Metallica: some kind of comeback

(Credit: Anton Corbijn)

Kirk Hammett is excited to be ripping through guitar solos again.

Metallica’s longtime guitarist didn’t receive solo shred-time on the band’s 2003 album, “St. Anger.” That meant his last opportunity to record a new solo was nearly a decade ago on Metallica’s 1999 album, “S&M.” It occurred to Hammett as Metallica prepared to record “Death Magnetic” that he wasn’t sure what his solos might even sound like in the new millennium.

“Part of the concept with “St. Anger’ is that no one would outshine anyone else,” Hammett said during an interview from the road. “I realized that the progression from my last solo to this album was pretty wide. I was fine with the concept on ‘St. Anger,’ but when we started writing for ‘Death Magnetic,’ I was going to make sure there was a solo section.”

Hammett initially thought he might try to incorporate jazz and blues influences he had picked up, but in the end he decided it wasn’t a good fit for Metallica’s sound. He instead “went for the jugular,” trying to capture a spontaneous, live feel.

“Death Magnetic” has sparked something of a creative resurgence for a band that has seen its legacy tarnished over the past decade. The 1996 album “Load” prompted longtime fans to accuse the band of selling out, and in 2000 Metallica got more than a quarter million Napster users banned from the file-sharing service for downloading their songs.

Bassist Jason Newsted suffered an acrimonious split with the band in 2001, and Metallica’s struggles recording “St. Anger”—including singer James Hetfield’s battle with addiction—were put on painful display in the documentary “Some Kind of Monster.”

It got bad enough during the “St. Anger” sessions that at one point, Hammett considered a solo project. That might be a little more ominous than it sounds, since Newsted’s desire for a side project helped drive a wedge between the bassist and the rest of the band. Hammett going solo could have been tantamount to waving a white flag.

“As long as Metallica is around, everything I write will definitely be worked into music for the band,” Hammett said. “It doesn’t make sense to me to write something great and then think, ‘Maybe I’ll put that on a solo album.’ I want to give it up to the band, giving them the best possible songs for the best possible album.”

Hammett said that working with A-list producer Rick Rubin (Johnny Cash, Slayer, the Red Hot Chili Peppers) helped to create a relaxed and comfortable setting for “Death Magnetic.” But that change of pace for the band—after a long run with producer Bob Rock—also has resulted in widespread criticism of the new album: “Death Magnetic” makes heavy use of “compression,” which is designed to make the music sound louder on radio and iPod ear buds, often at the expense of higher and lower frequencies. (Think about how a TV commercial often sounds louder than a TV show.)

Hammett said the band left the final mixing to Rubin while on tour.

“That was more of a Rick Rubin thing,” Hammett said. “He thought it sounded livelier, and to a certain extent it does; it’s just not something we’re absolutely used to.”

The band has also made an effort to shift to a lighter shade of black in recent years, poking fun at themselves on “The Simpsons.”  Hetfield and Hammett both also provided voices for the heavy metal satire series “Metalocaylpse.” Hammett says the band needed a bit of humor.

“It’s just so easy to make fun of the metal lifestyle, and sometimes we were too serious for our own good,” he said. “We’ll be the first ones to laugh at ourselves.”