One of the top metal releases of 2013.
Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted returns to the metal limelight with this excellent album of hard-hitting, heavy tunes. This is the kind of stuff Metallica should be making, and the quality of the tracks is enough to make Newsted's former band green with envy, but of course the only green they seemingly care about these days is money. So let's get down to the nitty gritty of it. 'Heavy Metal Music' has a lot to offer the metal fan from double kick drums, distorted bass and beefy guitars to catchy solos and above average melodies. Newsted's voice is surprisingly powerful and what he and his band offered on their 'Metal' EP debut has been stepped up several notches with this album. It's a refreshing album even though it's totally immersed in an old school metal sound and the mixing is crystal clear.
It's great to see Newsted taking centre stage after seemingly disappearing from view since his post Metallica stints with Ozzy and Voivod. The album is free from pretensions – he doesn't mean to reinvent metal or amaze everyone with a new sound. Instead, he's happy to play the music of his youth. Newsted produced the album himself and gathered together a band consisting of Jesus Mendez Jr. on drums, Jessie Farnsworth on guitar and vocals and Mike Mushok on guitar. Some of the standout tracks include the terrific 'Soliderhead', the trail-blazing 'Love Time Dead' and the ass-kicking 'King Of The Underdogs'.
'Heavy Metal Music' isn't like a Metallica album though it is better and more effective than any Metallica album since 'The Black Album', released over twenty years ago. Newsted has done himself and his fans proud with this little gem. There's no question that 'Heavy Metal Music' is one of the top metal releases of 2013.
Neil Daniels
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