The hard rock veterans roll back the years to deliver a thrilling sonic onslaught – including their longest ever song
In 1983, four long-haired, leather-clad teenagers from California recorded a blistering debut album they called ‘Metal Up Your Ass’. Before its release, their label Spoilsport convinced them to rename it to Kill ‘Em All. While the new title made a lot of sense from a commercial point of view, it could never quite capture the essence of the band. Even forty years later, you still know what you’re getting with a new Metallica record. You’re working your ass up.
The band’s eleventh studio album ’72 Seasons’ is an example of this. You’d never guess it was recorded during the slow downtime of a massive pandemic, because it’s a rip-roaring beast that breaks out of traps and never gives up. The opening trio (the title track, ‘Shadows Follow’ and ‘Screaming Suicide’) are particularly relentless, aided by Lars Ulrich’s quick-fire drums and Kirk Hammett’s nimble guitar work coming their way. The entire album roars along at a sustained and intense 77-minute time, pausing only for a few moments for banter recorded in the studio. No ballads here, just speed demon anthems aimed at mosh pits, bedrooms, car trips and anywhere else you choose to head-bang.
Lyrically the album finds frontman James Hetfield at his most confident, delving into growing pains and teenage angst. The title ’72 Seasons’ refers to the first 18 years of life, how they shape us and how we carry them with us. As Hetfield searches his youth for material, he wrestles with darkness, as you might expect (‘Crown of Barbed Wire’, ‘If Darkness Had a Sun’) but eventually finds fragments of light and manages to find traces of hope (‘Lux Æterna’, ‘Chasing Light’) to be scattered throughout the album. It culminates with the longest song Metallica has ever released, ‘Inamorata’, an eleven-minute epic jam that features Hetfield declaring love for his own misery and a stand-out guitar solo from Hammett. Solo is shown.
For young fans just learning to enjoy heavy rock — perhaps enticed by the appearance of this band’s 1986 classic “Master of Puppets” on the Netflix megahit Stranger Things last year — this new record will be a fitting gateway drug. For everyone else there’s just a reassuring thrill that after so many decades on stage, Metallica is still capable of delivering fast, edgy metal – and sticking it out where the sun doesn’t shine.
Details
- Release date: April 14, 2023
- Record label: Blackened
