Oh, how the mighty have fallen. All it took was one brilliant doco - 2004's Some Kind of Monster - for the world to see just how far Metallica had come from their days as an unstoppable metal juggernaut.
As Monster showed, the band had become a bloated mess weighed down by their collective history, existing in a black hole of infighting, petty egos, private jets and - for singer James Hetfield - a stint in rehabilitation for alcoholism.
It culminated with 2003's rubbish record St Anger, a timid album created under a psychiatrist's watchful eye which is almost universally unloved by the band's millions of fans. And rightfully so.
Five years on, Death Magnetic - their ninth studio album - is Metallica's last chance to reclaim their metal crown.
The good news is that it's an album of firsts - the first they've recorded with producer Rick Rubin, the first to feature bassist Robert Trujillo, and the first with a new record label.
They should be re-energised and Death Magnetic starts with intent, as the raw riffs of That Was Just Your Life blister the speakers in a way that St Anger failed to do - even if Hetfield, now 45, sounds like he's struggling to keep up with Lars Ulrich's frenetic drumming and Kirk Hammet's blistering riffs.
They keep the pace up with Broken, Beat & Scarred, All Nightmare Long and The Judas Kiss, tracks that fly by in a flurry of ridiculously fast riffs and guitar solos reminiscent of their classic 80s trilogy: 1984's Ride the Lightning, 1986's Master of Puppets and 1988's ... And Justice For All.
But that's the problem, and this is where the good news ends. Metallica sound so desperate to recapture past glories they've started sounding like a pastiche of themselves.
Just listen to The End of the Line. Do those riffs sound familiar? They should to any '80s Metallica fan.
Then there's The Unforgiven III, the culmination of a trilogy that began on the Black Album. Anyone who wants to hear Hetfield sing properly should play it immediately. Everyone else, hit the delete button.
It doesn't help that Hetfield's lyrics are all over the place, an incohesive mess supposedly based around the theme of death. They are at best forgettable, at worst cringe-worthy.
"Love is a four-letter word," he sings on first single The Day That Never Comes. Er, yes it is, James. What's your point?
And Broken, Beat & Scarred's hook of, "What don't kill ya make ya more strong" would have linguists throwing their pens in disgust. [Here's the Broken, Beat and Scarred lyrics]
Ironically, Death Magnetic's saving grace is Suicide & Redemption, a nine minute-plus instrumental in which Metallica sound like they're trying to cram an entire career's worth of riffs into one song.
It's urgent, vibrant, and Hetfield doesn't get the chance to ruin it with his poor rhyme schemes. Most importantly, it kicks serious ass.
Like Death Magnetic, it's a small reminder of what Metallica once did better than anyone.
You kept your copy of the Black Album, right?
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Death Magenetic was reviewed by Chris Schulz on the Stuff Website
