10 Awesome Thrash Metal Bands With One Terrible Album
1. Metallica (St. Anger)
The crew who dragged thrash into the mainstream and conquered commercial heights thought impossible for heavy metal have not hit the mark with every release. Look no further than 'St. Anger', an LP that gave Lars Ulrich haters more fuel than what James Hetfield wanted for his car on 'Reload'.
Ulrich's drums, now devoid of any snare use, ring in a way that's uncommon in thrash metal. One listen will give you a good idea of just why that is.
Throwing their standard musical tropes out the window, the super thrashers bid farewell to extended, technically sound guitar solos and high level production value. Instead, they beat listeners over the head with maddeningly repetitive, borderline white noise metal of no distinct sort. While there's plenty of intensity, more than many of their '90s efforts in fact, the lack of technique, composition and general lyrical sense crushes this potentially interesting experiment in stripped back heavy metal.
Struggling to find an authentic musical identity after a more rock-focused '90s and the rise of nu and groove metal, Metallica wound up taking a lengthy break after 'St. Anger'. At 75 minutes, the repetition of beats and lyrics in many of the songs becomes a chore to get through. It's the sort of thing they likely use as audio torture in Guantanamo Bay.
On the bright side, 'Death Magnetic' was a rock solid return to form several years later.