For Metallica's first album in five years "Death Magnetic," the first sound that you hear is not a distorted guitar or a double bass drum. It's the sound of a beating heart, slow and labored. It could almost describe the band's last three albums, whether it's the dragging down of tempo's on the southern groove-emphasized "Load" and "Reload" or the laborous process of making 2003's fast and raw "St. Anger," which is further evidenced in the making-of documentary "Some Kind of Monster."

But after the heartbeat comes Lars Ulrich's frantic double bass and James Hetfield's speedy da-ga-dum guitar rhythms on one of the album's highlights "That Was Just Your Life," both sounds so inseparable from the Metallica of the past. It is this period that gets revisited in the overall sound of "Death Magnetic," an album that suggests the kings of thrash metal may have tried to change their sound in previous years but never vacated their throne.

Metallica tried to recapture the fury, speed and seven-minute plus song-length of the old days with "St. Anger." But the one thing that was missing was the superior musicianship these guys were eager to display in the 1980s with the speed metal trifecta of "Ride the Lightning," "Master of Puppets" and "...And Justice For All." Thanks to producer Rick Rubin, who encouraged the band to revisit this period, many of those albums' characteristics are present on "Death Magnetic," with frequent tempo changes, harmonizing guitar parts and surpluses of aggression. Kirk Hammett, who was practically declawed on the solo-less "St. Anger" is unleashed on this album with mind-blowing speed and a bit of wah-wah pedal experimentation on songs like "The End of the Line" and "All Nightmare Long." New bassist Robert Trujillo does a great job of keeping up but is largely hidden behind the iron curtain of drums and guitars, peeking out occasionally for a few seconds on a few tracks to emphasis his presence.

But Metallica hasn't forgotten the benefits of a good chorus and pulling back that made "The Black Album" so listenable. This comes forth in "The Day That Never Comes," which seems to combine the best of Metallicas both old and new. Unfortunately, there are at least a few tracks that don't highlight the best parts of either era. "Suicide & Redemption" is a mostly mid-tempo nine-minute instrumental (standard issue on early albums) that doesn't emphasis much instrumentation. And leaving the symphonically-accentuated "Unforgiven III" on the shelf would have been easily forgiveable. As for Hetfield, he perfectly mixes melody and ferocity in his vocals but goes overkill on cliched metal lyrics. But the album's high points are plentiful, like the groove-filled "Broken, Beat & Scarred" or the "Battery"-powered closer "My Apocalypse."

"Death Magnetic" does not completely recapture Metallica's mid-80s essence. They are different musicians and songwriters now then they were 20 years ago. But what the album does more so than anything is showcase what a Metallica with almost 30 years under its belt is really capable of.