Hardwired…To Self-Destruct
File this under Perfect Skateboarding Music. Anchored by James Hetfield’s unctuous roar, songs like “Hardwired,” “Moth Into Flame,” and “Atlas, Rise” are no-frills, hard-charging thrash that knocks over everything in its path. The furious pace comes to a simmer on the nuanced “Dream No More” and “Here Comes Revenge,” both worthy of stadium anthem status. But the prevailing mood is downcast. *Hardwired… To Self-Destruct* is hard music for hard times, an amplified reaction to—and reflection of—an inhumane society.
Like Death Magnetic, Metallica’s latest is an attempt to revisit their early days. The only difference is that this time they sound like they’re actually trying, and maybe even having a bit of fun.
For a band who once seemed dead set on evolving with each album, Hardwired... is something of a mystery.
The long-awaited Metallica record is heavier then hell. Metallica's 'Hardwired... To Self Destruct' reviewed by the NME team.
When Metallica released the Black Album back in 1991 they were already considered by some (many?) to be well past their prime.
At last, the longest wait between Metallica albums is over (discounting ‘Lulu’, obviously). At just under 80 minutes, ‘Hardwired…
The old-school thrashers have been mighty kind to us this year. 2016 has been a thirty-year throwback with fast and refined albums by MEGADETH, ANTHRAX, DESTRUCTION, SODOM, TESTAMENT and now METALLICA — with KREATOR and OVERKILL (two of the most reliable speedsters still playing today) coming 'round...
Tom Wakenell reviews the new album from heavy metal titans Metallica. Read his review of Hardwired... To Self-Destruct here on Distorted Sound!
Metallica - Hardwired...To Self-Destruct review: Metallica stop trying to please everyone else, and release an album that embodies where they're at in their lives.
Eight years since the last Metallica studio album, the timing seems fortuitous for the return of America’s heaviest, hardest and most apocalyptic metal band.
“One thing there's not is the big Metallica ballad – it's all pretty uppity,” said Lars Ulrich of Hardwired… to Self-Destruct, Metallica’s first album for the best part of a decade. If we ignore, for a moment, the Trump-esque grasp of language and assume he meant uptempo rather than arrogant, the drummer appears to be a master of understatement as soon as opener “Hardwired” tears out of the gate, all rabid intent and sweary barking.It’s a tempo that you’d imagine would be difficult to keep up for a group that’s made up of, in the main, men in their 50s, and you’d be right. So, after the rugged riffing and impeccable precision of “Atlas, Rise!”, things slow down and get even heavier – much like men in their 50s. The impressive, progressive slow chug of “Now That We’re Dead”, however, proves to be little more than a pit-stop as “Moth into Flame” goes through the gears with little consideration for the clutch, pausing only to allow a surprisingly considered vocal melody a chance to jump in.The riffs throughout the first CD are inspiredThe playing is perfect – precise and on point. Not that you’d expect anything else from Metallica who, even when they’re off their game (2008’s Death Magnetic, for instance), still eclipse most other metal bands. The riffs throughout the first CD are inspired and as dense and dark as you could hope for.The second disc, however, is where things start to unravel slightly – much like men in their 50s. Simply stated, there’s a marked dip in quality as promising intros give way to disappointing songs; it’s like being given the keys to the city and then finding out that the city in question is Milton Keynes. The furious thrash of “Spit out the Bone” excepted, there could – and should – have been much more considered editing here.That’s not to say Hardwired… isn’t good. In fact, if the best of what’s here had been presented on one disc, it could lay claim to be the best material the band has put out in a quarter of a century. As it is, it needs to lose some ballast… much like men in their 50s. Read more CD and DVD reviews on theartsdesk@jahshabbyOverleaf: watch the video to "Moth into Flame"