Metallica - Hardwired...To Self-Destruct
Metallica
Hardwired…To Self-Destruct
Release Date: November 18th, 2016
Label: Blackened Recordings
Review by Jared Stossel
It took eight years for Metallica to release their tenth studio album, Hardwired…To Self-Destruct. The time span would mark the longest period between any Metallica record in history. The approach that the band took to recording this one paid off; Hardwired…To Self-Destruct is, in my opinion, Metallica’s best record. It is the culmination of nearly forty years of hard work, hardship, blood, sweat, tears, and dedication to making the best music possible. Opting to work with producer and mix engineer Greg Fidelman this time around, the Bay Area quartet adopted a similar approach: take your time, don’t rush, and lean heavy.
Instead of lurching slowly into a riff as they’ve done on previous outings, Metallica is in-your-face and revitalized when the opening track “Hardwired” kicks in. Every member is playing, loudly and fiercely, waking up the neighborhood as they perform their best opening number since “Enter Sandman”. It is a call to action for their fanbase, igniting the fire that causes them to burst through the doors of any show and head straight for the circle pit. The album is chock full of riffs and some of the best musicianship in the latter part of the band’s career; “Atlas, Rise!” is an excellent example of these elements combined under one roof, before chugging into “Now That We’re Dead”, a track that would feel right at home on The Black Album, albeit one with even larger-scale rock production. At any one moment on Hardwired…To Self-Destruct, you can feel the band surrounding you. This is in part due to the outstanding production work, while also a product of some of the band’s best songwriting. There’s nothing extra or over-the-top, and everything that makes a great Metallica record (heavy guitar, solid rhythm lines, thunderous bass) is brought to the forefront.
Much like its predecessor, Hardwired is lyrically abstract; while topics have been discussed, vocalist James Hetfield has kept the lyrics vague, giving fans a chance to all have their own interpretation. However, there are some songs that have a specific focus; the powerful “Moth Into Flame” tackles the concept of fame and turning to substances to deal with the pressures of superstardom (“Blacked out/Pop queen, amphetamine/ The screams crashed into silence.”) Lovecraftian lore is the subject of “Dream No More”, with lyrics that feel straight out of a sci-fi epic (“He wakes as the world dies screaming/ All horrors arrive/ He wakes giving earth in bleeding/ Pure madness alive”). “Halo on Fire” proceeds into epic ballad territory, with Hetfield delivering some of his most range-stretching vocals in years.
The second half of Hardwired begins with a military-style march as Hetfield and Hammett trade-off guitar quips for a minute and a half before the lyrics to “Confusion” kick in. It feels like a spiritual sequel to “For Whom The Bell Tolls”, in its own unique way. A bouncing groove signals “ManUNkind”, providing listeners with an insight into the kind of blues-driven variety that the band more successfully blend in here than they were on Load and Reload. The song itself is metal in nature, but the time changes, the chord selection, and harmonized vocals in the chorus are evocative of traditional rock and roll. We get a little more of the same on “Here Comes Revenge”, but there’s never a point at which I felt I wanted the band to stop playing. There is something magical happening here.
“Am I Savage?” returns to ballad territory, maintaining its slower tempo but invoking a guitar tone and riff that could cut through steel. “Murder One” feels like it’s going to keep things slowly moving, only before the snare on Lars Ulrich’s kit cuts through the noise, exploding out of the speakers, and bringing the band into the epic domain that they’ve spent years mastering. Hardwired closes with “Spit Out The Bone”, one of their most savage-sounding tracks both in name and in style. It is one of the fastest Metallica songs I’ve heard in recent memory, and it wastes no time in proving that the band is still more than capable of delivering their thrash roots to the masses. This song begs to be performed in stadiums around the world.
It is rare for an artist to make one album that could be considered a masterpiece. In my opinion, Metallica has made three, one for each era that they’ve been a part of 1986’s Master of Puppets, 1990’s The Black Album, and 2016’sHardwired…To Self-Destruct. The release of the latter showcases just how far dreams, ambitions, talent, and luck can take you. If this ends up being the last “great” album that the band release in their career, then what a hell of a note to go out on. Open the fucking pit.
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