Let's kill 'em all and ride the master of justice again.

I’ve heard it all before. “We’re going back to our roots on this record.” “It’s going to be like our early stuff.” “The next album’s going to be our heaviest yet.”

These comments often fly out of the mouths of bands who have experienced recent decreases in record sales or are coming off of their “experimental” period. Metallica, for this purpose, is no different. They’ve been talking up their next album, Death Magnetic, saying that they’ve been employing the mindset from their 80’s days of defining thrash and creating epics.

Lead singer James Hetfield is reportedly writing all the lyrics, something that hasn’t happened in a long time, and the band’s recording with Rick Rubin. On paper, all of these facts add up to the usual pre-release anticipation and hype associated with an act of Metallica’s stature. They are living legends at this point in their career. Their catalog has defined a genre and elevated its respectability.

They say the new songs are all longer with more rhythm shifts and time changes ala their excellent 80’s material. They are saying a lot. I believe that despite the last decade and change of experimentation with varying levels of success, the band that changed heavy metal can rise to the occasion again. I’m cautiously optimistic. But optimistic nonetheless.