Friday, January 2, 2015

"Blackened" in Reverse

One of my favorite Metallica songs is "Blackened", the raging environmentalist anthem that kicks off ...And Justice for All. I've listened to it thousands of times and put it on numerous mix tapes. I've explored live, demo, remastered and enhanced (see ...And Justice for Jason) versions, but I've never heard it sound like this before.
 



Some fan reversed and uploaded the song's intro, the haunting yet grandiose collection of chords, which the band backmasked for dramatic effect on the recorded version. This uncovers another great progression from an era when Metallica was practically spewing them out. It doesn't sound quite as cool here as it does in reverse, but it speaks volumes to Metallica's artistry--nearly any other thrash band would be content to have this on a record, but Metallica will play it backwards, inside out or bassless to get the fiercest result.

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