So far, Metallica‘s brutal return to form Death Magnetic has yielded an epic performance video for “The Day That Never Comes” and some bizarre B-horror movie footage for “All Nightmare Long”. Entering into the third single, “Broken, Beat and Scarred”, we are greeted with a music video of live footage from the band’s current tour. The video itself was filmed by Metallica’s favorite director since Metallica in 1991, Wayne Isham and he certainly has not begun to disappoint as of yet.
The unfortunate downside to any Metallica live performance sadly (a prime example being S&M) is the constant injunction of the crowd singing for the band intermittently. I am all for the loud background that comes with a live recording (hear Slipknot’s 9.0:Live), but the audiences for Metallica tend to do their karaoke routine nearly every time. All in all, that is really the only irritation as this video really gives someone who cannot afford a ticket some insight into one of this band’s shows.
Now the set is not exactly like …And Justice for All days of old, with elaborate designs and more. Most of it these days is pure pyro and hyping the fans, which is not a negative so much as it is a band moving forward into the new era of their career. The new single is also an import and boasts live recordings of “The End of The Line”, “Stone Cold Crazy” and “Of Wolf and Man”, thus donating a sprinkling of their catalog and their well-known and profound ability to make an original cover song tick.
