by Michael Davis

Created on: April 25, 2008

In the 1980's, Metal was not the force of nature it is today. Now recognized as its own genre (with subgenres bursting from its pounding temples like Athena breaking out of the skull of Zeus), the environment is far different.

For kids who grew up on MTV, metal was a godsend. Here was something that was a testosterone-soaked adrenaline rush. The NWOBHM bands were our introduction, Anthrax pushed the speed limit higher, but Metallica was where all of the angst crystallized.

After proving that they could move units with absolutely no radio play, and after filling the arenas, fill the parking lots, schools and malls with their t-shirts, Metallica stood on the cusp of actually breaking through.

Then on the first day of school in 1988, they dropped "...And Justice For All." With "Kill 'Em All" as an opening statement, and "Ride The Lightning" and "Master of Puppets" where they furiously argued their case, then "Justice" was their closing statement. No jury, no judge, all obliterated. Case closed.

"Blackened" may be the most furious song Metallica ever made in their classic period. It charges out of the gate, with Hetfield, Hammett, Newsted and Ulrich as the four horsemen of the apocalypse. For all of its "Kill 'Em All" rush, "Blackened" only serves as a reminder of their less refined beginnings. Here, Metallica's precision bears down on you like a cruise missile.

This opening track is the template for all that follows. One listen after hearing the rest of their canon, you can hear "Enter Sandman" coming together and the more melodic oomph of "St.Anger." However, those are post-Fleming Rasmussen. Here, with Metallica producing themselves, everything is compressed and the double-tracked guitar parts sing like demonic choirs on tour in angelic worlds.

The title track has a stunning melodic figure which Metallica take through its Queen-like (look for their inspired cover of "Stone Cold Crazy") paces in the introduction, before falling into a battering ram rhythm driven by Lars Ulrich's thudding drums. While the song is not as focused as later tracks, the way the solos build upon each other is dizzying.

"Eye of the Beholder" and "One" exist as how Metallica were working to function within Rasmussen's unbelievably clean environment. "Beholder" consistently spins modulation after modulation of their bludgeoning main pair of riffs (and one of my favourite solos as Hammett goes modal), but "One" is where ever metalhead's dream came true.

Before the video and the reviews rolled in,

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