Earlier today, legendary Bay Area thrashers Metallica, unleashed the first single from their upcoming ‘Death Magnetic’ album, entitled “The Day That Never Comes”. I’ve listened to this new tune nearly a dozen times this afternoon to really get a feel for it. I wanted the overall excitement of hearing a new Metallica song to wear off before posting a clearheaded review of it here. And I honestly have to say, even after repeated listens, this is an impressive song. With a slow, melodic, ballade-sque first half, I’m reminded slightly of classic Metallica songs such as “Welcome Home” and “Fade to Black”. Somewhat generic-sounding at first, I’ll admit, but the melody really is catchy… and once this track hits the five minute mark, things evolve into something any ‘tallica fan of old can appreciate.

Finally… goddamn finally… Metallica has returned to their thrashy roots. We’re treated to some truly inspired and interesting riffage… something I’ve been personally waiting for from James, Kirk and the boys for nearly a decade. Kirk lays on the lead guitar work pretty solidly through the solos, and things get mixed up quite a bit with some attention-keeping changups throughout. For the first time in a long time, I’m impressed.

Surprisingly, one of the largest concerns of this new album to many, the vocals, sound excellent. James’ voice is clean and strong, and the lack of “hey heeey heeeeeeys” or anything of the such gives me hope that ‘Death Magnetic’ may be something worth checking out after all. Luckily for us, gone are the tin can snare drums and subpar production of the despised St. Anger days. Although this is a lower-quality webstreaming version of the track, it’s easy to tell that some time and effort has been put into properly producing this album.

Now that you’ve read my take, crack a beer, raise the devil horns, and take a listen below:

UPDATE (08-21-08): Updated MP3 from 96kBit/s webstream version to high-quality 256kBit/s version. You’re welcome.

I recently upgraded my mobile music capacity by purchasing a new iPod. By replaced my 60GB iPod Video with the impressive new 160GB iPod Classic, I gained a newly polished and refined user interface, a metal front that won’t get scratched to hell, and the ability to haul my entire music collection in the tiny confines of my front pocket. While some people may argue that I had an entire 60 gigs to do so beforehand… I stand my ground in saying I like having the ability to listen to what I want, when I want. I’m a collector. I don’t do single tracks. If there’s a song on the radio you like, chances are there are half a dozen more on the album that are far superior, or hell, half a dozen other albums by that artist that completely outshine anything that the radio stations would care to play. And when you start collecting those albums, hard drive space tends to get filled very quickly.

Needless to say, I have a huge music collection… nearly 130GB and nearing 500 artists. Variety is key, and when it comes to the umbrella genres of metal and rock, there are numerous subgenres to pull from. I like the ability to pull from any of those subgenres whenever I feel the need to. However, it seems I may have been slightly hasty in dropping quite the pretty penny on a new gadget, when a simple application can provided the same convenience to anyone at no additional cost. As long as you own an iPhone or iPod Touch that is.

After only 20 years or so if waiting around for Metallica to write some new material that I could happily hear and not want to aurally castrate myself, James, Lars and the boys have finally penned some material worth taking a listen to. With some interesting riffage and a few tempo changes throughout, the new track “Cyanide“, which the band played at this past weekend’s Ozzfest, is hopefully a good indication that Metallica is working to release an album worthy of their once respected name. That album, “Death Magnetic” is slated to hit September 12th… and for the first time in years, I honestly look forward to it.

UPDATE: I changed the video to use the newly release soundboard recording version. Much better sound quality! Enjoy!

Holy shit, this is a badass album cover! You simply can’t go wrong with Thor battling a giant sea creature, it’s snaking tongue in hand and Mjolnir glowing, ready to strike with fire and lightning in the distance. Fuck. Yes.

Amon Amarth rarely fail to impress in either the artwork or most importantly, the music of each of their releases. Plus, without fail, they always seem to have the most killer album and track titles. ‘Twighlight of the Thunder God’? Yeah, that’s right… awesome. Just take a look at a small sampling of the song titles from this album and tell me they don’t make you immediatly want to windmill your hair and axe some punk in the back of the skull while chugging a goblet of mead. ‘Where is Your God?’, ‘Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags’, ‘Embrace of the Endless Ocean’, ‘Live for the Kill’. That’s pure viking badassedness right there.

Click the album cover above to bask in it’s embiggened glory, and expect this album to crush your nuts and melt your face September 30th.

More info: amonamarth.com

I thought this was a pretty cool little device for any string-shredding headbangers out there, so I figured I’d post it up to see what you all think. Belkin has created a nifty add-on for 1/4″ cables that will hopefully make musicians’ lives a little easier and their beloved instruments a little safer… it’s called the Belkin BreakFree Magnetic Connector. This product essentially adds an Apple-inspired magnetic break-away point for your guitar cable. It works on either end of the cable obviously, so you could use it to easily unhook from the amp or the guitar (though I don’t really see the benefit of having this on the end plugged into the amp). Either way, gone are the days of having to turn your amp off while swapping guitars during a gig to avoid abusing the audience with that delightful cringe-inducing popping noise. Hell, best of all is the technology that has saved countless Macbooks keeping your gear from plummeting to the beer-covered floor as inebriated peeps get your cable wrapped around their ankles on the way to the bathroom.

It would be nice to see how well they hold up to a good old-fashioned thrashtastic stress test. My only concern would be the amount of pressure needed to disconnect the two magnets being too low. If it disconnects too easily, it may be more suitable for those that enjoy a good acoustic strum while seated on a barstool as opposed to those who have a bit more energy while performing… it would sure blow to have your guitar cable drop to the floor as you’re busy swinging your ax around like you’re seizing during the breakdown. I may just have to give this a whirl for the hell of it. It’s scheduled to be released in September for a meager $19.99.

What’s your take on rocking with the help of magnets? Think it’s a good idea?

More info: Belkin’s Product Page