‘Screaming Suicide’ by Metallica – Single Rating: 4/5 ★★★★☆
It feels like Metallica have never been away despite not actually releasing a studio album since 2016. Since then, they released their second collaboration of ‘symphony metal’ with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in 2020 (S&M2) and last summer one of their best-known tracks ‘Master Of Puppets’ had a resurgence, thrown back into the UK charts off of the back of being featured heavily in ‘Stranger Things’ series four.
‘Screaming Suicide’ is the second single off Metallica’s eleventh studio album (due in April) ’72 Seasons’. It sees the band reunited with producer Greg Fidelman, who is behind the board again after taking the production chair for the band’s last album ‘Hardwired…to Self-Destruct’. As Rick Rubin’s head engineer in the early noughties, Fidelman’s credits include work with Black Sabbath, Slipknot, and Slayer, so really a no better fit for Metallica to collaborate with again.
‘Screaming Suicide’ is long for a single, stretching five and a half minutes. The intro alone is one minute long. But, you hear the main guitar riff and hook of the song relatively quickly. Also, it’s from that point that the song really takes off.
Lars Ulrich’s drumming is unbelievable. He is on point, with superb snare and double bass drum pedal work, while Kirk’s guitar solo is another highlight.
There are no surprises here for the listener here with Metallica’s latest release. But, they must be commended for bringing the topic of suicide to the fore and being so upfront and lyrically astute about it. As lead singer James Hetfield states about the song; ‘the intention is to communicate the darkness we feel inside’. Metallica do that here with ‘Screaming Suicide’ very aptly. Fans of the band, this one is for you!
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