Here's some review round ups:
"In the Eighties, thrash metal wasn't a scene, it was an arms race: riffs kept speeding up, drum kits got bigger. But with 1991's Black Album, Metallica opted for unilateral disarmament, slowing their tempos, shortening their songs and smelting their chugging guitars and piston-powered drums into armor-plated pop hooks. After that, the band rushed from one reinvention to another, starting with the Southern-rock infusion of 1996's Load and culminating in the muddled, bizarrely produced group-therapy session of 2003's St. Anger. No longer: Death Magnetic is the musical equivalent of Russia's invasion of Georgia — a sudden act of aggression from a sleeping giant."
"Hammett has not held back whatsoever this time around, with blisteringly fast solos. Many songs contain several solos, rather than just being restrained to one. Hetfield, on the other hand, may have lost the timber in his voice from the 80s, but his singing is still brilliant, though the lyrics aren't exactly the best. Lars Ulrich never seems to slow down either, but at times his drumming interferes with the solos.
Death Magnetic is arguably the best Metallica album since ...And Justice For All. From the top level singing from Hetfield, to the powerful solos from Hammett, this is the album all Metallica fans have been waiting for since the early 90s. Welcome back Metallica...we missed you."
"There are solos in abundance throughout, including some great Thin Lizzy-esque twin solos too, and given that all tracks aside from the closer, ‘My Apocalypse’, clock in between six and nine-and-a-half minutes long, there are plenty of time changes and musical explorations. ‘My Apocalypse’ – with lyrics that lend themselves to the album title – closes proceedings in a five-minute galloping flurry of metal, reminiscent of ‘Battery’ and ‘Damage Inc’. ‘Suicide & Redemption’ sees the quartet partake in a nine-minute instrumental; and while it may not be a ‘Call Of Ktulu’ or ‘Orion’, it’s an immense chug fest, displaying a real sense of epicness for a band who’ve rediscovererd the art and enjoyment of jamming again."
