Death Magnetic - Part II

This album is enjoyable if not taken too seriously, as lyrically I have no idea what's going on most of the time, and when I do, the lyrics seem inane. The best songs are "That Was Just Your Life" and "My Apocalypse." There is no epic on this album. That is, nothing on the album is as perfect and powerful musically as "For Whom the Bell Tolls" "Master of Puppets" or "Creeping Death". However, TWJYL is a great tune with no prior song in the Metallica catalog that it specifically reminds me of. My Apocalypse is very AJFA except with better production. In fact, it sounds a bit like a sped up "The Shortest Straw." "All Nightmare Long" seems to be popular with those craving for the 80s style of Metallica and viewed as representative of this new old sound of the band. However, the lyrics unabashadely border on the idiotic, and aside from the soloing I don't find this song all that remarkable . "Cyanide," also with silly lyrics, hasn't grown on me yet, but this may change. "Suicide & Redemption" is okay but I can't connect the music with the title. "Broken, Beat, & Scarred" is just a bit too plain. "Judas Kiss" has grown on me because it's so well structured (perhaps vying with TWJYL for that almost-epic) and contains a great solo, but the whole "bow down..." bit is quite annoying, as I can't decide whether the lyrics are meant to be serious or just metal-like, and too prominent in the song to ignore. "The End of the Line" isn't great but isn't bad either (a bit cheesy frankly with that whole "the slave becomes the master" bit). "Unforgiven III" is just a bit too silly with all that "golden treasure" talk. "The Day that Never Comes" is a bit derivative of One and the first two Unforgivens, and the first half of the song doesn't mesh with the second half. In conclusion, this album works for me for the same reason the song "Trapped Under Ice" works for me: I can't identify with the lyrics, but it sure is a good tune.