Early Buzz Dept.
The Contra Costa Times‘ Tony Hicks got an early listen to Metallica’s Death Magnetic, perhaps because–as he admits–he gave St. Anger an A= in print, although he goes to great pains to say that he’d definitely give that record a downgrade now. Hicks notes that Death is certainly better than the band’s 2003 effort–“back to powering fast, central riffs, occasionally breaking ranks and tempo for some Iron Maiden-ish breakouts”–it’s lacking in vocal hooks and cohesion. We’ll see when it comes out, but I should also note that Hicks’ opening, which states that he heard the record while at “Metallica HQ” in California’s tony Marin County, immediately conjured up a mental image of this picture, and it took about three or four re-reads of the actual review for me to shake it. [Insert Foot via Blabbermouth]
