Something is strangely afoot when James Hetfield appears onstage decorated in a jean jacket adorned with old school metal patches, on the other hand it's appropriate, equating the fact that he helped usher in and pioneer a prolific movement known as thrash metal. Admittedly, "Death Magnetic" was a valiant return to form and from the cinders of those sessions appears "Beyond Magnetic ".

 Adding an additional notch onto their collective bullet belts the METALLICA boys have essentially revamped their slouching empire, transforming again into a streamlined killing machine, a bit older and wiser yes, but none to suffer fools lightly. Watch where you tread naysayers! 

 After a 20 year sabbatical from the 'eavy the predators guile that produces extreme music is back with a stern vengeance, and a transfusion of molten metal now courses throughout their veins. These compositions are stupefying. By that I mean ludicrously catchy. Why on earth did they choose to excise these from inclusion on DM?  There are four songs here from which the perfect symmetry between "Master Of Puppets", "Load", "St. Anger" and "Death Magnetic" has been implemented and the results are suitably fresh.

 It seems that the brittle bones of middle age have threatened them to Kill 'Em All (no pun intended) before time runs afoul forever, proving that the veterans can still hold their own with the wet behind the ears rookies, whose primary agenda it seems is to batter  listeners senseless with a cavalcade of indecipherable riffs. Strict attention to song-craft is the name of the game though and with winners like   "Just A Bullet Away" sweetly badgering you with its oft repeated catchy as hades title refrain, the cinematic and almost theatrically arranged structure of "Hell And Back"  with its undeniable tapestry of dirty and clean and the rambunctiously charged "Rebel Of Babylon" assuredly strong in its conveyance of adventurous fret puzzles.

Fluctuating to and fro, slowing down and speeding up it weaves a sporadic web of listenable curiosity, slightly recalling something that could have been a "Master of Puppets" outtake.

 My grade is a unashamedly loud and proud B- and if you don't agree go fuck your atrociously ugly, deceased mother's decrepit corpse!!