METALLICA — Hardwired... to Self-Destruct (review)

METALLICA — Hardwired... to Self-Destruct album cover

Album · 2016 · Heavy Metal

3.5/5 · 2016-12-06
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If you don't count the poorly received collaboration album with Lou Reed, Lulu (2011), and I'm sure that most of us would rather forget that album, then Hardwired... to Self-Destruct (2016) marks Metallica's comeback after eight years since an album, that being Death Magnetic (2008). Counting Lulu and covers album Garage Inc. (1998), Hardwired... to Self-Destruct is the band's twelfth album. It's been presented as a double album (with special editions also including a third bonus disc), however the use of two discs here, much like Helloween and their album Keeper of the Seven Keys - The Legacy (2005), isn't actually necessary as the material would just about fit on one disc. It would have gone over had they elected to include Lords of Summer (which has been re-recorded since the so called first pass version from 2014) as part of the main album and not a bonus track and the fact that they decided to do that seems a bit like a kick in the teeth, like they're trying to force purchases of the three disc album just so fans can get all the new material. Really, with Lords of Summer, a few cover tracks and some live recordings, this should be a double CD album at most.

I'm in the group that doesn't think that Metallica has released anything original that is really worthwhile since the early nineties. I like Garage Inc. but it's all covers. Death Magnetic is solid enough, but it doesn't have many tracks that have really stuck with me since it was released. That album definitely was a case of tracks needing some trimming down to be more effective, most being around the six to eight minute mark. The same is still true on some of Hardwired... to Self-Destruct's offerings but there are also examples of more concise song-writing like Hardwired (3:09) and Moth Into Flame (5:50) and better usage of mid-length durations, like Atlas, Rise! (6:28). Those three tracks, also known as the album's trio of pre-release singles, are about as good as Hardwired... to Self-Destruct gets. Hardwired is a full on thrasher while the other two blend thrash with strong traditional metal elements that have been more Metallica's thing since Metallica (1991), A.K.A. The Black Album. After these singles dropped, I had some real high hopes for Hardwired... to Self-Destruct to be a really great album from Metallica, the like of which we haven't got from them since the aforementioned Black Album. They were delivering thrash metal with a great energy and James Hetfield was laying down his best vocals in years, so there was even some hope in me that this one would surpass the Black Album and sit comfortably with their thrash metal albums, or at least close to them.

Unfortunately with the exception of the closing Spit Out the Bone, which is another thrasher, the band seem to lose a lot of their steam elsewhere on the album, delivering slower, more heavy metal based tracks. There's nothing inherently wrong with Metallica when they play heavy metal but when they deliver an album like Hardwired... to Self-Destruct where the thrash metal (and even the thrash/heavy metal cross-breeds) kick so much arse, the result is actually a disjointed release. One that even has a couple of really weak tracks in the form of ManUNkind and Murder One. The latter is supposed to be a tribute to the late Motörhead frontman Lemmy, so it's unfortunate that it's one of the weaker cuts here. Another track that doesn't really do much for me is Am I Savage? Which sounds a little too much like Metallica is trying their hardest to have something of their own that kinda sounds like their beloved Diamond Head's Am I Evil? At least with the title. In fact, the second disc of the album in general is a lot weaker than the first. Lords of Summer is also a thrash metal song but as I said earlier Metallica decided to make it a bonus track on the album, so not all versions have it. Which is a shame, as it's actually a lot better than a few of these tracks that made the cut for the actual album.

My impression of Hardwired... to Self-Destruct is that it's an okay heavy metal album that should have been a great thrash metal album. Ironically it's still the best album that they've done since the Black Album, being a very small improvement on Death Magnetic and leagues ahead of Lulu or the just as hated St. Anger (2003). I'd also take it over Load (1996) and ReLoad (1997) any day. But it's just too inconsistent in quality and even style to ever be considered as more than passable.