Failed”, so listen for yourself. The song would fit pretty well on either Load or Reload, although in its current form it’s a bit more aggressive than anything on those albums.

There are parts of this song they definitely have potential, and hopefully producer Rick Rubin will be able to help the band separate the music wheat from the chaff, something which was sorely needed with St. Anger. Hopefully, the band will find it within themselves to release something that can hold its own against their first four albums. If not, well, Slayer has a new album coming out soon, too.