10 Best Hard Rock Albums Since 2010
9. Metallica - Hardwired To Self-Destruct
After the 2000's came to a close, Metallica were not in a great spot as far as their studio content was concerned. The band had put out raw and ear-piercing record after their sessions in group therapy with St. Anger, and while their 2008 follow-up Death Magnetic put them on the right track, it felt like more of a course correction than a coherent album.
Almost a decade past before we heard anything else, which made many skeptical about the band's future. Once Hardwired...to Self Destruct was released in 2016, the band blasted their amplifiers and blew our minds yet again. Some of the songs on here are the best Metallica have sounded in years from the punk-thrash of the title track to the modern bent of songs like "Moth Into Flame" and "Now That We're Dead." The closer, "Spit Out the Bone," is probably the most intense the band has sounded since And Justice for All.
However, this album being a double record does leave the album feeling a bit bloated with some songs dragging down the album's momentum. Not a perfect record, but its best moments are everything you could have asked for from one of the pioneers of speed metal.