Metallica - 72 Seasons (Album Review)
Metallica - 72 Seasons
Released: April 14, 2023
Line Up
James Hetfield // Vocals, guitar
Lars Ulrich // Drums
Kirk Hammett // Guitar
Robert Trujillo // Bass, backing vocals
Online
Metallica is more than a band now. It’s a multifaceted company with stakes in whiskey, beer, film, charity, massive tours, merchandise partnerships with watchmakers, skateboarders, shoes, and they just bought a vinyl pressing plant. Their financial position is hardly related to whether they release new music or not, since they tour the USA and Europe annually anyway. This means 72 Seasons comes from a place of pure desire to make new music and release it to the world.
The other part of the context to this record is James Hetfield’s battles with dependency. It appears James is happy and healthy again, which is awesome, and much of his therapy comes through in the lyrics. We’ve seen James use personal experience for lyrics since the Black album and although St Anger took a collaborative approach to lyrics, there was a lot of James in songs like ‘Shoot Me Again’ and ’The Unnamed Feeling’. While it’s nothing like that album sonically (thank fucking god), the post-therapy lyrics remind me most of St Anger.
It’s like Hardwired… to Self Destruct had a baby and can’t work out if Load or St Anger is the father.
The title track kicks things off with a sick up-tempo riff that doesn’t quite thrash but rattles along … and along, and along. It’s got energy but the lyrics are a limited form of staccato poetry and at nearly 8 minutes it’s surprising that nothing really happens. Kirk gets his leads in, Rob and Lars thump along and James howls about the “wrath of man” with the right degree of middle-aged angst. ‘Shadows Follow’ feels like it should erupt after a long snare-fueled intro but settles into a nice mid-paced groove. Lars’ drums are right up in the mix (hardly a new development), and it’s very much a riff off with Hammett unleashing his wah wah on the solo. Everything about it is distinctly Metallica, it’s just fairly pedestrian Metallica.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OeC9CGtWcM
I was pretty indifferent to ‘Screaming Suicide’ as a single but it positively roars as the third track. Kirk gets his lead in early and the chorus is big enough to make you want to shout it with James. It’s at least a bit more uptempo and Papa Hetty has some of that spit in his vocals that is missing on other songs.
Part of the issue is that it’s mostly very fine, without much innovation or daring. The sole moment of “what the hell is that??” comes at the start of ‘Sleepwalk My Life Away’ with Rob offering some tasty four-string action over Lars' kick drum and the guitars chiming in alongside him. It’s a seriously cool stoner vibe that unfortunately goes into a pretty stock blues-based riff. After such a great start, it could be any song off the second disc of Hardwired… Ditto ‘You Must Burn!’ that mimics the head banging stomp of ‘Sad But True’ without having that song’s lyrical drama.
It’s within this tracklisting that ‘Lux Æterna’ makes sense as the lead single because it’s the most riotous, energetic tune on the record. The band is on fire throughout with Lars kicking the shit out of his bass drums and some fast fingers from Kirk, James and Rob. It’s a knockout tune that channels their love of old Motörhead and shows they still have some thrash in them. It’s also the only song under four minutes and it leaves you wanting a bit more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u-7rWKnVVo
Of course Metallica haven’t had a problem giving fans more on every album since Load, with 12 tracks of largely good to great riffs but little variation in song structures or even approaches. ‘Crown of Barbed Wire’ could be a song from just about any post-Load album and seems unlikely to ever get much of a run live. Worse yet, having ‘Chasing Light’ and ‘If Darkness Had a Son’ back to back only highlights the lyrical monotony that sets in. Neither song is bad, but there’s only so many references to dark and light as a metaphor one can draw meaning from.
‘Chasing Light’ has a brief acapella intro before kicking into third gear. ‘If Darkness Had a Son’ is a slick mean tune with military snare and will trigger that metalhead frown - you know the one. It’s got Kirk’s best solo on the album too but it’s also symbolic of the fact most of the songs just run long because the band plays the riff for a while. There’s no melodic passages like ‘Battery’, no prayer interlude ala ‘Enter Sandman’, no “Die, Die, Die” like ‘Creeping Death’. There’s no ballads either, so no slow build to an epic thrash out, nor a quiet acoustic moment.
There are signs of life in the final quarter, with the punk-infused ‘Too Far Gone?’ feeling like a throwback to Garage, Inc and fairly fresh. ‘Room of Mirrors’ has a similar vibe with pretty raw lyrics about mental health and being honest in the face of criticism. It’s a great message when James states, “you might judge, you might just bury me.. Or you might set me free” (cue the wailing Hammett solo). Die-hards will spot the lyrical reference to a Death Magnetic track too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_t53a5Ons0
The album concludes with the eleven-minute epic ‘Inamorata’. It’s a blues/Black Sabbath inspired jam about a new lover. It’s lustful and ballsy, dripping with metal masculinity. Hammett is right at home here, crafting solos around the riff and getting into his whammy bar to express himself. This one does drop out and gives Rob the chance to carry the middle section with his bass and add backing vocals. It’s arguably the most at-home the band feel on the album, there’s a purpose to the playing with Hetfield/Hammett having time for guitar harmonies too and Lars compliments rather than dominates. The closing section picks up the tempo and drives the riff home back to the garage.
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The curve for grading new Metallica albums isn’t like other bands. I think it’s safe to say their experimental period (Black album to St Anger) is well behind them, but they aren’t just rehashing the Master of Puppets formula either (having already done that for Death Magnetic). Like Hardwired… to Self Destruct there are songs to like here and if you like that album you’ll enjoy most of this. It’s far removed from their classic sound and doesn’t hold up against the Black album's killer hooks. It’s unlikely anything from 72 Seasons will have staying power in their setlists. Like all their long albums, some editing would see the best songs have more of an impact and make the whole thing a lot more digestible. But that wouldn’t be very Metallica would it?
72 Seasons is unmistakably a Metallica album for their mid-life and without any pretence of trying to be cool, with-it, or part of a scene. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Metallica - 72 Seasons tracklisting
- 72 Seasons
- Shadows Follow
- Screaming Suicide
- Sleepwalk My Life Away
- You Must Burn!
- Lux Æterna
- Crown of Barbed Wire
- Chasing Light
- If Darkness Had a Son
- Too Far Gone?
- Room of Mirrors
- Inamorata
Rating: 7 / 10
72 Seasons is out April 14 on Blackened Recordings via Universal Music. Pre Order here.
Review by KJ Draven (Twitter and Instagram).
