Death Magnetic was a fucking great album. I got into Metallica starting around MOP, and tbh I think they were mediocre at best before Cliff died. They were just another generic rock band until AJFA, though MOP was their best album with Cliff around. Not saying it was Cliff's fault they were kinda bad, he is just kinda a landmark moment in Metallica's career.
If I were going to rank my top 3 favorite Metallica albums, it'd be:
1. Load (yes, srsly, fuck you, it wasn't buttrock but it was great)
2. Death Magnetic
3. ...And Justice For All
Metallica in general has been really inconsistent with good music. Reload, KEA, RTL, St. Anger were all pretty bad. Megadeth on the other hand has been outrageously consistent in quality, but Metallica has had some higher highs than them.
On-topic, my experience with Limp Bizkit is this: