Death Magnetic

Untitled

Death Magnetic is the upcoming ninth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica. The album will be the band's first to feature current bassist Robert Trujillo and the first to be produced by Rick Rubin. It will also be their first studio album released through Warner Bros. Records, although they still remain with Warner Music Group, which also owns Elektra Records, the band's previous label.

Starting on May 12, 2008 (2008-05-12), the future album has been heavily promoted on the specially dedicated website, entitled "Mission Metallica," which features daily updates of exclusive, behind-the-scenes sneak previews with photos and video clips from the studio. On May 15, 2008 (2008-05-15), Lars Ulrich confirmed there that Metallica recorded 11 songs for Death Magnetic, although only 10 will appear on the album due to the constraints of the physical medium. A short video, released on "Mission Metallica" on June 14, 2008 (2008-06-14), revealed the album's official title.

Writing process

Post-St. Anger period

As early as January 16, 2004 (2004-01-16), Metallica frontman and rhythm guitarist James Hetfield revealed that the band had roughly 18 songs that did not see release on their 2003 album St. Anger, and that they may be reworked in the future, if not potentially released as is. Hetfield also said that they had been playing new material during studio jams, but that there was no mention of plans for a ninth studio album as of yet. On March 12, 2004 (2004-03-12), drummer Lars Ulrich reported that the band had performed thirty-minute jam sessions prior to live performances, and that the jams are recorded for future reference. Select music from the jam sessions may be used on the album, as Ulrich stated, "I definitely look forward to sifting through some of that stuff when we get back to the studio in January." On that note, by October 2004 the band had already compiled nearly 50 hours of pre-set jamming, with hundreds of riffs, chord progressions and bass lines. On September 30, 2004 (2004-09-30), Launch Radio revealed from an interview with Hetfield that the band hoped to return to the studio in spring 2005 to begin recording their ninth studio album for Warner Bros. Records.

On March 10, 2006 (2006-03-10), it was reported that the band was planning to use the following six months to write material for the album, in addition to the previous two months they had already been spending writing music. It was also revealed that Ulrich, Hetfield and Robert Trujillo were active contributors in the process at this point; guitarist Hammett was an infrequent contributor due to his wife's pregnancy. Lars Ulrich also stated that the band was getting along much better in the studio than they did during the recording of their 2003 album St. Anger. On April 16, 2006 (2006-04-16), Lars Ulrich revealed that the band had composed "six to seven" songs, (except for vocals), from their findings of the riff tapes recording during pre-sets of the Madly in Anger with the World tour. He also said that by this point, the band's new material was reminiscent of "old school" Metallica works, and that it certainly does not feel like a St. Anger "part two".

On May 20, 2006 (2006-05-20), Kirk Hammett revealed that the band had 15 songs written and were writing on average two to three songs per week. James Hetfield also praised producer Rick Rubin for his production style in giving the band their own freedom and keeping the pressure at a minimum, despite the sessions becoming sometimes briefly unfocused. On May 27, 2006 (2006-05-27), Metallica updated their website with a video featuring information regarding the album. Lars Ulrich, who spearheaded the video, said about the new album:

If you're in the studio, everybody presumes you're recording or making a record [...]. Last time there was no real separation between the writing process and the recording process. [With] St. Anger nobody brought in any pre-recorded stuff or ideas; it was just make it up on the spot, be in the moment [...]. So this time we are doing exactly what we did on all the other albums — first we're writing, then we're recording. The only difference is [...] that we're writing where we record. So we're writing here at HQ because this is our home, [...] we're writing in the studio.

— Lars Ulrich

First "New Songs" performed

File:Metallica Death Magnetic sessions Yeager 2.jpg

James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett rehearsing

During their Escape from the Studio '06 tour, the band debuted two songs, temporarily titled "The New Song" and "The Other New Song". These two songs have been unnofficially dubbed "Death Is Not the End" and "Vulturus" respectively by fans. Both songs are fast-paced and feature solos from Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett.

"The New Song" debuted on the European leg in Berlin, Germany on June 6, 2006 (2006-06-06). The song, as performed, is approximately eight minutes long. The title is rumored to be "Death Is Not the End" as Hetfield repeatedly sings the line throughout the song. This song would appear again in multiple Fly on the Wall videos on "Mission Metallica" website, showing the band partway through the song's recording, as noted by the slower tempo and lack of lyrics.

"The Other New Song" debuted August 12, 2006 (2006-08-12) in Tokyo, Japan, and is much shorter, taking just below four minutes to perform.

On January 17, 2007 (2007-01-17), Lars Ulrich stated in an interview with Revolver that the band would be conceiving the album much like they did their albums prior to working with ex-producer Bob Rock; they would sit down, write a select amount of songs, then enter the studio to record them. He also quoted current producer Rick Rubin by saying Rubin doesn't want them to start the recording process until every song that they are going to record is as close to 100 percent as possible.

In January 2008 (2008-01), a statement was made by Stereowarning.com that the album would be delayed until September of 2008, but was quickly denied by Metallica's management since an album without a defined release date can not be "delayed."

On April 15, 2008 (2008-04-15), LP versions of Metallica's first two albums Kill 'Em All and Ride the Lightning were released. Both LPs came with surprise inserts directing fans to the link of the "Mission Metallica" website. According to the website, new information was to be released pertaining to the new album on May 12. Warner Bros. also promised new material from the band would be released while Metallica was on tour, but as of July, no new material has surfaced besides previews featured in the band's Fly on the Wall videos.

Recording process

File:Metallica Death Magnetic sessions Yeager 1.jpg

Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield during the Death Magnetic recording sessions

File:Metallica Death Magnetic sessions Yeager 3.jpg

Robert Trujillo, the band's bassist, sings in the studio

On March 5, 2007 (2007-03-05), Lars Ulrich revealed that the band had narrowed a potential 25 songs down to 14, and that they would begin recording those 14 songs on the following week. He also expanded on Rick Rubin's style of production, saying,

Rick's big thing is to kind of have all these songs completely embedded in our bodies and basically next Monday, on D-Day, just go in and execute them [...]. So you leave the creative element of the process out of the recording, so you go in and basically just record a bunch of songs that you know inside out and upside down and you don't have to spend too much of your energy in the recording studio creating and thinking and analyzing and doing all that stuff. His whole analogy is, the recording process becomes more like a gig — just going in and playing and leaving all the thinking at the door.

— Lars Ulrich

On March 14, 2007 (2007-03-14), the band's official website issued the following statement: "Metallica left the comfort of HQ this week to descend upon the greater Los Angeles area to begin recording their 9th original album. This is the first time they've recorded outside of the Bay Area since they spent an eternity at One-On-One Studios recording The Black Album in '90 and '91." This was confirmed on July 24, 2008 (2008-07-24) on "Mission: Metallica", as a video surfaced showed the crew moving into Sound City Studios of Nirvana fame.

On June 4, 2007 (2007-06-04), bassist Robert Trujillo revealed in an interview that only select portions of the two new songs debuted in Berlin and Tokyo respectively will be featured on the album. To the surprise of fans, Metallica played "The Other New Song" once again on June 29, 2007 in Bilbao, Spain.

On July 1, 2007 (2007-07-01), Lars Ulrich stated in an interview that all backing tracks were done in May. He said that all that the album was missing were vocals and overdubs, which were to be recorded in August. They hope to have finished the album by October or November, when album will be mixed. He predicted the album would be out in February 2008. He also revealed that the songs they are working with are quite long. By December 2007, it was reported by Rolling Stone magazine, that overdubs and Hetfield's vocals still had yet to be recorded.

On January 21, 2008 (2008-01-21), through pictures on Metclub.com's "Top Secret" section, it has been revealed that Hetfield began recording vocals for the album.

On February 29, 2008 (2008-02-29), according to Sterlingsound.com, it was discovered that Ted Jensen from Sterling Sound Studios will be mastering the new record. Supposedly, he signed on to do it on August 24, 2006 (2006-08-24). Their name has since been removed from Ted Jensen's list of projects, however. According to Blabbermouth.net and other sources, Greg Fidelman, who has served as engineer for the recording process, has also been tapped to mix the album.

Release

Beside the free access to "Mission: Metallica" website, marketed as Experience 1 – which includes footage of writing and recording of Death Magnetic, riffs and excerpts from it, exclusive photos and live tracks – three different commercial packages of the album were revealed as three "Mission: Metallica Platinum" options, along with special collector's edition of the album:

Experience 2:

• Digital download of Death Magnetic at 320 kbit/s, ringtones, two live shows, additional 2 hours of exclusive "making of" footage, 250 photos – plus all the above (from Experience 1);

Experience 3:

• A physical copy of Death Magnetic CD – plus all the above (from Experiences 1–2);

Experience 4:

• A set of Death Magnetic on 5 vinyl LP albums, in a 180-gram box, with 5 individual sleeves, a "Mission: Metallica" lithograph – plus all the above (from Experiences 1–3).

The Box Magnetic – Death Magnetic (Death in a Coffin):

• A collector's edition white coffin-shaped box, in three different sizes (M, L, or XL), which includes: the Death Magnetic CD in a special carton box, the additional CD with 10 demos of the songs from the album, a DVD of even more "making of" footage not seen on "Mission: Metallica", an exclusive t-shirt with a Death Magnetic logo, a flag, guitar picks, a fold out coffin-shaped poster with the members of Metallica, and a collector's credit card with a code for a free download of a European show in September. The box set is also available for pre-order in the United Kingdom, Australia, Poland, Finland, Spain, and Switzerland, but not in the United States. In Australia the pre-order price is $AU209.99

On July 17, 2008 (2008-07-17), the album's cover art was revealed through the "Mission Metallica" site. The cover features an empty coffin with a black and white design around it (representing iron filings in a magnetic field) with the Metallica logo at the bottom.

Digital premiere through video games

In an October 2007 (2007-10) interview with the creators of the Rock Band video game, it was stated that Metallica has given rights to MTV Games, the game's publisher, to have the first single off Death Magnetic available for playability on the game before the album's release.

On July 14, 2008 (2008-07-14), it was revealed at the Microsoft E3 demonstration, that the entire Death Magnetic album would be made playable for the game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock at the time when the album is released, and later in October, in the new Guitar Hero game, Guitar Hero World Tour.

Album title

On July 16, 2008 (2008-07-16), James Hetfield commented on the album's title:

Death Magnetic, at least the title, to me [...] started out as kind of a tribute to people that have fallen in our business, like Layne Staley and a lot of the people that have died, basically — rock and roll martyrs of sorts. And then it kind of grew from there. Thinking about death… some people are drawn towards it, and just like a magnet, [and] other people are afraid of it and push away. And the concept that we're all gonna die sometimes is over-talked about and then a lot of times never talked about — no one wants to bring it up; it's the big white elephant in the living room. But we all have to deal with it at some point.

— James Hetfield

Track listing

The following track listing has been confirmed by Metallica's official website:

1. "That Was Just Your Life"
2. "The End of the Line"
3. "Broken, Beat & Scarred"
4. "The Day That Never Comes"
5. "All Nightmare Long"
6. "Cyanide"
7. "The Unforgiven III"
8. "The Judas Kiss"
9. "Suicide & Redemption"
10. "My Apocalypse"

Media impressions

In a 2007 interview with Rolling Stone, Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum described his impressions of the unfinished songs:

Lars is a good friend of mine. He played me the demos from San Francisco, and I turned and looked at him and I said, 'Master that shit and put it out.' It's ridiculous. The demos were sick. Eight-minute songs, all these tempo changes, crazy fast. It's like, 'Dude, don't get slower when you get older, but don't get faster!? How are you gonna play this live?' And then me and Lars were out partying all night, and he had to go in the studio the next day and do this stupid like nine- or ten-minute song, and I was laughing at him — because he played me the demo of it, and it was [sings really fast drum part], so fast. I called him, and said, 'Dude, how are you feeling?' He was like, 'Dude, I'm hurting.' They're cutting everything to tape, no fuckin' Pro Tools — live, no clicks. Bitchin'. I dig it. I'm really excited for them.

— Matt Sorum

Six of Death Magnetic's ten tracks were revealed to members of the UK music press at a listening party on June 4, 2008 (2008-06-04), where it was confirmed that there are two eight minute songs present on the album.

The lead single, the name of which has also not yet been confirmed, is described as the most downbeat track on the album, and is said to be reminiscent of their 1990 Grammy-winning epic breakthrough single "One". The band have reportedly abandoned the solo-free approach that they followed on St. Anger, returning to complex, multi-layered arrangements such as those typically found on ...And Justice For All. The album was also described as lasting 75 minutes, and being made up of ten tracks.

Thrash Hits was one of the first websites, along with The Quietus to comment on Death Magnetic, suggesting "it is a vast improvement on 2003 album St Anger". Metal Hammer has noted on Death Magnetic's "sharp riffs" and "uncharacteristic bouncing grooves," and compares the band's sound throughout these six tracks to other bands including Slayer, Led Zeppelin and even Rage Against the Machine. Rock Sound has also compared the album's first single to the likes of Thin Lizzy.

While Metallica was on the first leg of its 2008 tour in Europe, a third party at Metallica's management Q Prime demanded that media impressions and blogs be taken down for reasons undefined. However, when notified upon their return to the United States, the band was reportedly angered by their management's demands, and drummer Lars Ulrich rectified this issue by posting as many links as Metallica could find on their official website, along with an apology.

Personnel

• James Hetfield – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Kirk Hammett – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Robert Trujillo – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Lars Ulrich – drums, percussion
• Rick Rubin – producer
• Ted Jensen – mastering
• Greg Fidelman – mixing