Album Review: Metallica: The Black Album

Hi,
    My name is Surjo, and I'm a professional musician. The music you're hearing (hopefully) is from my debut album 'The Key Has Turned' and you can buy it here.

    The album up for review today is The Black Album by Metallica. In reality, the album has no name, and it could be a self-titled album, but the cover just has Metallica written on a black background with a snake hissing at the name, so I guess there's that. Also, The Beatles had The White Album, with the same concept, and opposite colour, so there's precedent too. The album is one of the most outstanding and versatile metal albums ever created, appealing to both the casual listener and the hardcore metalhead. Let's check it out.

'Enter Sandman' starts off the album, with one of the most iconic riffs in rock history. Bob Rock brings his production mastery into view with just how huge the drums sound in those opening bars. Straight off, you know that this is going to be different from all of Metallica's offerings so far. It's not hectic in tempo and frantic in execution. The tempo is really steady and just the right click. The words are of course some sort of horror nighttime story. Cool points for the wah-heavy solo. The words had caught my fancy as a teenager, for it was just so nasty. The slower tempo really helps in fine-tuning the aggression that the song wants to convey. 

'Sad But True', another shining example of really slow, really aggressive and real scary in terms of the riff. The snare just cracks you know, like a gun shot. The lyrics have many layers to them, and could be moving in any number of directions. There are a lot of cool guitar layers in the chorus that I wouldn't have noticed had I not checked out the Classic Albums video on youtube. The music is really like a hammer blow, and James' voice fits it like a glove. He sings like he is about to rip his vocal chords out. The guitar solo is one of Kirk's better ones. 

'Holier Than Thou' was supposed to be the first track, and the first single on the album, till the lyrics were written. The intro riff is really involved, and has a talk box moment too. Again, the tempo is spot on for the headbanging convenience. While it's a solid song, I can't imagine this replacing Sandman as the first offering from the album. This is far more choppy in feel, and almost frantic in execution. The drums are mixed up way loud in the track. The song is about hypocrites.

'The Unforgiven' is of course a mammoth ballad, with the chorus being clean and the verse being run with the overdriven guitars. The intro is almost country-westernesque in nature. The guitars on the verse are supremely distorted. The song's lyrics have to do with the death grip that society has on the minds and actions of the people within the society. Very well-structured, and the solo is appropriate in it's energy too. Just another damn good song in this entire album of heavy hitters. 

'Wherever I May Roam' starts off with an almost Indian melody, before Lars' gunshot snare comes in to head it into the sleazy riff that it winds up being. The words start with the beat being played in halftime, but it picks up during the chorus, and it's an interesting bit of arrangement. The words of course talk about life on the road, which had become a habit for the band by that time. The guitar solo sounds like it's played by a student of Joe Satriani. Super cool. 

'Don't Tread On Me' starts off with something which could almost be an inspirational anthem for an army, and then veers into the main riff. The tempos chosen for the songs are so appropriate, and are a definite departure from the previous albums where it sounded like they're going as fast as they wanted to. This slowing down to make the aggression more apparent was definitely followed by a lot of the heavier bands of the 90s like Pantera, and RATM and so forth. The chorus riff is almost groovy. The words speak of USA's military might. The words 'Don't Tread On Me' are of course from the early Marines, and Tea Party movements. 

'Through The Never' starts off with an almost relentlessly driving riff. Super headbang. The riffs are extremely tight, with a wall of guitar stacked up in the front. Cool guitar solo, and a couple of key changes just to keep in interesting. Words speak of the vastness of the universe, and the human role in it. Interesting bridge, and I must say this, that it's going to be difficult to sit through the album at one go if you're not used to metal, because it is just too overpowering. 

'Nothing Else Matters' of course is the guitar riff that any fool can learn, and that's just a great testament to the musicality and simplicity of the song. It's of course James Hetfield's love song, which is a strange sentence to write, yet the song is iconic in all senses. The orchestral parts by Michael Kamen do add a lot of colour to the mix, and could have been turned a tad louder. The guitar solos, clean and distorted, are wonderful. The buildup to the final choruses is anthemic and powerful. True ballad. 

   

'Of Wolf And Man' starts off with more gunshot snares, and a relentless driving rhythm. The words of course describe a wolf's life, but there runs the parallel with humans too. Pretty smart songwriting, damn shame that the mix and the vocal style doesn't really do the words any favours. The kick drum sound is quite stunning throughout the album, and is so here too, which can be heard throughout the bridge, also the many effects that the guitars are trying to depict. Creative. 

'The God That Failed'. Talk about strong song titles, and this has one the strongest heavy riffs in the album too. Ok, the lyrics are super heavy too. Just read to amaze at the courage of James to write these lines. Eddie Van Halen's spirit is channeled for the guitar solo, so cool points there. That riff is truly monstrous. A lot of Randy Rhoads too in the guitar solo. 

'My Friend Of Misery' was one of the songs that had caught my fancy when I first heard the album due to the riff of the chorus, which just slithered in a manner that just attracted. The first song to start with a bass line, and that of course is another major departure from previous Metallica efforts, you can actually hear the bass guitar in this album. Oh, maybe it's just the cowbell in the chorus of a Metallica song that's so appealing. Of course they had to get the most dull sounding heavy cowbell ever. The words are quite well-crafted. The words could apply to quite a few scenarios, which of course gives it that universal appeal that Metallica shot for with this album. Cool instrumental break. The wah solo on the chorus is just a face melter. 

'The Struggle Within' closes the album, with a marching band intro and a twin guitar part that'd be more at home with Judas Priest. This is a throwback song to the kind of thrash that got Metallica on the map in the first place. Except that the chorus is super dynamic and completely opposite to thrash. The words don't make much of an impact this time around, but that's alright, not every song is supposed to hit with the same intensity.

So that's the album. It's incredible, a landmark album for metal, and it's continued popularity and sales prove that to be a universal opinion.