Download Metallica’s Hardwired to Self-Destruct for Free on Mediafire
There was a certain run-run in the writing to decide who was going to be in charge of reviewing this new Metallica album, waiting for Guns N’ Roses to get into a studio and unleash the third world war, will surely be the most scrutinized and vilified of this year, showing thousands of conflicting and prejudiced opinions praising or condemning it regardless of its content. When I found out that the chosen one was going to be me, I immediately felt the weight of a strange anvil loaded with responsibility that I had not felt, even remotely, before any of the dozens of records and concerts that I have reviewed so far, something like all the eyes of the metal community will rest on me. As silly as this sounds, I think it is a representative detail of the importance of the San Francisco quartet and the more or less justified Expectation that the publication of this Hardwired… to Self-Destruct (2016) has generated.
Leaving aside the phobias and affiliations of each one, it is worth asking what is it that Metallica has left to contribute to the world of music one day today. Their legacy is so pervasive and they’ve evolved so much over the years that whatever new record they put out isn’t going to live up to their legend and can only fall miserably beaten by comparison, so in recent years the hosts of Hetfield and Ulrich have decided to let others put the music and focus on exploring new territories and doing things out of the reach of most, like playing on seven continents in the same year or getting involved with a movie like Through the Never (2013), an excellent idea that failed, in my opinion, due to its alarming poverty of plot (if there really was a plot). Or do tours where the public of each city or festival can choose the setlist. Or record a documentary, watch Some Kind of Monster (2004) and shamelessly humiliate themselves in public. Or make a half album with someone opposed to them like Lou Reed, even if it turns out to be one of the most reviled works of the decade. Or give very small format concerts in nightclub stores. Or set up their own multidisciplinary and itinerant festival where they play different sets every day and even themed sets on small stages (an Orion Music + More that didn’t quite catch on). Or, as just announced, shoot video clips for each of the given tracks on Hardwired… to Self-Destruct.
