Metallica – Beyond Magnetic
Metallica – Beyond Magnetic MCD (Vertigo)
The world’s biggest metal band turned 30. And Metallica had a party to celebrate the joyfull event, over the course of a couple of days, in their hometown, San Francisco with several hundred dedicated ‘clubbers’ and more amazing guests than you can imagine. Footage is all over YouTube, so there’s no need going into depth about that. What the parties also gave us was one new song debuting live every day. New meaning that these were songs that didn’t make the 2008 album ‘Death Magnetic’. After the sonic-vomit that was ‘Lulu’ the four-track ep ‘Beyond Magnetic’ is a true treat. ‘Hatetrain’ kicks things off in a ‘Fuel’ sort of fashion with an upbeat pushing character. Not Metallica’s strongest song, and I have to agree it wouldn’t have fitted the general vibe of ‘Death Magnetic’. ‘Just A Bullet Away’ is different, and could have been on the bands recent album. A decent song, by Met’s current standards. ‘Hell And Back’ has that same vibe,the groove and riffs that several DM songs have. Maybe it got left out because it would’ve been too much? The best song though is saved for last. ‘Rebel Of Babylon’ has some old-school Metallica thrashy, ‘…And Justice For All’, riffs, blending in with the band’s later style. It just rocks, and gives me hope for the band’s upcoming album. With all the songs on offer, I’d have to say I love Hetfield’s vocals. The EP is unpolished, a sound which still fits this four-piece best. And getting back to the recent gigs at the SF Fillmore, Hetfield looked healthy and happy and did all the songs justice and more… Martijn Welzen
