Metallica – Hardwired… To Self-Destruct (2016)

July 22, 2024

I remember reading that Kirk Hammett lost his iPhone which contained all the riffs for Hardwired in demo form. I can’t imagine how devastating that would be. However, in a hilarious twist, Hardwired Mk2 is a completely unnecessary double album. Someone really needs to learn how to tell these people to “just stop”. Every album since 1990 has been overly long, there has been no quality control, and goooooood lord some of the songs are just deplorable, honestly.

At first impressions Hardwired comes across with a much better sound than both previous albums, but one soon realises that one is in for yet another trip of complete and utter mediocrity. There is no reason, in any world or timeline, for Hardwired to be a double album. You could cut this thing in half and it still would bore you to tears.

The worst thing about all of this is that Metallica are an excellent band. They just seem wholly incapable of making decent albums.