Last month's pick was the Marilyn Manson's "The Golden Age of Grotesque". To see past picks check out the archive.

What's up freaks? How the hell did the month of May treat ya? There were so many good CD's to choose from last month including Cold's Year of the Spider, Powerman 5000's Transform, Deftones Deftones, Chimaira, Marilyn Manson, Staind, The Matrix Soundtrack and not to mention all those kick ass movies. The Matrix: Reloaded and X-Men 2. June is looking up as well. After waiting for three long years and wondering if they would ever get another album off the ground, I'm proud to pick Metallica's St. Anger!!

There were so many ups and downs along the way. In a few interviews, I had read the band wanted to go back to it's roots a little more and bring back the edge they've had for so many years. Now that they had gotten the orchestra and mellower songs out of them, I was extremely happy for something heavier that I could grasp onto to. Megadeth did the same thing with their last album by going back to their roots and what works. Needless to say, they made a huge comeback and I'm banking that Metallica will do the same.

But then a bump in the road slowed the band down to a crawl. Jason Newsted, announced that he wouldn't be the scapegoat for the band anymore and decided to leave. It almost seemed like forever for Metallica to get their crap together and get a new bass player. Just when things seemed back in order, James Hetfield announced he was entering rehab. Another setback. Was this the end for Metallica? Many questioned the band's future including the members of Metallica. It wasn't long before Metallica was seen playing before the AFC Championship game in Oakland with Bob Rock on bass that things looked up for the guys. A few months later and Robert Trujillo of Ozzy Osbourne and Suicidal Tendencies fame came onboard for bass duties. Metallica was back!

After hearing the single St. Anger for the first time, I thought there was a sound editing error. Maybe they were playing the leaked version? To me it was all drums and vocals. The parts of the song that should have slammed with heavy guitar and booming bass were gone. The guitar and bass were nowhere to be found and Hetfields voice was cracking and going off key. This couldn't be the Metallica we all know could it? The answer is yes. Amazingly enough, Metallica and producer Bob Rock wanted it to sound that way like they were just a bunch of guys jamming in their garage. Lyrics were written by the entire band moments before a song was recorded and Hetfield's vocals were recorded in one or two takes to capture the moment including the off key screeches, wails and shrieks.

I'm going to admit, I'm a hard core Metallica fan and the first listen through kind of pissed me off. But once I found out that the sound was intentional, I got to give it to the guys. It's not everyday you see a band do this and that's what makes Metallica an icon in my book. I'd really like another band with enough balls to record the way they did to capture the garage atmosphere. But another thing that surprised me was the lack of guitar solo's. Where did they go? Overall though, I was quite pleased with St. Anger.

My favorite song off this record so far has to be The Unnamed Feeling. This song simply kicks ass. It's heavy, loud and eerily spooky. Not to mention it's over 7 minutes long something that's sure to piss of Radio Program Directors across the U.S. if it ever makes it to radio. This song is brutal but at the same time it's soothing. I guess it gives me that unnamed feeling.

Dirty Window at some points almost sounds like a Static-X song. The quick drums, choppy riffs, and the breakdown at the end almost screams it. Other than that it's one of those straight ahead rock songs you have to like to slam to. "Court is in session and I slam my gavel down. I'm juding, I'm jury and I'm executioner too." This song is about looking at yourself in the mirror to become a better a person.

The opening track off the CD is amazing. Frantic is the name of the tune but the honors all go to Lars beating the kit silly with Frantic play. The only part of this song that gets annoying is the whole "Frantic..tick tick tick tock" over and over. Remove this part and you got yourself one bad ass song. The ending breakdown kind of comes out of nowhere as well but I still think it belongs on the song.

The single and video for the song St. Anger is getting a lot of airplay and why wouldn't it? Once again, I have to give props to Lars for bringing it on the drums. I just wish the song would slam during the breakdowns. You can hear it leading up to something powerful but the drums drown everything out. I'm sure live, this song will be off the hook. It's so brutal and fast but then it cuts into the verse which is pretty tame. This song grows on you the more you listen to it.

Make sure to catch the guys at the Summer Sanitarium Tour. This tour will directly compete with Ozzfest and Lollapalooza but I'm sure it will do just fine. I just don't think I could shell out over $80 for a ticket where my seat is a football's field away and up in the nose bleeds, but then again the die hards will be out in full force.

Until next time, later freaks!

By T-Bone