Metallica - St. Anger

Artist: Metallica
Album: St. Anger
Release: Jun 2003
Genre: Rock
Styles: Thrash, Heavy Metal, Speed Metal
EO Rating: 4.1/5

Metallica's first new material in over five years arrives after a flurry of non-musical activity that included a much-publicized spat over Internet file sharing, the departure of bassist Jason Newsted, and a lengthy stay in rehab for James Hetfield that suspended the recording of a new album indefinitely. Hetfield returned to the fold in late 2001. Still without a bass player, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and their newly sober front man recruited longtime producer Bob Rock to man Newsted's spot, and creation of the album commenced in May 2002.

St. Anger is Metallica’s 11th studio album with the prolific Bob Rock producing yet another gem. Metallica return to the gory, gothic, almost scary but classical Master of Puppets sound. The inclusion of Robert Trujillo (formerly bassist with Ozzy Osborne) lends a fresh and heavy bass influence to the album. Another change is Ulrich’s drums which have a more bass touch to them and surprisingly, they fit in perfectly with front man Hetfield’s angry vocals. Disappointingly, there isn’t a single solo from Kirk Hammet’s down-tuned guitar on the entire disc which was overwhelmingly visible on classics like Welcome Home (Sanitarium) and Fade to Black.

Rock has kept these newest songs brassy and vulnerable, without the extraordinary polish Kirk is known for. On a number of tracks, Hetfield’s vocal cracks and imperfections are left untouched by Pro-Tools overdubs, and Ulrich’s clanging metal snare drum rides high in the mix, giving the disc a rough feel of desperation and honesty that was touched upon in the Load era but never fully explored. This air of vulnerability in the songs created by Rock’s production work is perhaps St. Anger’s greatest strength, matching the intimacy of Hetfield’s rehab-inspired lyrical explorations.

The album starts of literally “Frantic” ally . "Frantic" is driven forth by a snare drum that just may be made of iron, Hammett and Hetfield's guitars eschewing separate parts in favor of a roaring tag-team approach. Stuttering guitars, heavy verses and a strange but interesting “tic tic” towards the end really adds up to a special start. Welcome to St. Anger.

The title track comes next, “St. Anger” with Hetfield’s growls throughout the extended romp and Ulrich’s power pounding sounds angry.

Some Kind of Monster features a heavy groove and Sabbath inspired riffs lend it a heavy scary sound which under thrashing drums by Ulrich sounds fabulous.
"My World", probably the best track on the album as it sounds like the Metallica we have always known. And its lyrics come straight from Hetfield’s rehabilitation days when he says “It’s my world you can’t have it”.

Other tracks on the disc suffer by comparison. The structure of “Dirty Window” isn’t too different from the rest of the record, but the song never really comes alive. “The Unnamed Feeling” isn’t bad, but drags a bit without offering much of interest, reeking of an unfinished idea. “Shoot Me Again” simply stinks, with Hetfield delivering one of the least-effective and corny vocals of his career. The poor tracks on the disc are essentially failed experiments; Metallica is stretching, but sometimes their reach exceeds their grasp. Rock’s biggest failure in his role as producer was to allow the majority of these songs to run far longer than they should have. There’s simply no reason for many of the repeats and false endings to be found on St. Anger. Metallica needed an editor, but Rock’s “rough cut” approach towards the feel of the disc apparently precluded that duty.

Overall the album is strange, different, interesting and un-Load and Reload which is where Metallica has scored most points. After the disappointment of those two albums, St. Anger sounds brilliant. The music sounds much healthier, matured and heavy. But it also makes the band sound more vulnerable, earnest and honest. The sound of a band that lost their way after the huge success of Master of Puppets and the Black Album, St. Anger is however…Metallica. And nothing Metallica do can be boring.

Songs/Track Listing

1. Frantic (Hammett/Hetfield/Rock/Ulrich)
2. St. Anger (Hammett/Hetfield/Rock/Ulrich)
3. Some Kind of Monster (Hammett/Hetfield/Rock/Ulrich)
4. Dirty Window (Hammett/Hetfield/Rock/Ulrich)
5. Invisible Kid (Hammett/Hetfield/Rock/Ulrich)
6. My World (Hammett/Hetfield/Rock/Ulrich)
7. Shoot Me Again (Hammett/Hetfield/Rock/Ulrich)
8. Sweet Amber (Hammett/Hetfield/Rock/Ulrich)
9. The Unnamed Feeling (Hammett/Hetfield/Rock/Ulrich)
10. Purify (Hammett/Hetfield/Rock/Ulrich)
11. All Within My Hands (Hammett/Hetfield/Rock/Ulrich)

Album Review by Jibran Mirza

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