72 SEASONS

It is a sad fact that no big (or small) band can survive today on physical sales or streaming alone. If music has to feed its creators, they need to cash in on their fans from time to time directly, preferably with a mammoth concert show. There aren't that many bands on the Euro-American music scene that can sell out "anything anywhere" these days. Iron Maiden? Rammstein? Foo Fighters? And definitely Metallica.

Their latest album, 72 Seasons, just flew by me two years ago. I enjoyed the single Lux 'terna, but I couldn't get into the rest of the album ' more than an hour and a quarter of such intense music is usually beyond my listening capacity. In recent weeks, however, I've started to take it in small doses and gradually found a way to the individual songs.

Right off the bat, I really like how the band didn't skimp on the riffs. There are often so many of them in a single song that they easily carry six or even more minutes of playing time. More of it, Hetfield and co. "hid" the juiciest ones in the verses and other less exposed moments. The quartet still knows how to really kick ass, as demonstrated by the title track 72 Seasons or the aforementioned single Lux 'terna, but the whole album is by no means based on thrash madness. On the contrary, when listening to it, I often feel like I'm listening to some "forgotten" Mot'rhead or even Deep Purple album.

The latter example in particular is worth explaining - hidden in the depths of the song Screaming Suicide, there is a suspiciously boastful guitar solo that I'm sure I've heard before. It took a bit of my brainpower, but my search was ultimately successful ' Kirk Hammet repeated there, note for note, a motif that Ritchie Blackmore had used half a century earlier in the wildness of Speed King. I find this a nice nod ' and I would find it even nicer if someone acknowledged Ritchie as a co-author.

It's probably appropriate to mention some of my favorite songs. In addition to those already mentioned, I really like the rumbling riff mastery of Shadows Follow, the marching hit If Darkness Had a Son, the staccato rawness of Chasing Light and the final tremor of Inamorata (the only one I would shorten myself, as eleven minutes is testing the limits of my patience). Overall, however, I don't lose interest in any of the album's tracks, which is quite a significant compliment from me towards Metallica.

From my point of view, Hetfield and co. have recorded a thrash-spiced album that is fundamentally hard rock, which I can relate to quite well. I almost caught myself wanting to enjoy some of the new songs live ' maybe they'll be more playable for Lars at concerts than crazy tempos in Battery or Fight Fire with Fire. So, for me, 72 Seasons gets a thumbs up ' if nothing else, it's nice that, despite the aforementioned issues, at least some of the older bands are still putting so much effort into their new music.

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