Metallica "Hardwired... to Self-Destruct"

You're probably thinking that it's a bit late to be reviewing Metallica's 10th studio album "Hardwired... to Self-Destruct". After all, it was released November 2016. You are wrong. This is Metallica. Their distinct sound has echoed throughout the years and undoubtedly will continue to do so. Generations after generations of people will sit down and enjoy what has to be one of the band's greatest albums and my personal favourite. Now, I know all you Black Album fans probably just shat a brick when I said that. I am not denying that the Black Album is one of the most incredible works of art for anyone to enjoy. But, that being said, you need to dedicate some time to "Hardwired...". You will not regret it.

First up, "Hardwired". A song, not to be questioned and rightfully the opening track. This track is the perfect introduction to this album. Longtime fans are reminded of their relationship with the band and soon to be fans are dropped in the deep end. The heavy introduction to this song will have every listener tapping along with its memorable rhythm and grunting "We're so fucked! Shit out of luck". James Hetfield's distinguished voice rings throughout the song in such a way that will make you believe that you really are, shit out of luck. Fortunately, we have another 11 tracks to enjoy.

The following song, "Atlas, Rise!" is a very busy track. It feels complicated and has a lot going for it at times but always returning to the consistent rhythm. I found this song to personally push the limits with its constant transitions to different tones. I felt I was on a journey. The iconic lyrics stand out and follow a similar pattern to the previous track, Hardwired. This is shown by James' renowned style. "Atlas". Pause. "Rise!". I tell you, it's a challenge to write and headbang. The guitar solo doesn't help either.

The next track is one of the best on the album. It is rare to ever describe a metal song as groovy, but I am going to do it anyway. "Now That We're Dead" is a beautifully composed track. The iconic introduction steadily building towards the first verse is amazing. Actually amazing. You feel every note surging through you as you try resisting to dance in public. As I said, this song feels groovy but in a very metal way. Listen to the track. Listen to the intro and tell me you aren't loving every single shred of detail. Get it? Shred. Also, it is worth noting at this point, James is in full swing. "Now That We're Dead my dear". "Dear" sounds like it's spelt Dear-aaaa. It wouldn't be Metallica without it and you know it.

"A Moth Into The Flame. BURN!" That's right. Next track is "Moth Into Flame", one of the more popular tracks on the album. It is indisputably one of the greatest tracks on this album and even in Metallica's arsenal. It was one the second track to be released as a single ahead of the full album release and for good reason. This song is Metallica personified. Without giving too much away as I want you to enjoy the album on your own accord, the lyrics are interesting and involved. Don't think, however, that the lyrics take away from the sound. This could have easily been an instrumental and you would have still been listening "Moth Into Flame" on repeat. Trust.

You may now think that I am going to half-ass this review. It's ok to think that. You're entitled to your opinion, as I am. I will not be reviewing every track on this album. This review isn't about the highlights of an album, it's an incentive to go out, purchase it, and form your own opinion.

Whilst each and every song on "Hardwired... to Self-Destruct" is great in its own right, "Am I Savage" is one that rises through the ranks. If you don't believe me, take it up with Triple H from WWE. At Wrestlemania 33, 2017, "Am I Savage" was the main theme for the event. It was used for the promotional video between Triple H and Seth Freakin' Rollins to which Seth was victorious and became crowned "Kingslayer". The song itself is quite different from the previous tracks mentioned. It is slower and more intense which only goes to show the range Metallica have and their musical prowess. The track, with its slow start, sets a tone like something is coming. Something big and powerful. I'm not just talking about "The Game", Triple H either.

Last, but most certainly not least, the final track of "Hardwired... to Self-Destruct" is "Spit Out The Bone". I first saw the tracklist and knew that my favourite track on this album would be this. The title alone is metal as fuck. The most powerful intro on the album, "Spit Out The Bone" has an old-school Metallica feel, but on steroids. The pace of the track changes regularly making it the interesting. Then, with lyrics like "Remove your heart, it's only good for beating" you are in for a treat. Make sure you're wearing your white pants.

I can honestly say that this album holds a special place in my heart. It takes you on an incredible journey filled with emotions and suspense. I was fortunate enough to see the songs previously mentioned live at Birmingham, UK. Obviously, there was a mix of old tracks from their previous albums on the setlist. You couldn't go to see Metallica and not have "Enter Sandman". It's criminal. That being said, as I've previously mentioned, this album puts the Black Album on notice. Listen yourself and let me know what you think.

Reverted "Sputter The Worms"

I am really into this. Do you ever instantly get that feeling where you go “Oh yeah, this is the shit”. No? Well, perhaps you should be listening to Sputter The Worms.

Reverted is a four piece band from London, UK. Underground like most of the greatest bands were, this band is on the hunt for greater things. Listening straight from the off you can feel their inspirations. Slipknot, Korn, Metallica, Tool and I find perhaps even Nine Inch Nails but with less distortion.

“Don’t Try To Steal Me From The Inside”. Firstly what?! Is that possible? This song has a good intro. What I would call a “Get Set and Go” start. One, Two, Three and we’re off. You’ll understand when you listen to it. The point is it’s a good technique that I am personally partial too. I mean “Prison Song”. C’mon. We all agree that it’s awesome. They quickly release the low vocals, the deeper tone that perfectly sets the mood of the band. This contrasts immediately with the melodic rhythm of the guitar and drums. Well paced and with a consistency that is soothing. I promise. This is hard rock.

“Sputter The Worms” has the Nine Inch Nail factor. You take in the intro and I immediately recognise the feel and power of the band. Reverted have really hit such a good intro here. Perfect pace from the guitar that really empowers and controls the song. Tony Vega starts up with his duel lyrics. A touch that is always enjoyed. He consistently sings along with the music and doesn’t steer to far from the pace. This makes is easy to take in lyrics. Other bands spend too much effort having bland lyrics/vocals and try to have as many guitar solos you can fit into four minutes. It’s not a competition guys. Reverted really nail this one on the head. The second half of this song really picks up and makes an unexpected turn that I have enjoyed over and over.

If you could give yourself any job, I mean any job you could think of and you had to give yourself a really awesome job title, what would it be? Mangledonia (Harvester of Sin)? I think this would be pretty awesome to have on a business card. This song is immediately interesting. Immediately I think “where is this going?” and oh look. It’s a place that is awesome. Keeping their style consistent, you can already recognise the familiar feel of what Reverted serve. Great lyrics that have back up and are held at all the right moments. A “Chug” (Scientific Term) that is real head banging material. Heavy through out and music that you can just keep listening too. This song fades out really well at the end. It’s really good.

This next track is my favourite. I believe many would agree with me. “Tolerance” has a real feel to it with its immediate melody. Slowly bringing in the rest of the instruments to give it that build up it deserves. The vocals kick in and you understand what Reverted are about. This track is proof that this band is going places. Heavier than the rest of the tracks on “Sputter the Worms” but with the best mix of melody. It has three speeds that go from slow to medium to fast. It affects the whole song and then the cycle begins over. You’re constantly kept on your toes and each bit that they interest just makes you want more. This track is something special and you should have it. Trust me.

“Die My Saint” has a slow start but quickens up almost instantly. Followed by Tony it just gets better. Keeping the pace, they introduce aspects that haven’t been on the previous tracks. There is also a massive Slipknot connection in this track. The distorted shouting, the repetition of it and the way it affects the mood of the song. This is very inspired. Lyrically this track is my favourite. The words are sharp and in brilliant timing with the hard rock.

             Tony Vega, Ozzy Preciado, Luis L Valle and Daniel Ruiz have formed something brilliant. Consistent throughout this whole album and providing hard rock that just makes you want more. Melodic that mixes perfectly with the overall heavy feel of Reverted. It's daring but they dared and the came out the other side with hard rock that can't be faulted.

Sonisphere Knebworth 8th – 10th July 2011

“This review may seem different from others I have posted. This is because I am talking about my own experience. It was special to me and this is completely my opinion on the weekend”.

So, I returned from what I can only describe as the best weekend I’ve had in a few years. I came back without broken bones or a criminal record which is even better (I mention criminal record because of an incident that happened between a man who was determined to impregnate a tent). I did also drink a lot of beer, but as you can probably guess, that’s what you do at festivals. So, when in Rome right?  

Thursday

Anyway, I arrived Thursday as I purchased an ‘early bird’ ticket and I spent that afternoon queuing for 2 hours, drinking beer and pitching a tent. There isn’t much to tell you about that as it was a heavy night of drinking.

Friday

I woke up Friday morning, absolutely ecstatic about the ‘Big Four’, which consists of (In the order they appeared on stage) ‘Anthrax’, ‘Megadeth’, ‘Slayer’ and ‘Metallica’. It is something which I will always remember. Diamond Head opened for them which was good. They were good, nothing special in my opinion but enjoyable none the less. Anthrax got the crowd going which was good as I’ve only really listened to two of the four bands which make up the ‘Big Four’. Anthrax had a 45 minute set which was ok, I was really getting into them just as they finished. Megadeth had an hour set. I was actually not impressed at all, rather disappointed to be honest. I was hoping for something more from them, but another metalhead did mention to me that they are usually a lot better (I took his word for it as he was wearing a Megadeth T-shirt). Next was Slayer. It took me a whole 15 minutes to get to the front ready for Kerry King’s arrival. I have 4 favourite songs by Slayer. ‘Raining Blood’, ‘Dead Skin Mask’, ‘Seasons In The Abyss’ and ‘South Of Heaven’. Slayer played them all. It was remarkable. I was in the pits for most of Slayer’s hour performance. I got kicked, punched and pretty much destroyed (Not literally destroyed, just in my head, it was brutal). Metallica hit the stage at 8:30pm and were there until 11pm. It was legendary. It’s truly outstanding how good they are live. ‘All Nightmare Long’ had to be my favourite song of that night. It was savage as I thought they were taking a break when really they were just switching guitars. It caught me off guard. I got emotional. In the last 15 minutes of Metallica’s show, they had the whole ‘Big Four’ on stage and they played ‘The Big Four Song’. That looked like they were having so much fun. You couldn’t help but admire what can only be described as a gathering of metal gods. I then continued drinking. 

Saturday

Saturday morning and it was raining. I was not impressed. I got up and went to the noodle bar and grabbed some breakfast. I started my day with a smaller and fairly new band called ‘While She Sleeps’. They are pretty heavy and the lead singer screamed his lungs out, but I loved it. It was amazing. He started a huge mosh pit in a rather small tent. I recommend this band a lot if you enjoy bands like ‘All That Remains’ or ‘Bring Me The Horizon’. Jackass star Steve-O was performing stand up comedy in one of the smaller, indoor tent my friends and I decided to indulge ourselves in fits of laughter. It was hilarious but most likely because I had seen Jackass on TV and at the cinema so I knew what it was about. I knew character names so when he told us stories, truly disturbing stories, I saw the whole picture and found it more amusing than a man who didn’t know Jackass. ‘Weezer’, who I adored as a young teenager were at the main stage at 4:30pm so I went and watched. It was fun. They were the first band I’d seen so far who actually interacted with the audience. They were comical. “People to our left, I see you. People to our right, I see you. People taking a shit, I see you too”. I also wanted to see ‘Gojira’, but there was no way to even get into the indoor tent. I could hear them but I wasn’t enjoying myself out in the wind so I kicked that idea in. I walked up to see ‘Biffy Clyro’ and get a good position, and I did. If you’re ‘Biffy’ fan, please look away now. I thought they were terrible! I actually liked their latest album with songs like ‘Bubbles’ and ‘God and Satan’ but I was expecting the world and they did not deliver. They jumped around the stage with their guitars round there neck strumming like its going out of fashion. NO! I left after 5 songs. I did not think they were headline material. I apologise if I’ve offended you, but I saw them, I was there and I was not impressed. I instead drank lots of beer and enjoyed the fair ground rides.

Sunday  

Sunday. The day that I was truly there for. The day that I missed a Sunday roast and new episodes of ‘Family Guy’ for. Was it worth it? Hell yeah! I woke up quite late and enjoyed ‘Howard Marks’ describe his life story. He is a mentalist. Truly outstanding how he convinced a court of law that he was a British Spy trying to uncover a drug lord when actually, he was the drug lord (He has a movie out by the way). Never got into ‘Arch Enemy’ but they were really good, amazing voice and some great riffs I thought. Worth a watch in my opinion. Straight after that I went to see ‘House Of Pain’ who were great. Not metal, but good none the less. It was then nearly time for “Paul Grey’s Two Minute Silence”. I didn’t witness it as I only thought it was just everyone shutting up for 2 minutes. Apparently they brought his old jumpsuit and mask onto the stage and played ‘Vermillion’ once the two minutes were up. Would have been good to watch. Motorhead were on the main stage and that’s always worth a watch. They played songs from their latest album “The World Is Yours” and obviously ‘Ace Of Spades’ and ‘Overkill’. Limp Bizkit was next up and they were awesome. ‘Break Stuff’, ‘Faith’, ‘My Way’, ‘Take A Look Around’, ‘Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle)’ were all in their hour slot. They let the audience pick the songs they wanted and Fred Durst would make a guess of what 50,000 people screaming. The also played songs from “Gold Cobra” which was good as I haven’t given it a good listen to. Now it’s in my most current playlist on my iPhone. They were hilarious, aggressive and brutal. I was right at the front for their entire show and that is why I missed ‘Bill Bailey’. No way in hell was I giving up my position when ‘Slipknot’ were on in an hour. I stood there, happy as Larry in the pouring rain waiting for my idols to swagger onto the stage (They never actually swaggered on. More of a walk). At 9pm ‘Slipknot’ were upon us. Opening with ‘(Sic)’, ‘Eyeless’ and ‘Wait and Bleed’. ‘Left Behind’, ‘Psychosocial’, ‘Duality’ and ‘Before I Forget’ followed shortly. The encore was ‘People = Shit’ and that was outstanding. If you weren’t there, build a time machine, purchase a ticket and go. I went and I’m still trying to find a method of time travel.  

Sonisphere was one of the best weekends of my life. I hope you get to share the experience one day at a festival. Tickets for Sonisphere 2012 has already gone on sale, but I’d wait until they announce a line up.

P.S. Sorry it’s taken me 2 months to post. I was slacking and I apologise.      

The Three Metal Festivals, All Metal Heads Should Be Attending!

"Bloodstock Open Air" August 12th - 14th 2011

Headlining: Motörhead, Immortal, W.A.S.P, Devin Townsend Project At The Gates, Morbid Angel, Rhapsody Of Fire, Therion, Coroner, Kreator, Nevermore, Exodus, Triptykon, Hammerfall, Grave Digger, Ihsahn, Napalm Death, Tarot, Wolf,  and 1349.

This 4 night camping trip certainly seems worth all the hassle of pitching a tent. It's located at "Catton Hall, Walton On Trent, Derbyshire, England.

"Download" June 10th - 12th 2011

Headlining: Def Leppard, System Of A Down, Linkin Park, The Darkness, Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet For My Valentine, Alter Bridge, Skunk Anansie, Disturbed, Pendulum, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, Korn, Twisted Sister, The Cult, Danzig, Funeral For A Friend, Frank Turner. Plus many, many more.

System Of A Down! Korn! Disturbed! As the 13 year old school girl in me would say. OMG, OMG, OMG!!! Very jealous of anyone who will be attending this festival. I was given the option for any 'one' festival and I chose....

"Sonisphere" 8th - 10th July 2011

Headlining: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax (Big Four), Diamond Head, Biffy Clyro, Weezer, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Motörhead, You Me At Six, All Time Low, Mastodon, Opeth, Airbourne, Sum 41, Arch Enemy, Gallows, One minute Silence and many, many more!

They will also have comedians performing during the festival, Bill Bailey heading the comedy side of things. I think it was money well spent. I am thoroughly excited whenever I hear one of the bands who are going. I hope to see you at Knebworth early July!