As Strong as They've Been: Metallica, "Hard-Wired… to Self-Destruct"

Metallica, Hard-Wired… to Self-Destruct (Blackened, 2016)

When the two-CD “double album” Hard-Wired… to Self-Destruct came out in 2016, it had been eight years since Metallica’s previous studio album, 2008’s Death Magnetic. Venice punk-funk mainstay Robert Trujillo had joined the band five years prior, in 2003, following stints with Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves, and Ozzy Osbourne. His joining the band—complete with $1 million signing bonus—was documented in Metallica: Some Kind of Monster and preceded the band’s addition to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, two side projects—Lulu with Lou Reed (2011) and S&M2 (2020) with the San Francisco Symphony—the concert film Metallica: Through the Never (2013), and a mere two studio albums. The band had kept busy, just not with what I’d consider traditional Metallica records.

Some hesitancy could be expected. Metallica was coming off a mainstream breakthrough followed by some creative missteps, James Hetfield admirably returned to rehab and recovery, and the band seemed to be searching for either a new direction or renewed energy and focus on what worked so well for the band’s initial albums. As a long-time listener but not necessarily a super-fan (When Jason Newsted was also playing with Voivod, that was by far the more interesting band.), my attention had wandered following …And Justice for All, and it was unclear whether Metallica could recapture the groundbreaking music of the four albums leading to their mainstream breakthrough Metallica. To this day, Kill ’Em All, Ride the Lightning, and Master of Puppets remain crucial listening.

I remember enjoying Death Magnetic, thinking it was a step in the right direction, but the album didn’t strongly pull me back to the band. This album, Hard-Wired… to Self-Destruct, has, in part. The edition I bought comes with three CDs. The first two make up the album—12 songs that, in the past, could probably have been cut down or back to fit on one CD—and a bonus CD that features a Ronnie James Dio cover medley, covers of songs by Iron Maiden and Deep Purple, and a 2016 live set at Rasputin Music focusing primarily on older songs from the band’s heyday. This review will focus on the first two CDs, the album as such.

At almost 80 minutes in length, the album’s 12 songs could probably have been put on one CD, which can easily hold about 74 minutes of music, or 80 minutes with compression. (...And Justice for All’s nine songs clocked in at just over an hour.) Given some Death Magnetic reviewers’ comments and concerns about compression, it makes sense that the band chose not to compress Hard-Wired… . But the result—at least in physical media—makes for a challenging listening experience.

It’s not that a listener has to change CDs (Gasp! Shock! Horror!), but that the two CDs are relatively uneven as a listening experience—or don’t listen progressively well as a whole. The first compact disc, which includes half the songs, could almost stand on its own as an album. Opening with the blistering title track, followed by the forceful “Atlas, Rise!”—which would have sounded at home on Ride the Lightning, perhaps—the first CD slows somewhat for the consistently chugging “Now That We’re Dead.” Hetfield’s vocals are in fine form—as strong as they’ve been in years—and the band alternates the thrash metal of its past with more tuneful melodies. “Moth into Flame” returns to a faster pace and features solid but simple solos by Kirk Hammett, as well as an awesome singalong chorus. The band explicitly calls back to Ride the Lightning’s “The Call of Ktulu” with the slower, almost stoner-rock foreboding of “Dream No More.” (The lyrics in the liner notes spell Cthulhu correctly!) And the CD—I keep wanting to say “side”—ends with the quieter, more pensive “Halo on Fire.” With slightly different song sequencing, these six songs might work quite well as an album just by themselves.

Then we change CDs. The songs on the second disc, while still heavy and characteristic of Metallica, are on the slower slide and don’t hit as hard or surprise as strongly. Midway through the second disc, with “Here Comes Revenge,” it almost seems as though Metallica is torn between two approaches to songwriting. Were they to commit to the slower side of their sound, I’d find them less compelling. (Not that my opinion matters; Metallica should make the music they want to make, as Hammett recently did with his intriguing solo EP, Portals. Interestingly, that record is the first ever “approved” Metallica side project. Newsted left because he couldn’t also focus on other projects.) Even though it’s one of the slower numbers, “Am I Savage?” is an interesting song, reminding me of Danzig’s first album and perhaps representing a more pensive and ponderous take on “Am I Evil?”

After five slower songs, Metallica seems to realize that the record is about to end and returns with the intensely aggressive “Spit out the Bone.” It’s a better ending than that of the first disc and would have fit in nicely with the songs on the first CD. That leads me to think that maybe how I feel about the record isn’t a sequencing issue—the sequencing breaks between the two CDs—but an editing issue. With several fewer songs and everything on one disc, Hard-Wired… to Self-Destruct could have been a punchier record with more ebb and flow in its trajectory and velocity. As it is, it’s not bad—it’s a totally valid return to impressive form—but with future listens, I might focus on the first disc, forgo the first five songs on the second, and skip ahead to “Spit out the Bone.”

Regardless, my opinion is just that of one man, and I like—love—this record enough to continue to take Metallica seriously. They still have it, if they ever lost any of it (even going back to Dave Mustaine’s departure and Cliff Burton’s death), and Metallica can still write and perform compelling, powerful songs that capture the characteristic sound I yearn for while continuing to break new ground.

Given that Metallica began work on a new album during the pandemic, I can’t wait to see and hear what they do next. If they continue to build on the direction set by Death Magnetic and Hard-Wired… to Self-Destruct, it’s sure to be amazing. May they never self-destruct.