Metallica

Metallica Memorabilia

Posted on by edwardlayland

As described in my piece on Memorabilia (see here) collecting records was an experience in itself. However, it went much deeper than the joy of buying and owning a product, it was actually like a kind of feedback loop. You bought a collector’s edition of a single, 12″, boxed set or whatever because you were a fan, and buying it made you even more of a fan. Nothing can come close to my collection of records by The Cult (that’ll be an epic gallery), but my Metallica collection is also pretty damn cool!

When Metallica became a significant element of my musical life in the late 1980s, around the release of …And Justice for All, owning their products became a badge of honour among the metal tribe I was a part of. Essentially, it was cool to listen to heavier and heavier music; it was cool to like Metallica; it was cool to own all the albums; it was cool to have limited edition releases. Like the band’s own ethos, more was more – the more Metallica you were, the cooler you were. As a fifteen year old, heavily into metal, wanting more than anything to be cool, I bought into it and consumed as many of my favourite band’s products as I could, be it the Cult, Metallica, Guns n Roses, or whoever I’d got into. Also, I had grown up in a single-parent family with little in the way of luxury, but birthday money, Christmas money and what I could spare from my paper round and then my Saturday job went on an endless merry-go-round of first and second-hand vinyl and cassettes. The fact that I paid for these things myself gave them even more value.

Obviously, the culmination of all this investing in my favourite bands came as I grew up a little and had the chance to see them live. Monsters of Rock at Donington in 1991 just after the release of the Black Album was quite simply prime Metallica, and I have included some shots in the gallery of reviews and pictures from the magazines of the day that I still have. The fact that I made a scrap book probably tells you that I was maybe not quite the cool metal kid I had aspired to be, but I no longer worry about these things. Milton Keynes Bowl in 1993 with Megadeth guesting, with The Almighty, who supported everyone back then (I saw them a bunch of times) and Diamond Head, should have been the peak moment in my love for the band. However, too much drinking and chaos took the shine off that day. Still got my ticket though (see below).

I’ll admit that I am no longer in possession of everything I have ever owned by Metallica – a few odds and bits got sold at a record fair recently and other items got lost in the mists of time (VHS Tapes of A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica) – but I still have some significant, meaningful items that will no doubt end up being inherited! Featured in the gallery below are: the US edition 7″ of One; the crate edition of Live Shit: Binge and Purge; the six and a half year anniversary 12″ collection – The Good, The Bad & The Live (what was Metallica’s thing with half years?!); the cassette single of Eye of the Beholder; the cassette of The $5:98 EP Garage Days Re-Revisited; Limited Edition 12″ singles of Nothing Else Matters and Enter Sandman; and the Master of Puppets aniversary book, Back to The Front.

These are all just things, I know, but together they tell a story and represent the impact music can have on how we choose to live our lives. These memories represent moments of joy, disappointment, discovery and regret, and looking back now, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Good times!

Metallica and The Thing That Should Not Be

Posted on by edwardlayland

Metallica´s Black Album was a brave departure from the winning formula thrash of the first four records and resulted in stratospheric sales in excess of 30 million, making it one of the most important records in the history of rock. It includes some of their finest songs with the likes of Enter Sandman, Sad But True and The Unforgiven, and took their sound to a whole new level, catapulting the band to a status in the music industry few can hope to achieve. So, why have I never embraced it like the previous records?

Like so much of the music that I came to love in the eighties, I first heard Metallica while listening to the Friday Rock Show on BBC Radio 1. It wasn’t actually one of their best tunes, but with …And Justice For All set to drop that week, Tommy Vance played Eye of the Beholder and hooked me once again. I soon fell for all things Metallica and the Justice album became a staple of my teenage years and my gateway into their back catalogue. Although like many of their fans, it is the first four albums (+ Garage Days) that define Metallica for me, it was this period from Justice to the Black Album that really rocked my world – I bought the albums, I spent a shit ton on Live Shit: Binge & Purge; I managed to get The Good, The Bad & The Live: The 6½ Year Anniversary 12″ Collection; and even a US edition 7″ of One – I remember being excited to see the video on TOTP or the Chart Show. I also had the Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica videos on VHS. I could not get enough and it all culminated in seeing them at Donington Monsters of Rock in 1991 playing second fiddle to AC/DC.

However, there was something about the Black Album that just didn’t sit well with me. Sure, I loved Sad But True, it was heavy as fuck, and The Unforgiven was a masterpiece of song craft, so I didn’t feel like Metallica had sold out. I mean, it was obvious to all that they were moving forwards commercially and they were proactive in doing so, with James getting singing lessons, Kirk being taught by Joe Satriani, and hiring a more mainstream producer big enough to challenge the band to do better in Bob Rock. The result was a slicker sound and next-level Metallica – they were experimenting creatively and developing as artists – but that wasn’t the issue for me. It was more that some of the songs left me cold and, as I had the vinyl version, the record had a disjointed feel as four blocks of three songs. It was only years later, while reviewing Hardwired (https://hardpressed.com.br/2016/11/22/metallica-hardwired-to-self-destruct-album-review/) that I realized what the problem was – “their lack of capacity to self edit has made for an album with excess baggage“.

Metallica has rarely employed a philosophy of less is more. They have never been a band to give their songs space as, even today, according to Rob Trujillo: “We have more riffs than we know what to do with“. It seems as if they come from a perspective of building songs around the riffs, so the impression is that it becomes more about fitting a song to a riff, or multiple riffs, rather than fitting a riff to a song. Obviously, this mostly works for Metallica and they do, apparently, discard much more than they use, but there are clearly moments where the resulting song is just not that great, which is also not a big deal – all bands have filler. However, in my humble opinion, as Metallica’s bar got set so much higher than most, for the Black Album to be the all conquering record it is lauded to be, a few of those songs could have been saved for b-sides as they are simply not adding anything to the record as a whole.

Given the gargantuan success they have achieved over the last forty plus years, James, Lars and co obviously know what they are doing, but the fact that they rarely play live some of the songs from the album says a lot. I mean, the three tracks that I would drop – Holier Than Thou (nice riffs but vocally and lyrically poor), Don’t Tread on Me (awful), and Struggle Within (meh) – have amassed a grand total of 150 live performances between them. There are songs from 72 Seasons that they have played more often than the latter two. I would, however, keep My Friend of Misery for the atmospheric texture, the bass line, and how it fits the vibe better, even though it is another song with only 20 live outings.

I am not trying to say that I know better than Metallica, but as a massive fan, I felt sure that a bit of editing could make for a more enjoyable experience. So, I have reworked The Black Album in a Spotify playlist, cutting the three offending songs listed above and rejigging the running order for a more satisfying listen. I have kept what works with the big hitters staying in more or less the same position, but, for me, the second half now flows much better and doesn’t find me skipping to Nothing Else Matters before I switch off. Have a listen and see what you think.

Behind the Mask of MegaDave

Posted on by edwardlayland

I am a Megadeth fan. I have been listening to their music for the best part of forty years, I saw them at their very best on the Rust in Peace tour and supporting Metallica, and I have written about them extensively. So, last Saturday, I was really excited about watching the cinema release of the Behind the Mask movie. However, this intimite look at the world’s second most important thrash band indirectly revealed much more about its leader than providing deep insight into the life, times and music of a band the fans love so much.

Behind the Mask largely achieves its purpose of being a listening party for the band’s final release and it has an engaging format with Dave Mustaine telling us about the new songs and providing a potted history of the band’s journey between tracks. Although the film doesn’t appear to be particularly scripted, as Dave is often on a stream of consciousness skipping blithely over important moments in the band’s career, it does appear a little contrived with the frontman sitting at a desk surrounded by Megadeth merch such as the Vic Rattlehead Funk o Pop and copies of the Rust in Peace book.

We get to hear the entire album at full power through the cinema sound system, with a series of lyric videos alongside the official releases for the ferocious Tipping Point and the punky I Don’t Care, which we discover was written in place of covering a punk tune. The new record is actually pretty damn good, some of the visuals are stunning, others less so, and gaining some insight into how the songs were made and what goes on the studio made it all worth the ticket price. There is a fabulous scene of Dave dancing in his seat during playback, hair tied back, glasses on and waving a popsicle (ice lolly) around, revealing that he is still just a kid at heart.

However, I can’t help but feel that this is one massive missed opportunity and that Dave has a lot of things he needs to work out. The three main points that he makes, besides reminding us of being a black belt (he slips it seemlessly into a story about Nick Menza becoming the drummer) and revealing the ability to predict earthquakes based on the weather, are that he really doesn’t have a problem with the guys from Metallica (no, really), he does have a problem with band members receiving collaboration fees for “being in the room” when he shows them a song, and he is the first metal guy to thank Jesus at the Grammys. All of these things get mentioned twice.

The overall impression is that Dave never got past being the new kid at school that he often was and still feels the need to try hard to impress people and that he never got over being dumped by Metallica and still feels the need to show that he has “closed the circle”. He tells us how Megadeth was the first metal band to have a website and Gene Simmons wanted one just like it. On said website, Dave was hanging out in the chatroom one night and a kid got beaten by his drunk dad but Dave asked if anyone lived nearby and managed to get someone to intervene, thus saving the kid’s relationship with his father. Then there is how songs like Darkest Hour saved people or how Train of Consequences gave a girl who had been hit by a train the will to carry on! It all seemed to unnecessarily magnify the importance of Megadave in people’s lives.

The people watching the film already know how good Megadeth is, knowing about Dave being a black-belt fighting, earthquake predicting, internet pioneer, chatroom saviour inspiration to the depressed and disabled doesn’t really add to our appreciation of their speed metal awesomeness. Rather than telling us how amazing he is, Dave, who has been praised for his honesty in the film, could have told us about his addiction issues, or how he got through cancer and a debilitating nerve condition, or how he successfully navigated the grunge era, or given us some insight into accepting slots to open for Metallica, or what it was like touring Clash of the Titans or the Big Four, or how much it meant to go multi-platinum and receive an award for Countdown to Extinction or finally receive a Grammy for Dystopia.

Instead we get a stream of consciousness about Dave’s superiority and pettiness (there is a fine for any promotor who spells Megadeth with an A) and zero ownership of anything that went wrong. Despite making it clear that it is his band and he has creative control, he basically blames Bud Prager and Marty Friedman for the Risk fiasco. At one point, there are three (classic) song titles on the screen with the writing credit below each just listing Dave Mustaine; when the fourth song appears (I think it’s Crush ‘Em), it lists Mustaine, Prager, and Friedman as the writers as if to say “ya see what happens when other people get involved”. In fact, he is pretty dismissive of Friedman’s contribution to the band, saying that his solos for Rust in Peace were based on Chris Poland’s demos and that once Marty had said he preferred The Doctor is Calling after Dave slowed it down he knew that was the end.

Then there is the Metallica issue. The last song that gets played is Ride the Lightning. Fair enough, it is the last song on the record and it does take us back to the roots of Megadeth. But why allow your success to always come back to you being dumped out of Metallica? What about everything Megadeth achieved and all the great records you made? Some poignant music and a montage of photos from 1983 with James and Lars is not what defines the Megadeth legacy. If Dave genuinely has no problem with those guys, why keep bringing them up? Also, there is more of the distancing himself from anything that went wrong as he downplays the whole thing by saying that they were all young and alcoholic and that things got said, preferring to make it a collective scenario. It’s true that how Dave got fired was pretty shitty, but as to why he got fired, a lot of that is on him.

Anyway, I digress. Behind the Mask could have been an incredible experience for Megadeth’s family of fans – it has its moments with the new songs really standing up and the insight into making an album – but, unfortunately, Dave kinda rains on the parade a little with his discourse, leaving a sense of disappointment and a little sadness at his approach to life. Nevertheless, I will always love the music of Megadeth the band and remember that sometimes we need to separate the artist from their output.

The Definitive Megadeth Top Ten: https://hardpressed.com.br/2026/01/23/the-definitive-megadeth-top-10-2/

Thrashback – Best of 2016

Posted on by edwardlayland

When I first heard Dave Mustaine shredding faster than ever on ‘Fatal Illusion’ it was clear something had shifted. Sure, Megadeth and a bunch of other bands have all continued releasing thrashy records over the years, but it had all gone a bit stale. So when Dystopia dropped and suddenly Megadave was sounding fresh and exciting, it meant something was in the air. And sure enough, little by little, thrash bombs kept dropping and exploding through my headphones with a ferociousness and fervour I hadn’t heard in years.

As in 1986, three of the big four have released killer records this year, but as well as the big guns there are a crop of other groups who have also put out some of the finest work of their careers and some of the finest thrash albums ever. The list of quality releases this year is quite literally massive, the genre as a whole sounding vibrant and exciting.

I put this down to the marginalization within the music industry; now that there are so few major labels, all of which concentrate their eggs firmly in the mainstream basket, there is a gaping hole on the alternative side of things, so counter culture is thriving, and it is largely fueled by the internet. This has meant that smaller boutique labels like the fantastic Nuclear Blast have been able to deepen otherwise niche markets like that of thrash. A quick flick through the label’s roster and it’s obvious that much of the current excitement on the thrash scene can be laid at their door. Then there’s Metal Blade and Roadrunner and their enduring dedication to the metal scene.

Also, now that we live in super slick, social media obsessed, internet madness, there seems to be a kind of retro cool about the old school sound, suddenly, it’s OK to go back to the eighties, so the older groups now sound relevant rather than dated. Anyway, this eighties vibe and vibrant alternative scene has translated into some mighty fine records and made 2016 the biggest year in thrash since the glory days. Here’s what it’s all been about…

Suicidal Tendencies went back to their roots to great effect with ‘World Gone Mad’, their most defiant and most hardcore record in years. It was great to hear Mike Muir as passionate as ever, and with Dave Lombardo putting in a titanic drum performance they managed to retain a thrash edge despite the album’s punkiness. Meanwhile, Danish veterans Artillery put together a good old fashioned riff heavy superfly thrasher on Penalty By Perception, which is one seriously riffy record. Of the younger bands kicking up a storm, the standout is undoubtedly Vektor, whose ambitiously conceptual Terminal Redux makes for a technically excellent record and is well worth investing a bit of time in. They put their abilities to good effect, creating a keen sense of drama that resonates between the multiple layers of this highly textured epic. There have also been noteworthy releases from the likes of Voivod, Flotsam and Jetson, Vader and the massive Gojira. However, for my top five it’s strictly old school.

5) Testament – ‘Brotherhood of the Snake’
Of this year’s releases it was ‘Brotherhood of the Snake that was the most pleasantly surprising. I always had a soft spot for Testament and loved their early material, but there was always a feeling of unfulfilled potential with ‘Souls of Black’ failing to deliver on their early promise, despite selling well. Therefore, it was brilliant to hear them produce a record as strong as ‘Brotherhood…’; they sound harder, heavier and faster than in their heyday, but have managed to incorporate their melodic tendencies with some killer hooks; Chuck Billy is sounding incredible, with the kind of performance younger singers could learn a lot from. ‘Black Jack’, ‘The Number Game’, ‘Stronghold’, ‘The Pale King’ are just some of the stand outs on this relentless collection of all killer no filler.

4) Megadeth – Dystopia
There are moments on ‘Dystopia’ that could slip easily into Megadeth‘s impressive cannon of material. The above mentioned ‘Fatal Illusion’, which rocks as hard and fast as anything on ‘Peace Sells…’, being one, the ‘Rust’ish ‘Bullet To The Brain’ another. Then there’s the double punch of the massive ‘Poisonous Shadows’ and instrumental ‘Conquer or Die’, where Kiko Loureiro (Angra) and Lamb of God‘s Chris Adler really earn their salt, proving the catalysts for this reinvigoration. Sure, ‘Dystopia’ has its flaws, but this is without doubt Mustaine’s strongest album in years and with the current line up they actually sound exciting again.

3) Anthrax – ‘For All Kings’
Despite sounding a little overblown on first listen, For All Kings has stood up well and repeated listens have revealed more and more depth to this excellent record, the songs are excellently crafted and there is a surprisingly strong sense of melody to temper their ever present thrashiness. Joey Belladonna is quite simply outstanding throughout and musically speaking there is plenty to get your ears around, from stone cold bangers like Evil Twin to textured epics like the sprawling Blood Eagle Wings, the entire album rocks.

2) Metallica – ‘Hardwired…to Self-Destruct’
At its best ‘Hardwired…to Self-Destruct’ is up there with Metallica‘s finest work. The first half of the album, or disc one of the CD, delivering in spades. However, the second half is found wanting and lends a slight sense of disappointment to what could have been their best record since ‘Puppets’. Once again, the band’s incapacity to self edit has meant that some really good riffs are wasted on some really average songs. Even so, when it works, it nails it in style; ‘Moth Into Flame’ is their finest single since Enter Sandman, ‘Dream No More’ will be massive live and ‘Halo on Fire’ plays like a retrospective of their entire career. There is a welcome ‘Kill ’em All’ vibe underpinning the record, with some serious classic riffing liberally peppered around the album, and all in all it is very, very good, but just misses out on being the modern classic we were hoping for.

1) Death Angel – The Evil Divide
Without doubt the most vibrant thrash release of the year is ‘Evil Divide’; with stacks of sublime riffing from Rob Cavestany and absolutely superb vocals from Mark Osegueda. From the moment opening track ‘The Moth’ starts racing away on the back of some fly riffage, the album hits a pulsating thrash fury that is relentless. The full on attack of each and every track is nothing short of killer, it sounds fresh and exciting, yet has a foot firmly in classic thrash territory, while boasting an energy and groove that is hard to beat. ‘Hatred United, United Hate’ is simply awesome, while the performances on the emotion fueled ‘Lost’ are nothing short of stunning; then there’s the killer guitar work on tracks like ‘Breakaway’ and the excellent arrangements of songs like ‘It Can’t Be This’ and ‘Father of Lies’. Not only is it an immediately likeable album, but it stands up – it doesn’t get tired with repeated listens and at a tight ten tracks there’s no baggage and it never gets indulgent. Great fucking record.

What’s Hot In My House – November 2016

Posted on by edwardlayland

It’s been a busy old month, what with listening to pretty much everything Metallica have ever recorded for a piece I wrote for Already Heard. Then there was the surprisingly awesome, but shamelessly nostalgic, Guns n Roses show, which meant catching up on some old favourites, plus the usual selection of stuff to review and fill the hours of endless bus journeys. Also, with the usual round of end of year lists coming up, I’ve been dedicating a bit of time to checking out some stuff I’d been meaning to listen to. As such, it’s been a metal heavy month, even so, between the big ass riffs and raging solos I have managed to squeeze in some sublime listening. Here’s the smooth grooves that have been dripping honey into my brain of late.

Although It’s been out a while, only now have I got round to checking out ‘Love & Hate’ the absolutely incredible second album from Michael Kiwanuka. Damn, this is a fine record. Beautiful, heartbreaking, emotional and uplifting in equal measure. It makes for a superb take on human nature, echoing with vibes from the sixties and seventies, yet succeeding in sounding contemporary and topical, this is a sublime record that will be very close to the top of my end of year lists.

The cool groove of Warpaint‘s Heads Up has also been on pretty heavy rotation of late. There’s something wonderfully understated about the subtle mix of textures on these laid back deep cuts that keeps me coming back for more. There is a lot of experimentation with beats to compliment the hypnotic qualities of the vocals and instrumentation, all of which kinda defies classification and gives it a refreshing air of individuality. It’s well worth giving this a few plays and immersing yourself in its subtleties.

Another cracking recent release that I had the pleasure of reviewing, is the totally old school thrash of Testament and ‘Brotherhood of the Snake’. Honestly, this is as good as, if not better than, anything they released back in their heyday. It’s by far their most frantically thrashy record and includes some serious hooks that make it instantly catchy. Chuck Billy delivers an absolutely killer vocal performance throughout on track upon track of raging metal. Killer record.

Metallica – Hardwired… to Self-Destruct Album Review

Posted on by edwardlayland

20160818_193928_7549_939483Metallica are like The Clash of thrash metal, pioneering a genre that they easily outgrew. The thing about them though, is that they have been under pressure to go back to that genre ever since the ‘Black Album’, and while ‘Death Magnetic’ largely placated the naysayers that yes, they could still thrash, the question of their relevance remained open. That has firmly been put to bed by the release of ‘Hardwired…to Self-Destruct’; I mean, how often is a new album an event these days? And who drops a video for every single track on the record the night before its release? This is the very pioneering spirit that established Metallica as the biggest metal band in history and what they are offering on their first album in eight years – ‘Lulu’ doesn’t count people – for the most part does not disappoint, yet is also quite typically flawed.

From the word go, it’s clear there’s still life in the old dogs yet; the fast and furious ‘Hardwired’ being a no-holds barred flier, while the Maidenesque ‘Atlas, Rise’ is a massive tune to follow. Both tunes are pretty much instant classics, yet it’s ‘Moth Into Flame’ that steals the show of the three singles. It is quintessential Metallica – radio friendly, yet defiantly muscular – every bit as good as ‘Enter Sandman’.

The rest of the first disc of the double album is equally high level. ‘Now That We’re Dead’ is a slick take on their early eighties sound, but is fresh and rocks along nicely at mid-tempo; its hook sure to stand the test of time. Then there’s the slow boiling groove of ‘Dream No More’ which eats into the brain and will no doubt become a live favourite, especially with Hammett’s bad ass solo.

‘Halo on Fire’ also boasts an eighties feel to the intro but it gives way to that atmospheric groove a la ‘Until it Sleeps and for a while is reminiscent of Load era, only with more bite. It takes a heavier turn with a series of shifts in tempo and despite being a bit piecemeal, the arrangement really works – with James’ most versatile vocal to boot, it makes for a killer track.

‘Confusion’ opens the second disc in competent enough fashion, although there’s something not quite right about it. Metallica work by putting riffs together like a jigsaw, but sometimes, like here, the pieces don’t fit perfectly – it’s not exactly bad, just maybe a bit, er, confused.

The rest of disc 2 is enjoyable enough, but lacks the quality of the first half. ‘Here Comes Revenge’ is interesting musically speaking, a fine performance from Ulrich underpinning the shifting textures, although it finds Hetfield uncharacteristically obvious on the lyrical front.

The mid-tempo ‘ManUnkind’ and the brooding ‘Am I Savage?’ are both fairly straightforward slices of Metallica at their most functional and don’t really nail it, despite more fine soloing from Hammett. ‘Murder One’ meanwhile is just plain dull, its lumbering metal by numbers makes for a slightly disappointing tribute to Lemmy – the yee ha metal madness of closing track ‘Spit the Bone’, the saving grace of disc two, far more in keeping with the Motorhead front man’s metal footprint.

Despite the shortcomings of the second half of the record, ‘Hardwired…to Self-Destruct’ remains a mighty fine album of quality metal, but when you have set the bar as high as Metallica there are going to be moments when they fall short. Once again, their lack of capacity to self edit has made for an album with excess baggage. It is telling that their first three albums all weighed in under 55 minutes and contained very little in the way of filler, while since ‘Load’ every studio album has over seventy minutes of music, hmmm.

Even so, there are plenty of ticks on the plus side, the underlying influence of ‘Kill ’em All’ is most welcome, Kirk Hammett delivers some of the finest solos of his career and Ulrich has finally evolved into a drummer of versatile excellence. Some of the material on display is seriously high quality, easily standing up alongside their finest work, and could be seamlessly slipped into their live set.

8.5/10

Buy the damn thing here: https://metallica.com/store/featured

Metallica – Atlas, Rise! Review

Posted on by edwardlayland

I think the most striking thing about ‘Atlas, Rise!’, the third track to drop from the new Metallica album, is the obvious Iron Maiden influence. It’s there in the straightforward riffing, the high flying guitar lines, extended mid-section and slightly over-long running time. As such, it’s actually another pretty damn good track – high energy rather than thrashy – echoing much more of ‘Kill ’em All’ than of the convoluted ‘Justice’ era tracks.

Although there is an obvious step back in time, it doesn’t feel like a going back to their roots just to regain some credibility, it kinda sounds like they’ve maybe been listening to some old school tunes and rediscovered what got them excited in the first place. This, and the obvious hooks, succeed in lending an air of vibrancy that was lacking on ‘Death Magnetic’, making it as immediate a listen as ‘Hardwired’ and ‘Moth Into Flame’. Another plus point is that ‘Kirk Hammett is sounding rejuvenated as he delivers more fine soloing and if the video clip is anything to go by, James, Lars and co seem to be enjoying themselves. Whether ‘Atlas, Rise!’ stands the test of time remains to be seen, but it is certainly another promising snippet of what is to come. I haven’t been this excited about a Metallica album in years. Roll on November 18th.

What’s Hot In My House – October 2016

Posted on by edwardlayland

It’s been slightly weird musicwise of late. I’ve been kinda stuck, well, not exactly stuck, just dominated by Metallica, I guess. It went from revisiting ‘Master of Puppets’ to working my way through the back catalogue. Basically, with the upcoming release of ‘Hardwired…’ I’ve been writing a beginner’s guide for the good people at Already Heard, which involves gargantuan amounts of research, and I’ve also done my own top ten of Metallica covers and a piece on the big four of thrash.

https://hardpresseded.wordpress.com/2016/09/14/metallica-top-ten-covers/
https://hardpresseded.wordpress.com/2016/09/10/the-big-four-part-1-thrash/

Metallica aside, I can’t seem to put down the awesome Black Foxxes record and I keep going back to Pixies’ ‘Head Carrier’ too. It’s been like my default record and I am now convinced it’s a cracker. Anyway, what all this has meant is that the rest of my listening time had been restricted to what I have been reviewing, which has actually been of pleasingly good quality, albeit not exactly plum in the middle of my comfort zone. So, here are the mosh pit fillers and sweaty back room bangers that have been vibrating in my cans of late. Check em out.

I had the distinct pleasure of reviewing the reflective break up album ‘You Make Everything Disappear’ by Trade Wind. This is an interesting side project from members of a couple of (post) hardcore groups, Stick to Your Guns and Stray from The Path, on which singer Jesse Barnett bares his tortured soul in emphatic style. It’s a deeply atmospheric record that slips easily between the tender and the vitriolic to a musically exploratory backdrop that includes spacious piano melodies, subtle touches of electronica and hard edged riffs to stunning effect; great record.

Now here’s a record that surprised the shit outta me. Cove are essentially a hard core band, which normally would have me enjoying the odd song, but not really going back for more – it’s the constant angst filled screaming you see, gets on my tits. However, these guys incorporate some serious metal riffing and certainly know how to structure a good tune, which makes for a vibrantly energetic record with plenty of depth. So if you like a bit of barbed wire to your emotion and can take a little hard edged pummelling, this is well worth a look.

At the completely opposite end of the spectrum is the ragged beauty of the warm hug of a record that is The Lion and The Wolf‘s ‘Cardiac Hotel’, reviewed here: https://hardpresseded.wordpress.com/2016/10/07/the-lion-and-the-wolf-cardiac-hotel-review/
Simply put, this is a gorgeous album that keeps me coming back for more, sure it is wrapped in sadness and some of the tracks are like open wounds, but it also a record that offers comfort and warmth, I cannot recommend it more highly.

Metallica – Moth Into Flame Review

Posted on by edwardlayland

Hold the phone, Metallica just dropped another track from the forthcoming album, ‘Hard Wired’, and much like the first single there is a nagging sense of familiarity about it. This, however, is no bad thing, as it sounds like the Metallica we know and love being the Metallica we know and love – it’s like they’re done pissing around and have gone back to writing quality heavy metal.

‘Moth Into Flame’ is not quite the full on thrash fury of the first single, but this take on the attractions and pitfalls of fame is a satisfying listen and worth it for the blazing Kirk Hammett solo alone, heavy wah wah and all. The track opens with a Maidenish lick that soon turns into a chugging riff straight out of the bay area, featuring those little rising licks on the end of riffs, besides the typical Lars stops and fills, a slick vocal from James and even a hint of harmony on the chorus.

Ok, so there’s plenty of recycling going on, including a mid section tempo change, lines with only one word – ‘Decadence!’ – and I’m sure I’ve heard that melody somewhere before, but hey, who really cares? They’ve proved everything they’ve ever needed to prove, conquering the rock world in uncompromising fashion, I mean, when you’re heavy metal champion of the world you can do a lot worse than sound like a copy of yourself with a few of your influences and contemporaries thrown in for good measure. Sounds like the new album will rock.

Metallica Top Ten Covers

Posted on by edwardlayland

With the coming release of the new Metallica album in November there’s gonna be a whole lotta words dedicated to the San Francisco Metal titans in the next couple of months. As I’m currently researching a mega piece for Already Heard, I’m listening to pretty much everything they’ve ever done and have to say the awesomeness of their back catalogue is really quite something.

I’m finally giving the ‘Load’ and ‘Reload’ albums the chance they always deserved and can now grudgingly admit to their undeniable quality (I prefer Reload) even if they’re not the sound of James and Co in full thrash fury. Anyway, when it comes to Metallica, there’s nothing more divisive than a top ten, and as good as their entire catalogue may be, mine would be firmly rooted in the glory days of the band’s career. Unless, of course, we do an alternative top ten, say of cover versions…. because if there’s one thing the Metallica boys like doing, it’s loosening up on someone else’s songs. Check it out.

10/9 Last Caress and So What
The Misfits’ ‘Last Caress’ originally featured on the $5:98 Garage Days EP and is basically an ode to rape, murder and the longing for death and is enjoyable and disturbing in equal measure (check this explanation! https://medium.com/school-of-pop/the-misfits-last-caress-is-one-of-the-best-punk-songs-ever-here-s-why-db9e67df6b90#.c7n12c8ds). However, with references to cock sucking, goat fucking and piss drinking, ‘So What’ is probably the most politically incorrect song in history and Metallica make it sound as fun as it was always intended to be. British punk band Anti Nowhere League originally wrote the song to poke fun at people telling exaggerated stories, but given the offensive lyrics it tends to stir a little controversy, especially when it’s played with ‘Last Caress’ live on MTV when the band were supposed to be airing a brand new song, oops!

8 Helpless
Lars must love Diamond Head because this is not the only song of theirs Metallica have covered. Anyway, this was the first song to feature Jason Newstead on bass on the $5:98 EP and it fucking rocks! In fact the whole EP is great and Newkid played a blinder, quite why they then smothered the bass with layers of guitar on the Justice album is beyond me (now there’s a remastered version waiting to happen).

7 Tuesday’s Gone
James has been out of the country closet for sometime now and there’s no better way to marry that passion to his first love than by covering Lynyrd Skynyrd with a bunch of rock n roll friends. Great song, great version.

6 Remember Tomorrow
This is a great version of the Iron Maiden “ballad” – Metallica being Metallica, there´s a bit more meat on this than the original, but the quality of the song itself cannot be denied and they certainly do it justice – killer!

5 The Wait
Not the most obvious song to include, but personally I love this track and think it’s seriously underrated. Killer riff, killer bass line and a dark pulsating groove, this is a great version of the Killing Joke track – love it.

4 Turn The Page
Like many of their covers, I don’t know the original (by Bob Seger), but that doesn’t really matter. Although it’s obviously a departure from their normal style, it suits Metallica’s penchant for a big rock ballad; tune.

3 Stone Cold Crazy
Such is the lightening fast riffing that this Queen track is now actually considered as a precursor to thrash, making it the perfect song for Metallica to cover. As with most of their covers they stay true to the original, but also add that little dash of metalligrit, making for a super fast barnstormer – what’s not to like?

2 Breadfan
I first heard this on the b-side of my ‘Harvester of Sorrow’ cassette single (seriously), which I still have somewhere, and immediately fell in love with it. Obviously, I’ve never actually heard the original by British seventies rockers Budgie, and to be frank, why would I, no way can it be better than James and co in full flight. Go.

1 Am I Evil
This has been part of Metallica’s live set for so long that there are probably people that don’t even realise it’s a cover, talk about owning it. This version is mind blowing.