I really loathed this release the first few times that I listened to it. And I thought that this is the end for them! But I did have a violent change of heart when I heard the riffs talking to me. Being a guitarist, I am now appreciating the dynamics of these songs wholeheartedly. James sounds like he did on 'Hardwired... to Self Destruct' (the previous studio album, released in 2016). But I felt that one only had 4 good songs. This one flourishes throughout. 77 minutes of pure heavy metal and not really much thrash elements left. Those are gone after them 80's. Sometimes it gets hard to listen to them and then hearing the first 4 releases. That was when they were at their pinnacle.

A track that they did a video for 'Lux Æterna' actually turned out really well and the title-track is pretty cool also. But the bulk of the songs are just a bit above average. The vocals aren't anything like the 80's Metallica. James is actually singing and he's laid off of being brutal and aggressive. It's ever since the black album that they really changed. And I don't mean in a good way. You don't get that thrash metal intensity. The music is just semi-heavy and the leads are darting fast but in a way sloppy, but Hammett is 60 now, so age is wearing on all of them for that matter. It's their 40-sum anniversary in being in existence, that's quite a feat.

People I think put way high expectations on this release but they seem to do as well as they could. I'm not justifying critics including myself but at least they're making an effort. It's been 7+ years since 'Hardwired...' but this one is 77 minutes in length so all that electricity is bursting out of your speakers. It's what is, the music is above sub-par. They're not overly aggressive or rock like they were in past releases. For whatever reason, Metallica has always scored higher on the Billboards than Megadeth ever has. Maybe Dave's still whining because of their success over his even though Megadeth has been more consistent.

There's a lot of good songs on here aside from the ones I mentioned. I'd say buy the CD or vinyl; I think it sounds better than the digital. Mind you, Lars said stream it; he's OK with that despite the suing of Napster when people were downloading their music I think back in 2003. I guess he figures that they have enough money by now. And another thing I might add is that Hetfield called the band "average musicians". I don't know about that but if they were average then they wouldn't ever be as successful as they have been over the years. I think that that was an unthinking statement. Metallica has been successful for a reason!

Rating: 8½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Death8699
05/31/2023 19:10