[3/10]
The best metal band of all time are back! Metallica surprised everyone by playing a new song at their Metallica By Request show in Colombia then releasing a demo version online a few days later. As the band that released 5 of what this reviewer believes are the greatest albums of all time, needless to say expectations for new Metallica material will always be sky high. However after the train-wreck that was Lulu, anything is a step up.
‘Lords of Summer’ opens with a typically slow Metallica start – think ‘Sad But True’ or ‘Master of Puppets’ – however without sounding half as good. The song then kicks into a simple riff, which just lacks a certain something. And even when James Hetfield’s vocals comes around, his voice sounds more feeble than usual. While Metallica aren’t a band known for lyrics full of substance, lyrically this song just is a mess. The guitar solos seem lacklustre and the song just blends into one without any real highlights or variation. However, drummer Lars Ulrich has finally sorted out the poor sound of his snare drum, which plagued St Anger.
While it is definitely a good thing that Metallica have gone back to trying to be a metal band, they just sound like a poor copy of themselves. ‘Lords of Summer’ sounds like a B-Side to Death Magnetic, and it’s sadly starting to look like Metallica are finally running out of ideas.
Sam Taylor
