NEWS: Metallica Artwork Revealed

Metallica have released some of the artwork (pictured above) that is to feature on their forthcoming album Death Magnetic.

The images put up on the Metallica website yesterday depict a coffin etched out of iron filings that have been treated by some magnetic fields from top to bottom, just like those prepubescent primary school science experiments.

The impressive, pristine looking images are a further teaser from the metal behemoths, who earlier this month told fans of an extremely limited and already sought after collectors edition of the new album.

In a spectacularly melancholy move to win over the new-age digital loving music fans Metallica announced they are going to release Death Magnetic in a special coffin boxset when the album hits the shelves later this year.

The coffin release will include the full album, a CD of demos, a DVD 'making of' documentary with never before seen footage, an exclusive t-shirt, a flag (randomly), guitar picks and a poster along with a collector's card containing an embossed code to redeem a free download of a special European show happening in September.

The statement giving the details of the coffin box on the Metallica website also said the band were in the process of finalising the artwork at the moment.

Have a gander just below for the new Metallica video for 'The Day That Never Comes':

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Metallica To Release New Album In Game

Metallica are the latest in a long line of bands to endorse rock and roll through video gaming.

The Quietus darlings confirmed yesterday that Death Magnetic will feature on the forthcoming Guitar Hero game … in its entirety.

This represents a groundbreaking step for Metallica who are the first band to have an LP simultaneously released on both gaming and audio formats.

The partnership is an even more exciting prospect for fans who, for the first time, will be able to play along to a whole album of material as it is sold in the shops.

Entitled Guitar Hero: World Tour, the newest game in the series will allow users to download all the songs from the LP for some serious guitar bashing.

Still without a release date, in a statement on their website that band said Death Magnetic would be ‘ready to once Guitar Hero: World Tour hits the streets in the fall’. That’s autumn to me and you.

The metal heavyweights went onto say: “We are so psyched that we’ll be the first out of the gate with this simultaneous release.

“Who knows, maybe a few years from now this will be the norm when your favourite band’s new record comes out.”

In a week already packed with news of music and game crossovers, this comes only 24 hours after Guns N’ Roses announced that new song 'Shackler's Revenege' will be released through Rock Band 2.

This marks the first new material from Axl Rose in more than a decade.

For some Mission: Metallica footage direct your eyes below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

COMMENT: Is professional music opinion now worth nothing?

Metallica (pictured) might yet be spared their blushes as it turns out most people are looking elsewhere for their music criticism and reviews.

Music criticism is apparently being rubbished by fans as they begin to seek muso advice from other sources.

Professional opinion is being ignored by eight out of ten consumers who are favouring online reviews from music stores and social networking sites for the latest reviews of albums and gigs.

E-commerce firm Avail Intelligence conducted this latest Trust Index research which showed 40 per cent of respondents preferred information sources such as the iTunes Music Store and the iLike Facebook application.

The opinion of family and like minded mates came in at the top though with 41% of the vote.

On top of this the ability of the internet to be a successful platform for the sale of music is being questioned.

Fifty-one per cent of people said they prefer to purchase CDs while 25 per cent opt for digital downloads.

At the moment the average spend on CDs is £9 per month. Due to the minimal cost of electronic tracks that’s around 38 per cent of an equivalent digital music spend.

Dr Rolf Elmer, chief executive at Avail Intelligence, said: “What this research shows is that today's consumer is more informed than ever and that personalisation will be critical for e-tailers looking to stand out.”

Some of this change can be attributed to the now common use of social networks to launch new artists such as Lily Allen and Arctic Monkeys and the diversity of these sites.

Discuss: What do you think of these revelations? Is our opinion null and void? Surely not!?

This discussion can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Taringa.net