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.
Article comments
1 - Rebecca
I thought the new track, whatever it will be called, was much better then anything on St. Anger. That CD was very disappointing. Maybe they've stopped taking themselves so seriously, resulting in better music.
2 - Rich
I thought the song lacked any direction. It seemed like they tried the tempo changes which were successful on "Justice", but they sorely missed the mark. James seems to be singing out of key for most of the song and he has lost the gutteral growl from their first four albums. His voice sounds very thin, even tinny, which does not mix well with the guitar crunch. There are a few positives within the new song...Kirk gets back to playing a solo and the drums don't sound like a toy drum kit, as they did on St. Anger. Hopefully Metallica hit rock bottom w/ St. Anger and there will be better things to come from this once great band.
3 - Jamal
James needs to retire. His voice is gone. Please help us Rick (Rueben)!