ST. ANGER

I also can't get over how FRANTIC (pun intended) this record is; all downtuned guitars, pummeling, distorted snare and kick, percussive cymbal washes, lyrics screamed from the bowels of Hell, or Hetfield's alcohol addiction (at this point, probably one in the same), or whatever, inaudible bass playing (thanks, Bob Rock; Robert Trujillo hadn't joined yet), and riff after blistering riff of some of the heaviest stuff they've ever released.

It also seems to be some of the most confused. There are no lead guitars, no pretty intros, no acoustic sleight-of-hand, no flashy technical brilliance of the kind that lit up Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppets. There's a distinct lack of coherence to the record that makes me think more than twice about listening to it instead of, say, Master Of Puppets or ...And Justice For All, both of which are rightly considered classics of their genre. So I really can't give this a full 5-star rating. It's not there yet.

I will, however, give this 4 stars. It's noisy, yes...harsh, yes...loud, yes...pissed off, yes...but I feel it's more cathartic than anything else. The band (now reduced to a trio after Jason Newsted walked away in 2001), were at their wits end and thank God (or whomever) that they channeled that frustration and pissed-off vibe into the music. Otherwise, they might have broken up, and then the world would never have gotten Death Magnetic, one of the best releases of 2008, along with Watershed by Opeth.

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