How long has it been? 25 years since Kill 'Em All was released, and there have been a lot of musical changes and experimentation on the way. Death Magnetic isn't a nostalgia trip or a full fledged back to roots thrash metal, but Metallica does embrace some of the elements that made their early albums so good.

Death is not a new theme to metal, nor is the fact of a whole album dedicated to it. But as its Metallica, the songwriting showcased deep thoughts on all sort of farewells -interesting, if not thought provoking, to say the least. The album art is well done.

The songs aren't short, radio-friendly singles. The shortest track on Death Magnetic is five minutes. That gives plenty of room for solos and musical exploration, and Metallica takes full advantage. Kirk Hammett is one of the best guitarists in metal, and his full repertoire of classic riffs and shredding solos is on display. There's a nice amount of diversity as well. Old school, balls-out thrash, mid-tempo groovy jams and slower songs like "Unforgiven III" show a lot of range and versatility. And in the vein of previous songs like "Orion" and "The Call Of Ktulu," Metallica has an instrumental on Death Magnetic, the 10-minute epic "Suicide & Redemption."Epic is the word for this instrumental though -you got to hear to believe its awesomeness. A must have in my daily playlist.

The CD's production has been criticized for being too compressed and loud, reducing the dynamics. Strangely, that clicked for me. It gave the music that garage metal feel, the raw sound that metal bands portray aggressive assertion.

A band that's recorded one of the best CDs in the history of metal has a lot to live up to, and while Death Magnetic doesn't reach the lofty status of Master Of Puppets, it's still their best CD in a long time. Its more of a revival of the basic instincts of the band -the killer attitude, the USP-whatever you call it, Metallica is a legend, and this album proves that they have not lost it yet :D