On through the dead of night, with the Four Horsemen ride…

“Enough fucking around, let’s get on with it”, James Hetfield seems to be growling in this picture.

He’s got good reason to, as do I. It’s been ages since I heard some fresh ‘Tallica material, which is a bit dangerous. I tend to stop listening to bands which don’t churn out new material on a regular basis (that is to say, bands which are still in the business, and haven’t split up or retired or whatever).

Metallica haven’t released a new record in close to 5 years now, and there was a time (about a year or so ago) when I sort of stopped listening to their songs. Not like I started to hate them / got bored of them (don’t see that happening, not as far as this band is concerned). It was more like, “I know all their songs by heart; I can tap out any of Lars’s drum tracks in my sleep; I can whistle the longest and most complex of Hammett’s solos…but now what?”.

I was beginning to lose faith in these boys. Not in their musical abilities, no, but more in their commitment to keep the crowd jumping with new songs. Metallica has a history of spending an unusually long time in the studio, but 5 years is crazy (but not unheard of; they spent close to that much time cutting ‘Load’). They’ve played some new material on-stage over the last couple of years, but most of it sounded pretty half-baked. There was, of course, this one un-named track I pinched off a DJ friend, which was allegedly a new Metallica track. To my friend’s credit, I couldn’t find a live version of this un-named track, and the vocals and the riffing sounded very James Hetfield.

Anyhow, Crowley’s faith is restored as the Four Horsemen ride once again…officially, i.e. The new record is rumored to be out in September (and for once, I’ll wait patiently in queue to buy it, as opposed to taking it off ISOHunt), and Metallica fans can get sneak previews on the Mission Metallica website. Do check it out, it’s worth it (minus Lars’s usual BS). The bits and pieces of riffs in the previews sound good; a lot like the Lightning/Puppets era; vocals sound excellent; drums…hmm…so-so (Lars should really get rid of that snare. It still sounds like a tin drum).

But, all in all, worth waiting for.