Band's List Thrash Metal Metallica The 5.98$ EP : Garage Days Re-Revisited

After the success of their much acclaimed “Master of Puppets” followed by the tragedy that struck the band in the form of Cliff Burton’s untimely demise, there were many speculations about how Metallica would fare without the greatness of the bass monster that was Cliff. After having recruited the services of another seasOned and now famous bassist, Jason Newsted from Arizona thrash metallers, Flotsam and Jetsam, they decided to enter the studio to professionally record five covers of bands that have had an unquestionable influence on them. It’s a very well known fact that thrash metal and more specifically the early bay area style derived most of its sound from the evergreen NWOBHM scene of the early eighties and Metallica were undoubtedly One of the first expOnents of the scene to successfully blend the riff structures of Brit heavy metal with punkish overtOnes to give us what is known to the world as the well renowned sub genre of heavy metal called thrash!!

“Garage Days Re-revisited” as the name implies is a compilation of some re recorded tracks that Metallica used to jam out in their fledgling days(possibly when the band was still called Leather Charm) and they’ve dOne absolute justice. Before the release of the double disc Garage Inc. compilation, this was pretty much a collector’s item that was almost impossible to find at a record store. The production on this is crunchy and is better by leaps and bounds compared to the follow up “…And Justice for All”, the latter, although rich in songwriting and musicianship, drawing significant ire from the entire heavy metal fraternity for the bass not being loud enough and almost seemingly absent in the sound mix. Hetfield’s vocals were pretty much in a transition state, sounding slightly different from his vocal work on “Master of Puppets” whereas Ulrich does a steady job behind the drums, despite all the flak he’s continued to receive over the years for having very limited capabilities as a drummer. Kirk Hammett too nails some well timed solos while newbie Jason Newsted’s bass playing abilities are shown here.

As for the covers, they have been dOne extremely well and never sound like a mockery of the originals at any given point. “Helpless” is sped up faster with a slight difference in the bridge section as well as the chorus where “Helpless!!!” is not being uttered as many times as in the version by Diamond Head. Next up is the eerie doom/sludge heavy riff monger that sounds almost like the original with an incredible thrash break in the middle. The best track however is the cover of Killing Joke’s “The Wait”, where the explosive Riffs and the synthesized vocals give the track a definite edge over the original. “Crash Course in Brain Surgery” has a good intro bass solo and some good speed metal moments while the penultimate Misfits cover is a holocaust of punk meets thrash with the most sadistic lyrics that only old school hardcore punk bands were capable of concocting.

Overall, a very good covers EP that shows a band ready to get back to its feet after the setback they received a year ago during the Sweden tour. They may have drifted into a rather mainstream territory with the advent of the 90s with a new producer and new ideas, but One can never rule out the fact that Metallica in their heydays were a very dominant force in heavy metal, and a band that many worshipped and to this day consider them One of the biggest influenced. It can be argued that if it wasn’t for them, bay area thrash would never have existed. Since these covers are present on the double disc compilation, as mentiOned earlier, it’s advised to check that out just for the magical influences NWOBHM has had on this present day heavy metal legend.