Metallica have released their eleventh studio album 72 Seasons. The highly anticipated release is the Bay Area thrash icons' first full-length offering since 2016's Hardwired... To Self Destruct. Produced by Greg Fidelman, the 12-track, 77-minute album is a concept record based on the impact of the first 18 years of life on the foundation of identity.
Frontman James Hetfield explains "72 seasons. The first 18 years of our lives that form our true or false selves. The concept that we were told 'who we are' by our parents. A possible pigeonholing around what kind of personality we are. I think the most interesting part of this is the continued study of those core beliefs and how it affects our perception of the world today. Much of our adult experience is a reenactment or reaction to these childhood experiences. Prisoners of childhood or breaking free of those bondages we carry."
The band has been hosting listening parties at cinemas across the globe in the last 24 hours, giving fans the opportunity to experience the record in full surround sound while viewing videos for every track.
The listening parties follow the release of four singles, Lux Aeterna, Screaming Suicide, If Darkness Had A Son and 72 Seasons in previewing the album, with each providing a glimpse at the explorative nature of 72 Seasons which sees the band embrace elements of their legendary '80s heyday filtered through the prism of their more modern offerings.
The second single Screaming Suicide picked up where the first single Lux Aeterna kicked off, infusing some old-school Metallica vibes into a new-school Metallica headspace. It is a track that asks you to reflect upon an uncomfortable truth while you headbang, as James Hetfield offers:
"The song 'Screaming Suicide’ addresses the taboo word of suicide. The intention is to communicate about the darkness we feel inside. It's ridiculous to think we should deny that we have these thoughts. At one point or another, I believe most people have thought about it. To face it is to speak the unspoken. If it's a human experience, we should be able to talk about it. You are not alone.”
The third single If Darkness Had A Son is a classic Metallica mid-tempo stomper, in the vein of Harvester of Sorrow or The Thing That Should Not Be. Lyrically, If Darkness Had A Son sees James Hetfield continue to explore the darker side of the inner workings of the human mind, examining the seemingly innate self-destructive tendencies that dwell within.
As with all Metallica records, 72 Seasons arrives amidst great fanfare, with record stores opening late across the globe to allow eager fans the chance to get their hands on the holy grail, a new Metallica album, the minute the clock struck midnight. A quirk of timezones meant that one lucky fan in New Zealand, Jesse Saywell, was reportedly the first person in the world to purchase a physical copy from a store, giving him a pretty niche humble brag.
Critical response to the album has so far been pretty favourable with review aggregator site Metacritic currently providing an aggregated approval rating of 77, drawn from across 9 critic reviews.
72 Seasons is out now.
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