So after realizing that I -apparently- am retarded, on a massive scale, and also need to stop trying to remember album lists when I'm awake at nearly 3am...
I listened to Death Magnetic again, and I was wrong. There are certain things I have issue with, namely the lyrics on a few tracks, but to be honest it's not bad. I'd still put the classics up higher of course, but this isn't without value. I'd just argue it's a bit repetitive.
Take All Nightmare Long. Fun to listen to, and I love the vocal track, again, but I feel like it doesn't really go anywhere. Until about 6 minutes in. And then the solos are too... murky for me to glean any real enjoyment from them.
My Apocalypse: -eeeeexcellent-. Fucking love this track. No complaints.
The Judas Kiss: I couldn't get into this one. Some of the lyrics made sense and I liked em, then on the other hand I was just sort of cocking an eyebrow at some of the lines. How do you submit "infectiously"? These are the sort of things I can easily put up with when it's something by Metallica, but I feel like... I dunno. This one just didn't hit the mark for me.
And it's like that across the board, good tracks, highs, and lows. Decent album. But not like the FUCK YEAH headbang fest I'm used to getting out of the older stuff.