Death Magnetic chart and sales news

UK - #1
2500+ sold (2 days before official release)

Australia - #6
4,849 sold

Ireland - #3

Finland - #
60,000 shipped

source: blabbermouth.net

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Band interviews

Kirk Hammett
http://www.torontosun.com/entertainment ... 1-sun.html

Lars Ulrich
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/se ... popandrock
http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/music/ ... _id=298438
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwa0bDpgubU&e

Band
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzWtXvqin1s&e
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGV1l6eDDh4&e
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news ... main_N.htm (article)

source: (in links)

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Pro-shot footage of the Death Magnetic press conference and show in Berlin can be seen at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTnxxOQOaNg

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METALLICA's European record label Universal Music cancelled the band's interview with the Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan last week after one of the paper's writers admitted in his review of METALLICA's new album that he illegally downloaded an alternate version of the CD via the Internet.

In his three-star review (out of a possible five-star rating) (--> http://sydsvenskan.se/nojen/skivrecensi ... llica.html ) of METALLICA's long-awaited new effort, "Death Magnetic", Jonn Jeppsson mentioned an edited version of the CD that he obtained through the Swedish web site The Pirate Bay, which bills itself as "the world's largest BitTorrent tracker." According to Jeppsson, "Death Magnetic: Better, Shorter, Cut" contains the same 10 cuts that are found on the regular version of "Death Magnetic" but with "one to four minutes of each song trimmed off." He wrote, "Once the songs are saved from their fatsuits — compare this to people who can lose half their body weight and you can sense how many times too often the choruses are repeated on the original tracks — they're not just glaringly precise and intense, they really live up to expectations."

Speaking to Dagens Media about the review and Universal's decision to cancel Sydsvenskan's scheduled interview with METALLICA, Universal Music Sweden president Per Sundin stated, "The reviewer is referring to a BitTorrent where someone has altered the original songs. The reviewer explains exactly where one should go in order to download the file that totally infringes on a copyright. It's not only an illegal file, but an altered file. The reviewer also writes that this is how the album should have sounded."

He continued, "File-sharing of music is illegal. Period. There's nothing to discuss. That fact that Sydsvenskan has a writer that has downloaded this music illegally and then makes mention of an illegal site in his review is totally unacceptable to us.”

Sundin added that Universal Music has not yet determined what impact this incident will have on the label's relationship with Sydsvenskan.

"We live in symbiosis with each other and we send them our artists' record for free for review," he explained. "But if they download the records illegally instead, then there's no point in doing that."

Meanwhile, the "enterprising young audio engineer" who claimed responsibility for the edited version of "Death Magnetic" e-mailed the MetalSucks web site on Thursday, September 11 and explained that "basically, I just wanted a new album by METALLICA that I could listen to without getting irritated by some lame lyrics or ploddy riffs that go nowhere for three minutes before turning into something cool. The original version of 'Death Magnetic' is the best thing that they've done since '…And Justice For All', but it ain't great. My version is great."

source: blabbermouth.net

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METALLICA worked with design company Turner Duckworth to create packaging and branding for its new album, "Death Magnetic". Turner Duckworth is better known for designing logos, packaging and visual identity systems for consumer brands like Coca-Cola and Amazon.com than for working with rock bands.

With the music industry in a state of rapid change, the band was looking for new ideas. "This time, we wanted to work with professionals who understand iconography," said James Hetfield, METALLICA's lead singer. Lars Ulrich, the band's drummer and frequent spokesperson added, "We wanted somebody who commanded respect in branding but were not jaded by the music business. Someone who would bring fresh ideas. Enter Turner Duckworth. Enter happy days."

With the growth of downloading, METALLICA was looking for a package that would rekindle interest in CDs. But with the consolidation of music sales in the U.S. into a few national retailers (Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy), the package had to conform to highly limiting standards. Turner Duckworth's answer was to create an iconic, three dimensional package using a powerful image and an ingenious layered die cut. As Lars Ulrich put it, "We got ourselves a very unique package."

David Turner, partner, Turner Duckworth, said, "The songs are about how death — and life — repels and attracts us. Our image expresses the theme, with a white coffin resting in a grave, surrounded by a magnetic field. But it's also open to other interpretations, which keeps it interesting after multiple viewings. This image really puts the graphic in graphic design." The image was created to be recognizable even on a cell phone screen. "It's not just about sleeve art any more; it's about creating icons that work across media," added Turner. That's a discipline Turner Duckworth understands well; recent work for the Coca-Cola brand has won a slew of international design awards including the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions.

Turner Duckworth re-worked the classic METALLICA logo, created a signature typographic style and designed key promotional materials including a flag, a coffin shaped special edition and a vinyl boxed set. A design kit including logos, imagery and graphics was distributed to the band's record companies to produce a vast array of promotional materials around the world.

Designers in both London and San Francisco collaborated on the designs. "Everyone got fired up working on this project. METALLICA instinctively understand branding and really appreciate the value we created for them. There was no rock star attitude, just enthusiasm and creativity," said Bruce Duckworth, partner, Turner Duckworth.

View pictures of the album in the making at http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbe ... mID=104680

source: blabbermouth.net

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A song off Death Magnetic titled "All Nightmare Long" will be the theme-song for the WWE event No Mercy which will occur on October 5th.

source: WWE.com