Metallica - Hardwired... To Self-Destruct (Blackened) 2016
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In these past eight years, Metallica did just about everything. You name it, they’ve done it! First band to play in Antarctica? Check! Making a movie and lose a shitload of money on it? Check! Promoting their own festival? Check! Making that thing with Lou Reed? Check! Get reunited with Dave Mustaine and Jason Newsted, even if for a few minutes? Check! Play with the Big 4? Check! First metal act to headline Glastonbury? Check! Loads of live albums? Check! Tour everywhere, including probably your own backyard? Check! Well…they really did everything, except of course…recording a new album.
This wasn’t exactly pulling a Chinese Democracy, but eight years is indeed too much fucking time, even for their own standards. However, Hardwired…to Self-Destruct, Metallica’s 10th studio album finally saw the light of day (the joke’s on you now Tool) and the question in everyone’s minds is…was all of this waiting worth it?
From the fist pumping, 3-minute thrashing adrenaline shot of opening track ”Hardwired”, through the technical Maiden-esque behemoth “Atlas, Rise!” and groovy heavy hitters such as “Now That We’re Dead”, “Moth Into Flame” or “Halo on Fire” (the closest thing you’ll be getting to a ballad here), the record’s first half shows Metallica again at the peak of their powers and seemingly capable of doing no wrong. However, the first half’s show stealer is, without any doubts, the punishing crusher “Dream No More”. Think “Sad But True”, but a tad bit heavier. It’s a dark ominous sounding beast of a track, and one of the best songs on the whole record.
After such a powerful first half, making you believe you were probably listening to one of Metallica’s best albums ever, things kind of start going somewhat downhill on disc two. Even with some stupendous riff work, “Confusion”, “Here Comes Revenge” and the Lemmy Kilmister tribute “Murder One” sound just like plain typical, by-the-numbers Metallica songs, with nothing really noteworthy to add, lacking variety and making the listener feel a bit tired of going through some of the things already done on the record’s first half, but better. “ManUNkind” and “Am I Savage?” both sound like they could have been truly remarkable, but ended up feeling a bit undercooked, lacking in dynamics and noteworthy drum arrangements, but then after all of what seemed to be a somewhat hit and miss second half, comes the finale and Holy…Fucking…Shit! Talk about ending with a twist! Closer “Spit Out The Bone” might just be the best Metallica song ever written since ’88. It’s a fast, hard-hitting, pummelling, blood-pumping slab of masterfully executed thrash metal like you haven’t heard these guys do in a long, long time, and let’s be honest…most of you never expected to hear them do again. It’s just like they made you listen to all of this generic stuff in the record’s second half and then hit you right in the face with a jackhammer to end it all in style. Yes kids, it’s that fucking good.
So, after more than 300 listens of “Spit Out The Bone” and few spins of the other songs, some will realize that what you’re getting here is essentially a mashup of all Metallica eras combined into one single record. You’ll be hearing callbacks to the Load era (albeit a reinterpretation of that record’s style on steroids really) and occasionally even to the band’s golden 80’s era, but you’ll end up thinking that most of these songs could indeed be in ’91’s Black Album.
All throughout “Hardwired”, frontman James Hetfield shows us that he’s still Metallica’s major force to be reckoned with, having created monstrous gargantuan riffs one after the other and shined with some diverse and never heard before vocal harmony arrangements. He might be the only member of this band that actually got better with age. Unfortunately, the biggest disappointment of the whole record ended up being Kirk Hammett, who had the incredible distinction of stealing the “laziest member of Metallica award” from drummer Lars Ulrich for barely moving around the fretboard anymore. With the exception of a few mapped-out solos here and there, the majority of Hammett’s guitar work sounds either unrehearsed, uninspired or just plain messy and boring. It’s a bit obvious that neither Hetfield or Ulrich cared too much about what he did and on the other hand, the fault for this is that Metallica never had any other producer since Bob Rock that could tell them straight up “no” if something just simply wasn’t up to par.
Still, even with all the mentioned downsides, “Hardwired” has plenty of great songs making it a good and solid Metallica record. The heaviness in guitar tone is only surpassed by Ride The Lightning or the Black Album, making this one of Metallica’s most powerful and heaviest sounding records to date. These songs don’t feel as contrived or thought out as Death Magnetic and even with a few filler tracks, there’s a quality and sincerity in this material that will undoubtedly resonate with most listeners, making Hardwired…to Self Destruct, easily, their best album in 25 years.
Words by Luís Alves
“As you may have read here and there, we got just a little ambitious and worked with some incredible imaginative, innovative, directors to create not just the three videos you’ve already seen, but went all the way with one video for EACH song on the album (including bonus track “Lords of Summer”)!”
“The clips were created in several different locations around the globe as we collaborated with some old friends along with many new rising stars and will give you a chance to hear the album just a tad bit early.”
Directors for the videos include: Jonas Åkerlund, who originally worked with us on “Turn The Page,” and “Whiskey In The Jar,” album package photographers Herring and Herring, Colin Hakes (“Hardwired”), Clark Eddy (“Atlas Rise” and countless “Making of . . .” clips), Tom Kirk (“Moth Into Flame”), Claire Marie Vogel, Jessica Cope, Rob Valley, Phil Mucci, and our very own videographer Brett Murray. The forthcoming clips follow in the footsteps of the three previously released videos for “Hardwired,” “Moth Into Flame,” and “Atlas, Rise!”
Watch/listen below the videos for each song on the album:
Hardwired… To Self-Destruct arrives on November 18 via Universal.