Harry's Blog

There's still no official announcement from Metallica over the appaling brickwalled mix of Death Magnetic that's been sold on CD. But it seems that some parts of the music industry media are picking up on the story.

You can read an interesting article on the problems with the Death Magnetic CD over at musicradar.com.

Thankfully it seems the awful audio problems the CD displays were not introduced when the tracks were laid down in the studio. They seem to be the product of a terrible studio master by Rick Rubin's engineers and then a hot master from the record company on top.

How can we be sure?

I remember listening to Metallica's last album, St. Anger for the first time. I was working at an ISP and the Entertainment Editor received an advanced copy from the record company.

We sat and listened to it in stunned silence. This was really the new Metallica album? But it sounds like it was recorded in a shed. And instead of Lars drumming they've let a five year-old have a go with two wooden spoons and some pots and pans. And where is Kirk?

We all know how that ended. St. Anger was therapy for a band at war and bloody torture for those of us who heard it. The record was a failure in every sense - in terms of composition, performance and production.

The new album - Death Magnetic - features some similar problems. Somehow it seems to emerge from the other side as the band's best effort since 1991's Black Album.