Metallica: 10 Best Songs AFTER St. Anger

This is a song written and recorded completely out of time for Metallica. If Spit Out the Bone was a part of Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets or ... And Justice for All it would have been hailed as one of their greatest songs ever.

This is seven minutes of pure unadulterated heavy metal fury. It's pace is nonstop fast with one of the few moments of reprieve being a bass solo from the incomparable Robert Trujillo. Spit Out the Bone is uncompromising and features a viciousness we have not heard from Metallica since the late 1980s. The lyrics delve into transhumanist fantasy and how our reliance on technology may betray us some day.

Spit Out the Bone is Metallica's modern masterpiece. Its hard to find an old school fan who dislikes the song. Even the most ardent of detractors cannot deny that this is not only a return to form but a redemption of sorts. The band have experienced various discordant periods during their existence and they once again seem confident in what they're doing. One would hope they chose to close this album with this song as an indicator of what to expect from their next record.

Let's hope they can stay the course.