On September 12th Metallica will be releasing their new album Death Magnetic. There is a couple of reasons why I am interested in this. One, I am a Metallica fan. Have been for many, many years. Second, I am hoping this album will be better than St. Anger and Load. So far Metallica has released two songs online for free. Here is my take on them.

The first song is called The Day that Never Comes. The song starts off slow very much like some of their power ballads Unforgiven and Nothing Else Matters. But it does pick up in intensity which is good. I don't think Metallica could afford to release a power ballad as their first single. This song is getting air play on radio from what I understand. I have yet to hear it on the radio.

My verdict on the song is not yet defined. I think it is one of those songs that will grow on you. One thing about it is it is a long song. It clocks in at 7 minutes and 52 seconds. This reminds me of the songs from And Justice for All. A majority of those songs were over six minutes but they didn't feel that long. Unfortunately, The Day that Never Comes just feels too long. The guitar solos just feel over done and lengthy for the sake of being lengthy. This song could have been four minutes and would have been awesome but Metallica dragged it out and I think that hurts the quality of the song. As of now I think it is better than the crap on St. Anger but nothing like And Justice for All.

The second song is My Apocalypse. I like this one more. Metallica is definitely trying to be more like their former selves before the black album, which I am grateful for. Don't get me wrong, I liked the black album but it just didn't feel like Metallica. Will they ever be like they were in the 80's? I don't think so but from these two songs it seems like they are back on track to what the fans have been so desperately wanting from them.

Don't think for one second that I am going to rush out and buy this on September 12th. Heavens no. It's good but not that good. I'll pick it up because I am a fan and I am interested in hearing the rest of the tracks. The cool thing about this album is it will be offered for sale as a digital download. Odd I know considering how Metallica ruined Napster over digital downloads of their music. I guess Metallica couldn't overlook the success of Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead. I'm glad they are doing this. It kind of shows they are not afraid of the technology they so vehemently apposed in the 90's.

If you are a Metallica fan be sure to check the songs out, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.