The Day That Never Comes (METALLICA)

[Johann]

Thomas Vinterberg is the director of a new video/short film by metal giants Metallica, who have a new album out very soon called DEATH MAGNETIC.

It's a strange coincidence that this year I became a serious Metallica fan after a headbanger friend lent me the first three albums and now they release the album that reclaims the glory days when they were with Cliff Burton.

The only other time I listened to Metallica was when I was in the Infantry. We'd pump "Enter Sandman" through the troop carrier before we'd stop and "ramp down". It would always get us pumped up. I got in shit a lot because I wasn't aggressive enough on section attacks. I used to imagine that the enemy had killed my parents' dog. It was the only way for me to get angry enough to do those exercises.

This year I've had "Kill Em All", "Ride the Lightning" and "Master of Puppets" on heavy roto. Jesus what killer, monster music this is. Especially tracks like "Seek and Destroy", "Metal Militia", "The Four Horseman"- fuck do I love that one- and "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and "Creeping Death".

"For Whom The Bell Tolls" may be the best metal song ever recorded. Metallica is well-known for their stealth facemelting solos, but "For Whom" has no solo- it's just sheer power, sheer battlefield power. Absolute juggernaut of a track. Metallica completely fell apart after Cliff Burton died (in my opinion) and the loss of that genius bass was a massive loss to their power as a band. "And Justice For All" is considered amazing as well, and I won't knock it until I've heard it in heavy roto like the other three, but these 3 early albums seem like the HOLY TRINITY.
Listen to "Orion"- an instrumental track with out-of-this-world bass by Cliff Burton. It is so fucking great as a piece of music that when I listen to it I'm prone to declare it the best Metallica track.
But "For Whom" always draws me back..
Time Marches On!

It's the kind of music I need to hear nowadays.
It gives me great hope and the power to push forward.
It's elemental power, Metallica.
They got a lot of shit from fans and all kinds of corners about the Napster thing and how their 90's albums suck.
I'm lucky enough to have been properly introduced to their music by a real headbanging metalhead (who's also a big Hunter Thompson fan), who set me straight on why the early Metallica albums are legendary and classic, Untouchable even.
He's also into Slayer and Death, two other huge metal bands, and those courses will be taken after my current Metallica obsession. I still worship Black Flag and the Doors- don't get me wrong. I'm not abandoning my Gods. I've just got my teeth sunk into Metallica right now and it's an awesome ride.

I'll be spinning "Death Magnetic" a lot. I can feel it.
It seems as if the boys are coming back to the roots of unrelenting fire and brimstone. With song titles like "The Day That Never Comes" and "My Apocalypse", this is the right sound, right now. Bring it on.

[Chris Knipp]

I'm a Metallica --video- fan and will want to see this one. Thanks for the notice.

See my piece about a couple of the other ones:

http://www.cinescene.com/reviews/metalmush.htm

[Johann]

Great writing there Chris.
Some Kind of Monster was a film that was OK for what it was but I don't really want to see it again. The pettiness and arguments are not fun to watch, especially when the album they are working on is absolute crap.
The soundtrack was light years better than St. Anger.

I'm over the moon that a Dogme 95 practitioner is doing a video for them. Vinterberg has done music videos before (which I haven't seen- I think he did one for Blur?) and he'll honor them with appropriate images.

James Hetfield is a musical genius. And his voice is absolutely perfect for the songs that Metallica crank out. The echoes on "For Whom The Bell Tolls" make me clench my fists, make me wanna punch brick walls. Just an unbelievably wicked track man.
You get into a war zone with that one riccocheting around in your cranium. There is not one single weak track on Ride the Lightning. If you search the net you'll find that a lot of fans are always debating which Metallica album is better, Puppets or Lightning. For me both albums have tracks that give the ear of the beholder a lot to lean on for their choice of which is better.
One thing that's clear is that the albums are towering, with walls of sonic sound that cannot be penetrated. I guess I always avoided Metallica because I lumped them in with the loud, meaningless "hair-metal" bands that I detested: Ratt, Stryper (what a joke Stryper were!), Poison, Warrant and Motley Crue.
Hated all of them.
Judas Priest and Iron Maiden were another matter- I felt that they were incredible. Incredible power and musicianship. Some of those riffs from Maiden can blow your ears to the sky. The guitars in Iron Maiden are quite astonishing. They hold up quite admirably, all these years later.
This music is an acquired taste to some.
There's a lot of peeps out there who dismiss all of these types of bands as noisy annoyances. But for those who want a little TNT to blast away all the stupid shit that clogs the brain from day to day, it's a lifesaver.

By the way the best Iron Maiden album is Live After Death.
It's a live album, from 1985. From the Powerslave tour.
It opens with an awesome pre-war speech from Winston Churchill: We Shall Never Surrender! then launches into "Aces High" and doesn't stop for 75 minutes. It's unrelenting Maiden, playing all of the great songs in their prime. The only drawback is there is no "Where Eagles Dare". But they make up for it by putting the wickedest, best version (and best track on the album) of "Phantom of the Opera".
It blows the mind how great that track is.


Scream for me Long Beach!

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks. I would agree that Metallica is very near the top of heavy metal and that each of the band members is an interesting personality in his own right. I was impressed that Lars Ulrich had such a sophisticated collection of contemporary art, including an awesome Basquiat.

Granted the petty squabbles are numbing especially when they accompany the making of a lousy album. That's rock star fame for you. As I suggested the earlier three-hour documentary on the group is more enlightening and naturally less tedious. The question of how long bands can last and how they renew themselves is always interesting. If they're appealing to the very young, how does it work when they're themselves no longer conceivably what you could call anything but middle-aged? They still have the music but they have more and more trouble projecting the image. But if the music is any good at all it can stand without the image.

Classical and jazz musicians have it all over rock in that regard. They may look cool or elegant but how young or old they are doesn't matter.

[Johann]

Very true.
And I will most definitely check out the 3-hour doc.
Gotta look for that one.

Metallica are pretty damn impressive. The solos on some of their songs just have to be heard to be believed.
Cliff Burton played his bass guitar like an electric guitar.
NOBODY has done that. Nobody I can think of pulled sounds out of a bass guitar like he did. The story of his death is very sad.
The tour bus fell on him twice. First with the accident, and then when they lifted the bus off him, it slipped and fell on him again. They don't know if he was dead from the crash or from the bus falling on him. Absolute tragedy. When I listen to "Orion" I only think of Cliff. That is HIS track. Bottom line, his death changed the destiny of Metallica forever.
Their story is quite fascinating and still evolving.
Can't wait for the new album.
No band sounds like Metallica.

I loved hearing about Slash from Guns and Roses being ashamed to look anyone in Metallica in the face after the riot that was caused at the gig where James got really bad burns from pyrotechnics. Look into it. You learn how the "gunners" can't hold a candle to Metallica and how Axl Pose is one of the biggest clowns in the history of music.
I also loved how Kurt Cobain dissed Guns and Roses and their stupid macho vibe.

[Chris Knipp]

You can get Adam Dubin's 1992 A YEAR AND A HALF IN THE LIFE OF METALLICA (PARTS 1 AND 2) on DVD from Amazon, I see. Netflix appears to have only Part 1. No, check that: I thiink it's all on one DVD. I watched it on VHS, back then. It's longer than I remembered. Notes on the website of CD Universe, $15.95:
This DVD is nearly 360 minutes. Part 1 captures the band working in the studio on songs such as Enter Sandman, T he Unforgiven, & more. Part 2 covers Metallica on tour wi th concert performances, jam sessions, & daily adventures i n the locker ... Full Description& hotel rooms & arenas all over the world.

After surviving through the death of a band member, a major image change, and quick succession of lawsuits, Metallica remains one of the most successful heavy metal bands in rock history. On this two video box set, James Hetfield and the boys invite their fans to join them for a year and a half. This candid video diary joins the rockers in the studio and on the WHEREVER I MAY ROAM tour and features extensive interviews, backstage jams, and other rarities. Highlights are the videos for "Enter Sandman," "The Unforgiven," and "Nothing Else Matters," plus live performances at Castle Donington, Moscow, and London. I don't think this is entirely accurate--"two video box set" refers to the earlier packaging"--but another description says it's 240 minutes. It's available as cheap as $13.38. I check here:
http://www.dvdpricesearch.com/

Anyway, if you like Metallica, you're going to love this.

[Johann]

Been listening to Death Magnetic a lot, as predicted.

Fantastic album. My favorite track is My Apocalypse, which is one of the tightest metal tracks ever. Love it.
What a way to end the album.

When I first listened to the disc I couldn't get into it too heavy.
Then I just kept listening over and over and only then did it become clear just how great this new album is.
It grows on you, with some complex changes in tempo and pace on most songs. Lots to mine if you're willing to listen...
My favorite part of "The Day That Never Comes" is when the track just kicks into the stratosphere (4 minute, 34 second mark.) Just sheer deadliness.
"Bang that head that does not bang" indeed!
Rick Rubin is a Master producer, his hands have the Midas touch.
I don't know what he told these guys to do in order to come roaring back with this platter of metal greatness, but it's pretty awesome.

I'll review the album in a future post, but for now all I can say is that this CD is pretty damn Boss.
(Especially "My Apocalypse")

[Johann]

The song "My Apocalypse" won a well-deserved Grammy for Best Metal Performance.
Hell yeah!

I've re-discovered Metallica in a huge way.
I bought the *black* album and found a track on there that just floored me: Wherever I May Roam.
Best track on there, next to "Enter Sandman".
Just incredible man. So heavy..
The lyrics speak to anyone whoever felt solitary, to anyone who had the mentality of "a Samurai on a long march", as Henry Rollins said.

It's just as powerful lyrically as Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone".
I can and I will compare Dylan to James Hetfield whether anyone likes it or not. These are very personal lyrics he writes, with big themes in them, just like Dylan. The question is, does the listener understand? Does the "metalhead" get past the headbanging noise to the underlying lyrical power?
That's probably the best thing about Metallica- they're not just riff-makers and drum bashers. The songs have great lyrical content.
I read a review somewhere where someone said that Metallica are the first heavy metal band an intelligent person can listen to and not feel like they're losing brain cells.
Amen to that.
In fact, they fuel intellectual stimulation.
They stand for something. They mean it when they play.
It isn't just for shits and giggles or selling merch.
It's their LIVES they're playing for, not "Life and Death" exactly, but definitely for the moment of existence that they are together cranking out a song.

In "SO WHAT!", the best book on Metallica (by Metallica), Lars' father has a chapter, where he writes about alchemy, and how it's not just the perfection of metals, but Maintenance of Health. I loved reading that. True alchemy is maintenance of health. Hell yeah. Dig it huge.

[Chris Knipp]

Will have to check it out, thanks. Did you ever get to see A YEAR AND A HALF IN THE LIFE OF METALLICA?

[Johann]

I saw half of it on YouTube. Excellent, from what I've seen.
I'll have to buy the DVD. (The list of titles I want to buy is endless)

I'd be amazed if this music is your cup of tea Chris.
Glenn Gould I can see, but Metallica?
That'd be quite cool.

[Johann]

I also must voice my concern over James Hetfield's health.
I saw photos of him that were taken recently and he didn't look very healthy- his face was boated, more swollen. He didn't look right. Whatever illness he caught in Europe seemed to do a number on him.
They just played a semi-covert show in Austin, Tx and all seems well within the band, but I am really concerned about James.
His lyrics have always revealed deep, tortured emotions, and the last album is particularly poetic in it's darkness.

If James is going down emotionally or physically I hope someone in the Metallica circle can help him out.
Stop the whole train if he's not well.
To have him hurtling toward death because he's attracted to it like a fucking MAGNET, then let's pray that someone in the family can do something. He's battled demons before (mainly alcoholism) and pulled out of it. I just want the best for the man and the band, because James is about 75% of Metallica, just by himself.
If he dies, then it's over. There is no Metallica anymore.
The guys in the band must know this.
No singer, no songs. No songs, no band.
It's that simple.

I've never been to a Metallica concert and I would hate to have to read online or in the paper about James' death. That would devastate me.
We need his voice and music. Badly.
They say you don't know what you've got until it's gone.
Well, I know what Metallica are while they're here, and it would be an absolute tragedy if James died when he could've had some help.

[Johann]

This live performance of "Enter Sandman" may be better than the one on the record album.

Wish I was there man...Moscow. Rockin' the earth when it needs to be rocked.
METALLICA RULE
There's a photo in "SO WHAT!" of Lars backstage holding a bloody snare drum head, with his signature and "Bleedin' for Moscow!" written on it.
That man BLEEDS for his band...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QP-SIW6iKY&feature=related


(BTW, the music at the beginning is Ennio Morricone, "Ecstasy of Gold", from the soundtrack of The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly)

[Chris Knipp]

I would have referred you to that video if you hadn't found it. It's incredible. You can hardly believe it's real. I've never been to a Metallica concert but I've seen so many of them on film I'm sure they are better than listening to the records. They are mass orgies. That's what metal is about. Armageddon on a stage.

[Johann]

Amen to that, Sir.

[Johann]

On April 4th (or 11th) I'm gonna be one of the first ones in line for tickets to see Metallica in Toronto on October 26th.
(Air Canada Centre).
I don't care what the ticket price is, I'm going.
Their website has a list of tour dates for North America once the Euro tour wraps up.
Man, what a gruelling schedule they have..
Conquering nations is WAR!