Metallica have sucked fucking dick since …And Justice For All but maybe Rick Rubin told them to quit fucking whining, check out of rehab and start pounding enough Jaeger to help them write riffs in standard-E that still sound heavier than anything nu-metal ever fucked with. Doubtful? Yes. But nevertheless, there’s still hope.

Metallica have announced their tenth studio album, Death Magnetic, will be released globally on Friday, September 12th.

News about Death Magnetic has been flowing out of Metallica’s camp via the band’s official website (www.metallica.com) and a brand-new site, missionmetallica.com, which offers users a unique, ground-breaking look-in on the making of the album, with producer Rick Rubin. Fans who can’t wait for the September 12th release date will be able to purchase a digital-edition version of the album, to be delivered at midnight on release day, by joining the free site, which launched on May 29th. Missionmetallica.com features a treasure trove of exclusive content, including the low-down from the band members themselves about their progress in the studio via fly-on-the-wall video footage, live concerts downloads, exclusive new and never-before-seen archival photos from the studio, contests to fly to foreign lands to see the band perform and much much more.

Metallica are currently finishing up the mixing and mastering of Death Magnetic. The cover art and full-track-listing (below) have been posted at missionmetallica.com, where fans can purchase the album plus web content in various configurations. Users should continue to check the site for the chance to win tickets and meet-and-greet passes to Metallica’s live concert events this summer. Upcoming dates include headlining slots at Ozzfest on August 8th in Dallas, TX and at England’s Leeds and Reading festivals later this month.

Death Magnetic is Metallica’s first studio album since 2003’s multi-platinum St. Anger, which hit No. 1 in 30 countries and has sold nearly six million copies worldwide. Formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by drummer Lars Ulrich and guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield, Metallica has become one of the most influential and commercially successful rock bands in history, having sold 100 million albums worldwide and playing to millions of fans the world over. They have garnered numerous awards and accolades, including seven Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, and multiple MTV Video Music Awards. In addition, their 1991 album, Metallica, which has sold 15 million copies in the United States, has been awarded the prestigious “Diamond Award” from the Recording Industry Association of America, given to those albums with U.S. sales of 10 million or more.

The track-listing for Death Magnetic is as follows:

“That Was Just Your Life”
“The End of The Line”
“Broken, Beat & Scarred”
“The Day That Never Comes”
“All Nightmare Long”
“Cyanide”
“The Unforgiven III”
“The Judas Kiss”
“Suicide & Redemption”
“My Apocalypse”

Once upon a time, when a publicity company or record label would send you a CD of a band they wanted you to jock, they would just send you the CD, same as if you bought it in the store, with the artwork, booklet, etc all intact, and at worst, a hole punched in the UPC code or a “PROPERTY OF RECORD COMPANY” stamp on the front. These days though, most of the advances and promo CDs I get are:

A): Watermarked, copy protected (read, can’t be played on a computer) CDs in a bio-waste looking sealed container with no art, no credits, no nothing

B): Ultra-janky CD-Rs with Xeroxed tracklistings

C:) Links to stupid ass “streams” or “music players”

“Big deal” you’re probably saying “you can still hear the music, and that’s all that really should matter, right?” Well, in theory. But the actuality is, unless its a band that I already know about or am looking out for, any promo music I get that is not in the form of an actual, honest to god CD gets fucked off. I mean, I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but no one ever said anything about CDs. You can actually tell a lot about a CD by its cover. Like whether it’s gonna suck or not. So when there’s no cover, its a lot easier to assume a CD sucks since most CDs do.

“What the fuck does this have to do with Salt the Wound” you might be asking, if you were actually still reading this, which you probably aren’t. Well, you see, Salt the Wound, a metal outfit out of Cleveland, OH were actually smart enough to send along the full artwork and booklet of their debut CD, Carnal Repercussions (due out February 5th) with their advance mailings. If this would have been a CD-R, or worse yet, an e-mail to a digital player, I would have probably never got around to listening to it. But I took one look at the METAL AS FUCK cover art to this record and I knew that it had to crunch. And guess, what? It did. Better yet, the band, knowing that their cover art was pretty much the most bad ass shit EVAR, sent along stickers of it as well. Even if I hadn’t liked the record (which I do) I STILL would have slapped that sticker piece on my desk somewhere, thus cementing Salt the Wound’s ultimate fame. For basically ALL TIME.