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Metallica
"St. Anger"
(Elektra)
By Paul Hanson
I retreated to my basement
to listen to the first new Metallica studio release since ReLoad. I
injested this CD, air drumming and being able to anticipate some of
drummer Lars Ulrich's cymbal catches and drum beats on my first listen.
The good news: there is no bad news. It is clear to me that Metallica
wanted to hear what would happen if they took their thrash metal roots
and found a way to bring that up-to-date and into the growth their sound
has made with Load/ReLoad. Ulrich has been quoted on the internet as
saying he doesn't like the phrase "going back," but that's what it is.
No use sugarcoating it. There are drum parts and guitar riffs that would
so clearly fit into the Master of Puppets or And Justice for All era
of their career. With this merging of sounds, Ulrich has found his double
bass drums (roots), has maintained his snare drum being tuned high,
like he did on their "Mission Impossible II" soundtrack contribution
"I Disappear." Old and new. Title track "St. Anger" has these lyrics:
"Fuck it all and fuckin' no regrets/ I hit the lights on these dark
sets/ Medallion noose, I hang myself/ St. Anger round my neck," quoting
from their Master of Puppets" and "Kill 'em All" releases. Old and new.
Damn. It works.
I am amazed by the aggressiveness on this release and how Metallica
has merged this anger and hostility with calm sections and riffs that
groove. "Some Kind of Monster" and "The Unnamed Feeling" have sections
that bring back memories of other 'groove' songs like "Harvester of
Sorrow" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls" or, more recently, "King Nothing"
or "Devil's Dance." I'm not suggesting that these two elements are not
new to Metallica's music, but on this release, these common practices
of their style are taken to a new place. That place harbours anger and
hostility and an awareness of imperfections within us all. The perfections
of "Monster" is that the groove between the band members is deep. At
8:26, it's unlikely this track will enjoy the radio success of "Nothing"
or "Dance." And no, they don't sound exactly alike. The sum of this
CD is that it delivers the parts it needs to return fans that abandoned
the band the first time they heard "Until It Sleeps" either on the radio
or on MTV prior to Load's release. The follow-up, Re-Load, didn't bring
their fans back either, even though that disc's opener "Fuel" was the
closest the band had come to heavy metal in their trademark style. After
drifting through back to back 2 CD collections of either someone else's
material (Garage Inc.) or alternative renditions of their own material
(Symphony & Metallica), this band has a lot to live up to with this
release. Losing bassist Jason Newsted, the six percent contributor during
his tenure in the band, has not seemed to have any effect on the band.
Replacing Newsted with producer Bob Rock makes sense as his work with
the band since the Black release has helped mature the band's sound.
Like someone that reads the last chapter first, I had heard the first
two songs on this release, hearing opener "Frantic" at the end of last
month's MTV Icon special. I heard the title track on May 31st, 2003,
while driving from Catholic Mass in the midst of Rock 108's (http://www.rock108.com)
"Metallica A-Z Special." I am glad no officiers of the law saw me. "Shoot
Me Again" sticks out as a track that is likely to get my vote for best
track. I like the heavy groove between bassist Rock and Ulrich. At the
exact same moment, "Dirty Window" stands out for the personal reflections
of vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield. Perhaps summing his recent trip
to alcohol rehab, he sings, "Projecting judgement on the world/ This
house is clean baby." In "Sweet Amber," Hetfield confronts his personal
demons, personified by a woman named Amber. He sings, "She rolls me
over 'till I'm sick/ She deals in habits, deals in pain/ I run away,
but I'm back again." The music on this song is fast and loud. The riffs
are thick sounding. "The Unnamed Feeling" culminates the 'confronting
personal demons' theme when he sings, "I just wanna get the fuck away
from me." This release adopts a new mode for the band: few guitar solos.
Since the blisterin fancy fretwork on Kill 'Em All, lead guitarist Kirk
Hammett has helped define the Metallica style. My personal favorite
solos are on classics like "Master of Puppets," "Whiplash," and "Sad
But True." It is within these songs that Hammett adds a tint to the
other colors (vocals, rhythm guitar, drums, bass) in the song. That
song style, described accurately as "here's the guitar solo part of
the song, Kirk's time to shine" is absent from this release. These songs
don't seem to have any room for guitar solos. Unlike Tourniquet's Where
Moth and Rust Decay release, where former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman
went old school thrash metal, Hammett is not given those opportunities.
What has taken the place of Hammett's guitar solos are thick riffs that
sound like death metal in parts, especially on "St. Anger." Those parts
are where Lars Ulrich has captured his most impressive performance since
And Justice for All. His performance on St. Anger will help him rightly
reclaim his position as one of metal's best drummers. Not the best,
but one of 'em. Last track "All Within My Hands" puts the exclamation
mark on Ulrich's performance. While I was initially turned off by Ulrich's
snare drum tone, it is growing on me. Hetfield finishes this chapter
of Metallica history by screaming, "Kill kill kill kill kill" to end
this song. On Ride the Lightening's "Creeping Death," he sang "Die die
die." So anywhere you look, you have death.
This release is getting better with each listen. If you feared this
release would be a continuation of the Load/ReLoad era, your fears can
be erased. These songs are all stuffed with riffs that stitch together
to form 2003's most powerful release. I am eager to hear how many of
these songs, and which ones, will be merged into Metallica's live set
list. You get a taste of what these songs might sound like live when
you sit through the included DVD, which doubles the amount of time you
get this release. The band plays these songs in their rehearsal studio.
Director Wayne Isham, responsible for many of the band's videos (like
the San Diego video from Binge and Purge) tries all sorts of camera
tricks to keep your interest. There's black and white footage woven
into color, there's reverse lighting, there's all sorts of things. You
get to see glimpses of their rehearsal studio, which features the head
from the statue on the And Justice for All cover hanging from the rafters.
Metallica could have done more for this DVD. I was disappointed and
I enjoy watching the band play live. I was expecting something other
than "hey, let's capture Metallica playing the 'same songs' on the CD
in the same order as the CD." While I do like the idea of showing new
bassist Robert Trujillo playing these songs since he isn't on the non-DVD
CD, I expected something beyond the obvious from the band, like showing
the band members talking at least a little bit about the songs themselves,
perhaps giving us a glimpse into their thoughts. I would have especially
have liked to hear Hetfield, in his down-on-earth manner, talk about
his rehab and what it took to write songs like "The Unnamed Feeling"
and "Purify." I speculate the sort of information I think is missing
on this DVD will be on a home video that will probably be released within
the year, showing alternative takes of the footage shown here. This
DVD comes across as a teaser of what we should be seeing from the band
in the future.
All in all, this release survives the internet hype and triumphs.
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