Imagine this: shortly after …And Justice For All, Metallica is kidnapped and put in to a cryogenic warehouse. While in the freeze, another band claiming to be Metallica puts out a few albums, and Jason Newstead calls it a day.
Now picture the frozen band thawing out, killing the faux-Metallica, and putting out a crushing new album. You can stop pretending.
As I had written previously, this album seriously would make or break Metallica, and it has made them 
important again. Death Magnetic does more than rock, it pounds and brings the Bay City boys back to life.
Listening to the beating heart intro of “That Was Just Your Life” could symbolize Metallica waking from a comatose sleep. The album thunders along with fast riffs, gritty vocals and, yes, guitar solos! Oh, we missed them so much.
Lead single, “The Day That Never Comes”, builds slowly and spins a story of abuse that explodes in a metal frenzy. Another interesting track is “Unforgiven III”, which further moves the autobiographical story of Hetfield along the recorded path.
“Suicide & Redemption” is a return to form instrumental, the likes of which haven’t been heard since “Orion”. Other notable tracks include: “Broken, Beaten & Scarred”, “Cyanide” and “The Judas Kiss”. Album closer “My Apocalypse” quickly might become a favorite after a few listens.
With no song shorter than 6 minutes, this is the old Metallica. Produced by Rick Rubin, this venture helped him get back to his metal days working with Slayer in the early 80s. For anyone who thought Metallica could never come back from the dead, listen again, that heartbeat is pumping new blood through old veins.
