The Jason Salas Experience

And in a display of circuitous karma, I got "Death Magnetic" this past Christmas, the first CD I've owned in nine years since migrating completely over to digital media. I was an aspiring music journalist in college, writing song-by-song reviews of my favorite artists for my own amusement in the hopes that one day such compositions might mature to the level where they might grace the pages of Rolling Stone.  

Life has a funny way of turning out.

So while the "new" CD's been out since last November, I have yet to hear a second of it. Overall, here are some pre-review notes before spinning it in iTunes:

Okay, enough speculation. Here's a real-time, track-by-track review:

A really morbid, low-key intro riff crescendos into Kirk Hammett playing a killer triplet phrase with a classic thrash feel and rapid-fire vocals from James Hetfield. Very reminiscent of how "Blackened" opened "...And Justice for All". There's a half-time break in the pre-chorus right before the bridge that's a nice reprieve from the brutality of the main riff. The solo is a blissful 12-bar frenzy ended with a big tremolo dive. (Oh Kirk, how I've missed you.) Great way to open an album; not at all pop chart-friendly. This is classic Metallica!

Really catchy riff. You can tell James is playing the heavy pedal tone stuff using all downstrokes - the aggression comes through. He's also gone away from the country twang in his vocals that evolved over the years, re-implementing his traditional menacing growl. Not bad for a man in his mid-40's. The song's interlude is really fast, tight and true to thrash. It sounds like Lars is playing a really simple drum kit, with the steel snare sound he adopted on St. Anger. Kirk's solo shows off his wah-wah prowess - completely without structure but totally insane, and it works.

Whereas the opening two tracks reeked of thrash, this is a driving rhythm that's got a nu-metal quality to it. The guitars sound to be in standard tuning, but using a lot of the styles that made Wes Borland, Mark Tremonti, James Root and the guy from Papa Roach (sorry) famous. There's an out-of-scale note in the chorus that I appreciate for its odd dissonance. Kirk's solo is a series of runs up to E, followed by a descending interlude. James sounds PISSED.

It's finally time for a mellow track after the first 21 minutes of punishment. The boys play octaves over a bright, airy phrase and you can hear the country melded with metal. Kirk has a beautiful opening solo and James leverages his ability to sing high to add emotion and feel to the piece. A double-time blitzkrieg is sadly a little too much like "One", replete with low-E string trills and tapping. The sad cry for help in the lyric is no "Unforgiven" (although that's coming up), but it's a decent track.

Great title and frightening lyrics - telling the story of relentless pursuit. The bobbing-and-weaving of the dueling rhythm guitars between rapid-fire pedal tones and tempo changes are very un-Metallica, more characteristic to death metal. James' haunting spoken vocal sounds like a modern Rob Halford and the main riff at 2:55 reminds me of the bridge to "Damage, Inc.". It's deliciously infectious...this'll sound great live. I'm headbanging just listening to it.

If any track would be candidate for Top 40 radio, this would be it. A simple song with the classic verse-chorus-verse-solo progression. It also makes a decent stadium piece, with a drum solo you can just see the crowd clapping in unison to. This is probably destined to be a B-side to one of the earlier tracks. Sorry, I'm just not feeling this one.

I have high hopes for this song based on how I love the original track and "The Unforgiven II" even more. And that lets me get past the fact a piano intro isn't exactly the salvo I was expecting from the Gods of Thrash Metal (but the string section is a nice touch). The chord progression has a redemptive quality to it, leaning to the intent of the song, with the lyrics "Forgive me/Forgive me not". Kirk steals the show with an awesome bluesy solo that has his again stomp on the wah-wah pedal and exhibits his legato dexterity. Maybe I'll have to spin this a few more times, but it's not instantly resonating with me like the originals did.

The riff has a nice eerie vibrato effect to it, and slows to a dirge at 4:45 that segues into a very Hammetesque lead break. Very cool.

At 9:58, this is the epic cut on the CD. Right from the start it builds up, letting you know something scary's on the horizon. 2 minutes and 30 seconds into the track, there's been not even a hint of a lyric - could this be a long-overdue instrumental, akin to the timeless "Orion" and "To Live is to Die"? Rad! As the song goes on, it has the feeling of classic rock. It's very accessible playing, not reserved for shred-masters and gives James and Kirk each a turn in the limelight. Man, I would LOVE to play this live in front of a crowd.

Finally. The tenth and final track, so what better way to end than a return to thrash? Nothing exactly groundbreaking about this song, except that it's pure Metallica.

So the final judgment? This is a winner, the best CD Metallica's put out for old school fans since "Load". It's such a rock cliche, but the band really returned to doing the things that made them great and made it work. It started strong, had a few moments of concern in the middle, but ended very tight. Mostly everything's in E-minor and A, as it should be.

Also, while I wrote a lot about James and Kirk, the rhythm section with the addition of Rob Trujillo is finally really, really in synch. That's no knock on Jason Newsted, who I love, but more recognition of Lars and James easing up on the reins of their songwriting dictatorship on past albums. Rob's low-end stomp gels really well with Lars' signature kick. But notably missing was the canonical ballad.

Go out and pick this up/buy it online.

And congrats to the boys. Job well done!