I've been rather disinterested in the last couple of METALLICA records because of their recent tendency to construct generic mid-tempo FM-friendly schlock. But when I began about all the controversy over this release, I had to check it out. It turns out that "St. Anger" is a vicious listen, like putting on a pair of gloves lined with needles. Harsh, demo-style drum sounds and violent Hetfield thrash riffs are the order of the day; admittedly it's quite a departure from the generic southern-rock honk of "King Nothing" or "Unforgiven II".

If "sounding uncommercial" was the goal here, then the Frisco boys achieve it. Some of the tracks on this album did kick my arse, like the NWOBHM riffs of "Sweet Amber", and the chainsaw grinding of "Some Kind of Monster". It doesn't always work; "Shoot Me Again" is a horrible, jagged Pro-Tools experiment gone horribly wrong, and may be the worst METALLICA song I've ever heard in my life. Yecch!

The whole "no solos" thing is ludicrous, of course. When you have one of the better running backs in the NFL, wouldn't you give him the ball once in awhile? I can hear many places on this disc where a blast of Kirk's solos would fit rather nicely, but the overall effect is less noticeable than expected. The focus of the album seems to be on rhythm guitar playing and heavy riffs. It makes for a very interesting change to "Gimme fuel, Gimme fire..." etc. The aggression is there, but it's wildly out of focus in many spots. The last track "All Within My Hands" is probably the album's strongest track, with decent riffs and a hook-heavy chorus. You almost forget about Lars' big mouth on that one, as he comes through pretty solid, bangin' on the teapots. Of course, this is one of those albums that is quickly becoming fashionable to hate on, so I'd be curious to see how many folks are really giving you the honest scoop on how these tunes strike them. It's not their best by any stretch, but also not the exaggerated puke-fest that others have described.

- Marchman

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