Metallica 'Hardwired' review
- Aug 19, 2016
- 3 min read
Eight years after the release of Death Magnetic, five years after Lulu and four and three quarter years after a large number of metal fans disowned that collaboration with Lou Reed and started asking when the next full album would be coming out, a new Metallica record is at last on its way.
The world’s biggest metal band has been very busy over the last few years. There was the performance in Antarctica, making them the only group to have played a show on every continent. They also headlined Glastonbury, becoming the first heavy metal band to do so. Finally there was the release of Through the Never, an interesting yet commercially unsuccessful venture into cinema.
Perhaps hardened by their foray into movies, and having spent nearly thirty years crafting some of the biggest and most well known music videos ever seen, Metallica have quite out of the blue released their latest original video ‘Hardwired’. Compared to videos released for ‘The Day that Never Comes’ and ‘All Nightmare Long’ from the last album, this one is quite minimalist. Shot in black and white, full of strobe lighting and detailing no story other than the band performing the song, it is something of a radical departure.
There are a couple of possible reasons for this. Perhaps Metallica is fully aware that no matter what kind of video they end up releasing to hype a brand new album, it is guaranteed extraordinary visibility. With over one million views in just one day, that certainly seems to be the case. Of course having lost money on Through the Never, maybe Metallica decided it would be best not to spend an extortionate amount of cash on a video to hype the new record before it even starts selling. The minimalism could be a deliberate attempt to get us to focus on the music. As we all know, a new Metallica album is essentially rehearsal for, and the addition of variety to, the live setlists which they will be performing for the next extended period of touring.
So what is the actual track like? It’s immediately obvious that production is exceptional, which seems to indicate that the new record will be mixed in a far better way than Death Magnetic was. It’s a short song by Metallica standards at just over three minutes. Whether or not this bodes well for what is scheduled to be a double disc release remains to be seen, but for those questioning why a band who are known for their lengthy numbers have decided to release two discs worth of material, a short teaser like this could be the band’s way of letting you know that the record won’t be overlong. Having said that Iron Maiden did release a short and snappy teaser for The Book of Souls in ‘Speed of Light’, and their double disc album featured songs which were over eighteen minutes.
James Hetfield remains crisp on vocals, and though Kirk Hammett in keeping with the minimalism of the enterprise only unleashes a brief guitar solo, that flair which has made him one of the standout guitarists of metal is still very much there. Rob Trujillo is there, which is about all that can be said for him in this particular song. It’s not a worry however, as anyone who saw the Making Magnetic documentary will remember how involved he was in the writing of songs like ‘All Nightmare Long’ and instrumental epic ‘Suicide and Redemption’. Not forced into the background like Jason Newsted was during his time in the band, it’ll be interesting to hear what Rob contributes to the latest album. Then there is the much maligned Lars Ulrich. For years a darling of online rants and pub discussions by those who feel he’s either overrated as a drummer or the physical embodiment of the popular “Metallica used to be good and now they’re crap” mentality prevalent among some in the metal community. His drum work in ‘Hardwired’ is pretty good, setting a killer pace for the rest of the band and giving the song the kind of solid, thrashy blasts that he become known for on …And Justice for All.
‘Hardwired’ is an adrenaline shot for Metallica fans. A short but sweet knock on the door (or smack in the face) that lets you know they’re still here and they haven’t forgotten about you. As a video, it’s not much, but as a song it’s pretty damn good. We’re looking very much forward to listening to the new record in November.
Rattle Rating: 7/10
WORDS: Michael Dodd
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