Metallica “72 Seasons” Album Review

72 Seasons

Metallica

• Genre: Metal
• Date: 14 Apr, 2023
• Content: Not-explicit
• Track(s): 12
• ℗ 2023 Blackened Recordings Inc., under exclusive licence to Universal International Music B.V.

The band’s eleventh studio album, “72 Seasons,” is among their finest. This is a ragged beast that explodes out of the traps and never slows down, making it impossible to believe that it was mostly recorded during the pandemic’s slow-motion downtime. It’s a good thing that “72 Seasons” isn’t a concept album because its main ideas scarcely seem to tie together. Sometimes Hetfield is discussing witches, other times he is questioning himself, and other times it is impossible to understand what he is saying.

72 Seasons is a marathon at an hour and a half long. But it slaps over and over brutally. Additionally, it sometimes seems as though the band is so caught up in their own passion that they won’t let up until the song is ready to let them. Even though “72 Seasons” isn’t a game-changer, Metallica was just being Metallica and letting loose with everything they’ve got.

Album Cover Art

On this intriguing album cover we find a small bed, the kind fitting for a child, surrounded by broken pieces of various items that all seem be charred and damaged by one lethal impact from an external source. The items littered all over the floor indicate there could’ve been other people present in the room when disaster struck. Everything on the cover looks like they were ran through by a viciously ruthless thunder that had been warming up for 72 Seasons.

Tracks and Features

With the album’s lead track, Metallica creates a strong first impression. Rapid-fire bass and sparse guitars by Robert Trujillo set the song’s ultra-heavy tone before it explodes into speed metal. James Hetfield sings about political conflict and brutality between the frantic tremolo plucking and double bass drumming.

More crowd-pleasing thrash metal can be found on songs like “Screaming Suicide” and “Lux tÆterna.” On the latter, Hetfield sings, “Full speed or nothing,” and the song embodies that idea. Hetfield’s palm-muted riffs and Lars Ulrich’s brutal bass drumming onslaught make it ideal mosh pit material.

While “72 Seasons” doesn’t let up in its relentless assault, it includes more than simply thrash. Mid-tempo chugging metal and Load’s biker blues guitar are combined in “Sleepwalk My Life Away.” Hetfield goes so far as to attempt singing rather than just ranting. Like most of Kirk Hammett’s soloing on the album, this one is understated and focuses more on melody and tone than shredding.

Although it’s a little frustrating that there aren’t any true “guitar hero” moments, Hammett’s solos work well within the context of the songs in which they appear; they don’t just serve to highlight his talent but rather to enhance it. With “You Must Burn,” Metallica embraces groove metal. One of the catchiest tracks on the record, it has a syncopated beat that is reminiscent of Pantera with a gritty guitar tone.

Hetfield calls for political action in his lyrics by using allusions to the Salem Witch Trials and the Spanish Inquisition. The song with the darkest tone on the album is appropriately titled “If Darkness Had a Son.” There is more than a feeling of danger in the song’s verses, where Hetfield speaks in a deep growl over a speeding riff. The record has some shortcomings. The “Inamorata” song, which closes the album, is far too drawn-out and rambling. Hammet’s solos are underused, and he overuses his Cry Baby pedal as per usual.

Tracklist

NO	TITLE	TIME
1	72 Seasons	7:39
2	Shadows Follow	6:11
3	Screaming Suicide	5:30
4	Sleepwalk My Life Away	6:56
5	You Must Burn!	7:03
6	Lux Æterna	3:21
7	Crown of Barbed Wire	5:49
8	Chasing Light	6:45
9	If Darkness Had a Son	6:36
10	Too Far Gone?	4:33
11	Room of Mirrors	5:33
12	Inamorata	11:10

Album Theme

The writing, the lyrics, and the entire pace of the record are all geared toward a darker vibe. It is concentrated on slowing down and providing pounding riffs through the haze of a depressed environment, only rarely breaking into a sprint in an attempt to flee whatever is in the shadows behind it.

Production Credits

Greg Fidelman, James Hetfield & Lars Ulrich produced the album.

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