Metallica is not usually associated with experimentation in music video production. Like The Offspring, they’ve been loyal to the performance format for a good decade and some change. But much like The Offspring’s recent music video for “Gonna Go Far…”, a new age spawns new ideas. Question being is what direction will our veteran thrashers take to complement a phenomenal-yet-disturbing album like Death Magnetic?

Zombies and the Soviet Union! Zombies and fucking Communism, of course! That’s exactly what “All Nightmare Long” promises, too! Somewhere out there, a George Romero fanboy and a post-Spy Kids Robert Rodriguez fanboy are arguing over whose idea was raped like William Shatner at a Star Wars convention. Metallica tried to be relevant with this music video (more like a long and exhausting propagandist silent film), attempting to be ultra realistic by explaining how Russians at one time were recovering regenerating spores from a nuke site in their motherland, sometime after the US attacked. In the video, however, the spores are used to bring back the dead.

Fast forward some, to where the Soviet Union decides to use these creatures as soldiers, and even worse, use the spores as a biological weapon on the United States. Naturally, this turns to chaos, and in the present day we recover “unknown specimens” that do what they did last time. It’s hard to knock three things I seriously enjoy - zombies, politics, and aesthetically pleasing effects. However, while the song’s overtones somewhat matches the scenery, there are moments where you kind of wish they had focused more on performance and less on making obscure references to Socialism and B-horror movies to make a point that… apparently if you piss off the wrong country, your dead grandmother will eat your brain.

When it all comes down to a Metallica video, I still want my guitar shredding scenes! Don’t believe me? Judge for yourself while I go pop in Night of the Living Dead and mourn the demise of one of my favorite Death Magnetic tracks.

Metallica 2008/2009 Tour Dates:
12/12 - Ontario, CA @ Citizens Bank Arena *&
12/13 - Fresno, CA @ Save Mart Center *&
12/15 - San Diego, CA @ Cox Arena *&
12/17 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum *&
12/18 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum *&
12/20 - Oakland, CA @ Oracle Arena *&
01/12 - Milwaukee, WI @ Bradley Center *%
01/13 - Detroit, MI @ Joe Louis Arena *%
01/15 - Washington, DC @ Verizon Center *%
01/17 - Philadelphia, PA @ Wachovia Center *%
01/18 - Boston, MA TD @ Banknorth Center *%
01/26 - Chicago, IL @ Allstate Arena *%
01/27 - Chicago, IL @ Allstate Arena *%
01/29 - Uniondale, NY @ Nassau Coliseum *%
01/31 - Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center *%
02/01 - Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center *%
02/25 - Nottingham, UK @ Trent FM Arena *%
02/26 - Manchester, UK @ Evening News Arena *%
02/28 - Sheffield, UK @ Sheffield Arena *%
03/02 - London, UK @ O2 Arena *%
03/03 - Newcastle, UK @ Metro Radio Arena *%
03/05 - Antwerp, BE @ Sportpaleis *%
03/07 - Stockholm, SE @ Globen *%
03/08 - Stockholm, SE @ Globen *%
03/25 - Birmingham, UK @ LG Arena *%
03/26 - Glasgow, UK @ SECC *%
03/28 - London, UK @ O2 Arena *%
03/30 - Rotterdam, NL @ Ahoy *%
04/01 - Paris, FR @ Palais Omnisport de Bercy *%
04/02 - Paris, FR @ Palais Omnisport de Bercy *%
05/06 - Munich, DE @ Olympiahalle *%
05/07 - Leipzig, DE @ Leipzig Arena *%
05/09 - Stuttgart, DE @ Schleyerhalle *%
05/11 - Frankfurt, DE @ Festhalle *%
05/12 - Hamburg, DE @ Colorline Arena *%
05/14 - Vienna, AT @ Stadthalle *%
05/16 - Oberhausen, DE @ Kopi-Arena *%
05/17 - Cologne, DE @ Lanxess Arena *%
06/14 - Helsinki, FI @ Hartwell Arena &$
06/15 - Helsinki, FI @ Hartwell Arena &$
06/17 - Oslo, NO @ Spektrum &$
06/22 - Milan, IT @ Datch Forum &$
06/24 - Rome, IT @ Palaottomatica &$
07/13 - Madrid, ES @ Palacio de Deportes &$
07/14 - Madrid, ES @ Palacio de Deportes &$
07/16 - Zurich, CH @ Hallenstadion &$
07/20 - Copenhagen, DK @ Copenhagen Forum &$
07/22 - Copenhagen, DK @ Copenhagen Forum &$
07/23 - Copenhagen, DK @ Copenhagen Forum &$
07/27 - Copenhagen, DK @ Copenhagen Forum &$
07/28 - Copenhagen, DK @ Copenhagen Forum &$
07/30 - Oslo, NO @ Spektrum &$

* = w/ The Sword
^ = w/ Down
& = w/ Lamb of God
% = w/ Machine Head
$ = Mastodon

Categories: News, Tour, Watch
Tags: Metallica