1.) What do you think of the new Metallica song, “Hardwired”? My initial thoughts:
2.) “We’re so fucked, shit out of luck” – this is a line from a  Tenacious D song.
3.) Lars. Come on man, either spend the time to practice or let somebody edit the drums. Not like this. THE DRUMS ARE THE LOUDEST THING IN THE MIX – get it right.
4.) The guitars sound GREAT tonewise, and the riffs are meaty and pretty fun.
5.) Possibly the worst and most uninspired Metallica solo of all time. He spent as much time playing it as he did coming up with it.
6.) The song as a composition is excellent – it’s catchy as all hell. One listen and this earworm is not leaving my brain.
7.) I think James Hetfield’s voice is the only thing about Metallica that has improved with age. Dude sounds fucking MINT.
8.) Maybe Hardwired – but not HARD LIMITED! Holy shit – dynamics! LOOK AT THESE DYNAMICS BRO
I realize it’s not the MOST dynamic mix, but it’s not brickwalled, so that’s a VAST improvement.
What do you think? I can’t think of a more hyped album coming out this year, so they have a lot to live up to.
J.D. / August 18, 2016 4:30 pm
Cool song.
But unfortunately except of the dynamics, still the same sound as with death magnetic.
A band that produced a record like the Black Album is not supposed to sound like that.
25 years later with a shitload more possibilities and money….
Dissapointing.
But I’m still looking forward to hear some new material.
How Lars will manage to play this fast live will be very thrilling, though…. :)
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asskick / August 18, 2016 4:31 pm
the kick sounds like ass
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Trey Xavier / August 18, 2016 6:30 pm
So, kick ass then? (ba dum crash)
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Hordes of Nebula / August 20, 2016 2:01 pm
Agreed. It sounds really weak but it also stands out in the mix which, given the incredibly fake sounding triggered tone it has, is not a good thing. I wish that they would have actually recorded the drums the old fashioned way with microphones and the works but nope, they love using triggers these days.
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Eduardo Robles Coello / August 18, 2016 4:47 pm
Uh, what is dynamics and what does that mean?? Thanks.
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Dave Knight / August 18, 2016 5:33 pm
Dynamics mean that it actually has variations between loud and quiet. Most modern music is squashed to 100% volume, meaning the drums, vocals, guitars etc. all have the same volume, making the music sound harsh, distorted, bland, fatiguing and ultimately unpleasant. Death Magnetic is a classic case of promising Metallica album mastered to sound like garbage.
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Eduardo Robles Coello / August 18, 2016 8:53 pm
lol ok. thanks for the insight
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McMuguets / August 18, 2016 10:40 pm
The song could really be something if there was better drumming in it.
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Kevin Ellis / August 18, 2016 10:57 pm
What do I think? It’s Metallica! I grew up on them, Slayer, and Maiden and will always be pumped to hear new material!
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Melkizedek / August 19, 2016 3:12 am
Guitar tone is great… GREAT? What?
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Lazarus / August 20, 2016 4:15 am
This doesn’t mean the CD version won’t end up crushed. As you can see by that waveform, there’s only a few peaks over the average signal, and that tends to be where the minimum threshold of a limiter is set. Bring on the 24-bit FLACs, I say!
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Adam Youdell / August 20, 2016 7:23 pm
It’s a nice effort(except for Kirk’s solo, jesus christ). As was said below, I’d like a better kick sound but Lars playing is fine, it fits the song and you might as well give it up he’s not getting kicked out at this point. Had Clifford lived, maybe but we’re far past that point. I’m sure he’s well aware he has a ton of haters but I’m also equally sure he doesn’t give a single solitary fuck.
As far as James’ voice, he’s doing pretty good for his age but he’s not on par with the earlier material but that’s to be expected.
Who knows? When the record comes out It might sound just as bad as DM. let’s hope they keep this direction, other than the kick it’s pretty good.
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Reece Markowsky / August 21, 2016 2:24 am
yet another analysis from yet another fair weather Metallica “fan”.
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Jon Lewis / August 23, 2016 8:59 am
Sounds badass
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emarsk / September 2, 2016 8:27 am
The drums are annoyingly loud, they make everything else sound weak and dull.
But we know for a fact that Lars doesn’t give a fuck about good sound.
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