When Metallica released Death Magnetic in 2008, they selected the best of the 14 songs that were available. The rest were saved, and they have now been released on this EP – Beyond Magnetic. So it’s four songs and by no means a full-length album! However, it should be added that the shortest of them is only under 7 minutes and a couple of seconds. Overall, you get quite a lot of music for your money even though the songs are few. It’s almost half an hour in total!
Rick Rubin, who was also behind Death Magnetic, produced it. How much you should blame him personally for the terrible sound on that album is an entirely different discussion, but from what I remember of it, this one is clearly much better on that front! Beyond Magnetic sounds much better. Furthermore, it is claimed that these four songs are only basic mixes and therefore not really finished. It fits me like a glove because the opening Hate Train almost ranks among Metallica’s best songs ever! It is clear that the band likes what they do, and even though it is not particularly innovative music, there is still a big difference in the melodies compared to many other bands.
Metallica can no longer be said to be stuck in one category. They no longer play speed, thrash, or heavy metal but some kind of their own concoction of all of them. The fact that they had a few weak years after the “Black Album” can probably be considered a foregone conclusion at this point.
