Metallica - Beyond Magnetic

Published February 22 2012

*=Staff's pick	Hate Train* Just A Bullet Away Hell And Back Rebel Of Babylon*

Genre	Heavy Metal	James Hetfield	Vocals
Tracks	4	James Hetfield	Guitar
Running time	29 Min.	Kirk Hammett	Guitar
Label	Warner Bros	Robert Trujillo	Bass
Release	30 January 2012	Lars Ulrich	Drums
Country	USA	-	Keyboard
Producer	Rick Rubin
Similar artists	---

Beyond Magnetic was originally released on iTunes on December 13th 2011. I'm probably old school and the physical product still has a value for me and when now released on compact disc, I think it's time to review this EP.

After the Lulu debacle with Lou Reed, it's good to hear some Metallica songs again, even though they're from the Death Magnetic sessions about four years ago. These four tracks didn't make the final cut so they are said to be rough mixes. Most people won't hear any difference, considering the utterly bad production and mix that completely destroys most of above mentioned album.

These four songs were taken off the album for a reason. Two of them however could have made it, but the other two are simply not as good as the ten songs that were recorded and released, so for once a band made a correct decision. The songs are roughly seven to eight minutes each and that is too long for Metallica nowadays. In the eighties they could create songs that long and still catch the interest of people during the whole songs with great verses, brilliant solos, fantastic bridges and you name it. On these songs I tend to lose focus as they don't really stick.

Hate Train is a typical Death Magnetic song, but with some resemblance to the Load albums. Just A Bullet Away feels strained and is a song I don't like at all. Third song Hell And Back gives me some St. Anger vibes, which is not flattering. Last song, Rebel Of Babylon is the best song on this EP with some anger and aggressiveness from Mr. Hetfield.

This release is to be taken for what it is and I wasn't expecting any groundbreaking songs. Metallica do what they want to these days and it takes some guts to release four songs that they think aren't good enough for their latest album.

See also review of: Death Magnetic , St. Anger

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
7	7	3	6	5

Summary
5 chalices of 10 - Tobbe