IN REVIEW: Metallica - "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct"

As a standalone album, the tenth by metal titans Metallica ticks all the boxes. Like the thrash-centric assault they built their empire on? Check. Like the groove-laden riffs that helped them conquer the world a quarter century ago? Check. Don't feel like it's really a Metallica album without a nagging issue or two? Check and check.

The good news is, Metallica haven't sounded quite so engaged in what they're creating in some time. This is certainly an album crafted with the songs and the overall listening experience in mind. As for the songs, there's very little filler (although Murder One, an heartfelt tribute to fallen star Lemmy, reeks a bit of cheese despite best intentions); there's also a conscious effort to sneak away from the forced back-to-basics vibe of Death Magnetic, which resulted in some pretty good songs but, overall, struck me as at least a partial act of pandering. This time out, only about a quarter of the album thrashes, while the majority manages to stay heavy while cutting down the tempos. Think Load, but with more muscle. Or, the "black album" with less radio friendliness. Or, Death Magnetic with more radio friendliness. It offers something for Metallica fans no matter what their favourite Metallica album is (unless that album is St. Anger, which of course it isn't).

What brings Hardwired... To Self-Destruct down a peg is the same problem that's plagued Metallica for the better part of twenty years now; the editor is asleep in the cutting room. Songs that have no business being seven or eight minutes long are, because, well... maybe Metallica thinks they just have to be? The long intros and outros that built their songs up and brought them to cathartic conclusions back in the '80s are just here to pad out the run times now. The one exception is the fleeting title track, and I think other songs would have benefited from a similarly streamlined approach; 9 of 12 tracks are 6½ minutes or longer and, while they're not bad songs, they likely would have been better served in the 5-5½ minute range. There's a difference between epic and bloated, and we're shown it here.

Also, I'm curious as to why Metallica chose to release this as a double CD when the total length is under 78 minutes, or about two minutes shorter than Load. Perhaps it's simply a case of Metallica wanting Hardwired to feel bigger and more important than it is. Double albums feel more like events, and it's clear judging from the way they rolled out this record's campaign that event status is something they were looking for. It's just kind of a shame, though, because Hardwired didn't need to be stretched out and trumped up to such an extent. It's the best batch of songs Metallica have delivered in a long time, an album capable of exceeding listener expectations; and, while it did exceed mine, I can't help but think a more concise execution (and probably a better album cover) could have helped this record hold its own against the band's best work.

November 18, 2016 • Blackened
Highlights Atlas, Rise! • Dream No More • Spit Out the Bone

Year in Rock 2025

Alright, I've got some explaining to do. By now anyone who's visited this blog is well aware of how infrequently I've used this space in recent years; aside from the occasional fertile year of content, I really haven't posted all that often over the last five years or so. There are many reasons for this, which have already been outlined in previous apology posts; but, essentially, it boils down to my own laziness and the cold reality that blogs are, like Refused (again), fucking dead. So, I wouldn't hold my breath for a triumphant return to reviews, or even semi-regular posts, but: a) I feel like Year in Rock posts have always belonged here and, even though I've experimented with different methods of presentation recently and been satisfied, the "blink and you missed it" unveiling via Facebook stories this year was perhaps ultimately a disservice to the records I lauded. After all, cramming the list into short videos isn't too far off from ju...

Year in Rock 2011 Nominee: Sam Roberts Band

SAM ROBERTS BAND I Feel You From: Collider Released: May 10 Having already endured the breakout success ( Brother Down was Canada's it rock song of 2002), the tentative dabbling in the U.S. market, as is the rite of passage for all moderately successful Canuck artists (2003's debut We Were Born in a Flame was the best time to try; one of the best albums of the year, it made a small dent in the American mindset upon its release there a year later), the difficult, druggy third album (the aptly named 2005 disc Chemical City ), and the subdued creative step backward (2008's Love at the End of the World , aside from hit single Them Kids , was really kinda bland), it seems according to script that Sam Roberts would start settling in on his fourth album (and first with the band credited as equal contributors), Collider (you know, I think it was a bad idea to give me brackets). Well, as far as settling in goes, Roberts does and doesn't on Collider . W...

IN REVIEW: Rancid - "Trouble Maker"

As far as punk rock goes, it's hard to name a hotter hot streak than the trio of records Rancid cranked out between 1995 and 2000; the star making ...And Out Come the Wolves , the far-reaching Life Won't Wait and their balls-to-the-wall second self-titled album solidly positioned Rancid as leaders of the second generation of punk. It also preceded a period of slow progression, as Rancid would take eleven years to release their next three records. By the time ...Honor Is All We Know came in 2014, many fans (myself included) had to wonder whether or not this was the end of the road. Such concerns are handily dealt with on the closing track of the standard edition of their ninth record, the positively punishing This Is Not the End . Well, okay then, that's sorted. Now, what of this new record? What do we make of the use of their original logo on the cover, a logo that hasn't graced a Rancid record in 25 years? Is this a throwback to the band's heyday, a new begin...

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