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Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has spoken out in an interview with Blender magazine about the controversy over the audio quality of the band’s new album, Death Magnetic. Some fans and publications have accused the group and producer Rick Rubin of mixing the album at such a loud volume that the music is distorted and difficult to listen to. Meanwhile, a number of fans have said online that they prefer the versions of the CD’s tracks prepared for the Guitar Hero video game, which are mixed differently.
Ulrich told Blender, “Listen, there’s nothing up with the audio quality. It’s 2008, and that’s how we make records. Rick Rubin’s whole thing is to try and get it to sound lively, to get it to sound loud, to get it to sound exciting, to get it to jump out of the speakers. Of course, I’ve heard that there are a few people complaining. But I’ve been listening to it the last couple of days in my car, and it sounds f***in’smokin.’”
Much of the actual recording and mixing was handled by engineer Greg Fidelman, who also worked with Rubin on Slipknot’s 2004 album, Vol. 3:(The Subliminal Verses). Ulrich explained Fidelman’s part in the process to us: “You know, Rick has a bunch of guys, like one does, and he’s kinda… you know, when we sat down with Rick to talk about what we wanted the record to sound like, we said our favorite record was the Slipknot record, in terms of the sounds. So we worked with Greg Fidelman and he’s been the — he’s the engineer, he’s the constant. He’s the nuts and bolts of the project and has really, I mean, he’s there every minute.”
Ulrich also told Blender, “The Internet gives everybody a voice, and the Internet has a tendency to give the complainers a louder voice… Part of being in Metallica is that there’s always somebody who’s got a problem with something that you’re doing: ‘(Frontman) James Hetfield had something for breakfast that I don’t like.’That’s part of the ride.”
The drummer also said that the overall positive response to the album has “exceeded even our expectations,” but said he and Hetfield deliberately gave Rubin room to produce the record his way. Ulrich added, “That’s not to put it on him — it’s our record, I’ll take the hit, but we wanted to roll with Rick’s vision of how Metallica would sound.”
Audio clips comparing the CD and Guitar Hero versions of Death Magnetic have surfaced online, and the Wall Street Journal even did an article on the controversy recently.
A petition asking the band to remix the album has gathered 12,000 signatures, although that is a relatively small number compared to the nearly one million copies the CD has sold in the U.S. alone since its release on September 12th.
October 22nd, 2008 at 7:08 pm
look people it’s 2008………Death Magnetic sounds superior………….if you don’t like what you hear………..don’t listen to it or buy a sound system and not a cd player!!!!!