METALLICA - HARDWIRED

I'm not huge on the idea of downloading shit for free (sure we've all done it) .... especially from bands that I really love and respect. I couldn't help myself on this occasion and decided to get a sneaky look at what I think will be the biggest album of the year in the metal and possibly the rock and roll universe. No doubt I'll go out and buy the "ultra deluxe" version of the release within days of it coming out anyway, so there's no need to panic about Lars Ulrich's bank account going thin on my account.

The album opens with "Hardwired to Self Destruct" which has been leaked extensively by the band itself. It's a blistering return to form an it keeps going for most of the 80 minute duration of the release. This song is probably a little more intense than most material on the album but over all its a heavy affair and more importantly very coherent as a release. I don't believe in going into individual tracks but the album as a whole on an initial listen  is a nicely varied slab of metal with material drawing in feelings from "Master of Puppets / ...And Justice for All" combined with some of the "Load" era material but at the same time continuing on from the "Death Magnetic" release.  That may not make much sense but that's the feeling I got from it. The songs themselves are epic riff fests, very intricately arranged and multi-layered guitars, crushing riffs and some really tasty guitar solo's courtesy of Kirk Hammett.

James Hetfields voice has matured and progressed beyond anything he's done before in my opinion. Some of the trademark barking is there but the voice is much more refined and tuneful that its ever been. The songs themselves are mostly quite long epic affairs with many highs and lows. Over the 80 minutes I will say a couple of songs at the end of the album started to feel a bit long and drawn out but I'm not sure if I was mentally worn out, or the beers I'd had on commencement of the album started to take its toll.... but for the most part it kept my attention the whole way through with the exception of the second last song or so.....  but to be fair 80+ minutes for an album is a big ask.

Overall.... the anger is back, the speed is back, the shred is back and this album really should blast them back into the forefront of heavy metal with the seasoned headbangers and newcomers alike. GO OUT AND GET IT AS SOON AS YOU CAN!

Of course, due to the EPIC nature of this release i'll post an update on what I think about it in a couple of weeks and a few more listens! STAY TUNED!!!

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ON THE RADIO!!!!

I had the pleasure of getting on the local radio station to talk metal on  Chromatic Death on 2XXFM last Monday basically just reminiscing about the good old metal days in my hometown of Canberra (Australia) in the 1990's! The good folk at the station were kind enough to record it, so for your listening pleasure here's a link if any of you want to either stream it / download it or whatever .... I get in around 30-40 mins into the set but its all good stuff so give it a listen!

Download link for the podcast

OBSCURE CHAOSZINE - Awakening the witch part 1 (compilation review)

This is a fantastic idea from the brains behind obscure chaos zine - it is a show case of 21 great bands from around the world playing underground metal be it death, black or power metal who have all donated a track for inclusion on this great digital download comp which is available (free.. so you have nothing to loose!) at http://www.obsucrechaoszine.bandcamp.com the songs can be downloaded as a huge comp or one at a time but I have to say the quality is generally pretty high with all the bands so it's definately worth downloading the whole thing. A lot of fans may not like everything on here as it covers a wide range of metal but for those that can listen with an open mind its definitely worth it.

The highlights for me were Hecate Enthroned, Axemaster, Christfuck and Prime Evil who are in their own rights reasonably well known bands at their respective styles of metal that they do, not only adding great songs to the mix but a sense of bigger credibility to the compilation. Overall the standard of music is pretty high with only a couple of bands falling short in
production, but to be fair that would be expected to some degree with an underground music compilation... the only thing I can say is go visit the site and download it for yourself and you'll undoubtably find at least a couple of new treasures and bands to check out.

From a business point of view the concept is fantastic too.... with 21 bands involved if all members of the band get together to share it and promote it the reach on social media for everyone would be fantastic! Hopefully it raises the profiles of everyone involved! It will be interesting to get back in touch with the creators of the concept in a few months and see how the concept has done for everyone.