Photo Credit: Tim Saccenti
Most people already know the story up until this point: Metallica originally formed in Los Angeles at the beginning of the ’80s. In a decade with no shortage of heavy metal entities for headbanging fans to choose from, Metallica eschewed then-common practices of the genre, such as featuring scantily-clad women on their album cover or in their videos (actually, the band barely made videos at all during this era dominated by MTV, earring them even more points for integrity). Occult-inspired imagery was also largely exorcized, although that which was aggressive and violent didn’t go anywhere (Metallica’s classic 1983 debut album was not-so-subtly titled Kill ‘Em All).
This basic approach helped the band grow a huge following through the decade, even as hard rock began to splinter into divisive subgenres (such as so-called “hair metal”). So much so that they seemingly lost few fans after ceding to radio singles and regularly-produced music videos with their 1991 self-titled release, which sold more than twelve million copies in the U.S. alone. Multi-platinum sales have been the rule for Metallica ever since, even as the band’s trajectory became a bit less consistent: a few fans were put off by the more melodic emphasis on Load (1996) and Reload (1997), while St. Anger (2003) is just about universally hated, as was the band’s ill-fated 2011 collaboration with the late Lou Reed.
Not to mention that their output has become less frequent in the twenty-first century, with their current album being only their second full-length studio release since 2008. However, put as simply as possible, 72 Seasons was very much worth the wait: it’s Metallica in both their strongest and most recognizable form. This is apparent right from the opening cut, where It’s all there: the rapid fast drum beat that hails back to the band’s thrash metal days, lead singer James Hetfield’s trademark growl, and a number of musical twists and turns which never sacrifice their heavy-ness. It fits that it’s the title song since it sets the stage for the rest of the album perfectly.
Or, as the lyrics declare on “Lux Aeterna”: “Full speed or nothing.” This is hardly the only clever wordplay on the album, either: “If Darkness Had a Son” and “Crown of Barbed Wire” are already impressive with just the titles (and also deliver musically), while “You Must Burn!” uses the Salem Witch Trials from the perspective of both the persecutor and the persecuted, with compelling results.
“Sleepwalk My Life Away” will wake up virtually any listener, as will tracks like “Room of Mirrors” and even the comfortably mellow (though not too mellow) “Chasing Light.” Given the band’s penchant for experimenting with their sound in the past (despite historically mixed results), various interesting musical elements do find their way into a number of different songs. “Shadows Follow” follows a more accessible approach in its chorus, possibly reminiscent of the Foo Fighters. “Screaming Suicide” contains not only a well-placed spoken word section but an almost – dare we say – Beatlesque hook.
Although the band’s two remaining founding members, Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich (solid as ever, four decades in) receive the bulk of the writing credits on 72 Seasons, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett deserves a mountain of credit for his amazing fretwork on the album. Bassist Robert Trujillo, the relative newcomer (for two decades) also more than delivers. Not much on the album is particularly groundbreaking – either for Metallica or in general – at the same time nothing needs to be.
Nearly every track on 72 Seasons is an epic unto itself, and this certainly includes the grand finale “Inamorata.” That at 11:10 minutes it’s both the longest track and possibly the most structurally straightforwardly structured (a slowed-down instrumental break fits in perfectly) is typical of an album where little fails to please (at least for fans of the band and the genre). Like nearly all of the band’s other releases, the album itself is also lengthy. However, this is one of the shortest hour-and-seventeen minutes you’ll spend listening to a rock record this year. Classic Metallica, 72 Seasons is one for the ages.
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