Fractured band dynamics: The divisive Metallica album James Hetfield called a “near death experience”
Maintaining momentum, especially as a contemporary rock band, is never easy. This is especially difficult for a band that established its trademark sound relatively early, with the pressure to maintain consistency while constantly evolving at an all-time high. Unfortunately for Metallica, taking risks was, for many, a major indication of a once-superior band jumping the shark.
However, perhaps even more detrimental to Metallica’s seemingly unstoppable reign was the danger of mediocrity. After all, when a song or album is categorically bad, at least fans can navigate it easily as the reasons for its failure are obvious. But ambivalence and ordinariness can be more harmful, as they risk letting hype fade away and turning passion, no matter how negative, into flat indifference.
For a hard rock band, polarised opinions are almost welcomed. When Metallica seemingly deserted their thrash metal roots for a more polished approach with albums like The Black Album, it was less about Metallica’s “downfall” than a swift jilt into the mainstream, ensuring that any soured loyalists turning against them had little to no impact against the surge of new fans.
And, as with most bands, change is not only inevitable but necessary. Metallica would have struggled to maintain traction had they remained loyal to their roots, so moulding into something more timeless and commercially viable needed to happen if they wanted to keep going. That’s not to say they changed their sound entirely—many of their original tropes remained intact—but it’s hard to ignore how heavily they suddenly leaned into hook-focused tracks, proving them to be a band with undeniable longevity.
However, with St. Anger, these polished and refined aspects became displaced by a raw and energetic sound, though not in the same way they initially gained appeal. The biggest change and addition most took issue with was the snare drum, which made some feel as though the record had lost its signature Metallica spark, instead opting for repetitive, subdued riffing.
Beneath this seemingly diluted and flat sound was also a band that felt very much the same way. Instead of coming to the studio with enthusiasm, the fractured dynamic made frontman James Hetfield feel as though he needed to re-evaluate whether he even wanted to continue in the band, which was, understandably, reflected in the music.
This was also something Hetfield later picked up on during an interview with Louder. Reflecting on where the album faltered, he said that, sonically, it sounded “fragmented”, which was incidentally “where we were at the point.” However, he also turned this into a slight positive, saying that the fragmentation “brought us together” and was an instrumental “piece of the puzzle to get us where we are today”.
He elsewhere described the record as “the near-death experience of Metallica”, relating its lacklustre elements to the frayed dynamics in the studio, namely between his, Lars Ulrich’s, and producer Bob Rock’s conflicts. However, it’s clear that, whatever failures St Anger enabled, Hetfield remains steadfast in his opinion that it was a necessary evil for them to embark on the next chapter, no matter how much it threatened to derail the entire operation.
