72 SEASONS

"72 Seasons" is the eleventh full-length studio album by US heavy/thrash metal act Metallica (not counting "Lulu (2011)", which is a collaboration album with Lou Reed, and therefore shouldn´t be considered a Metallica album). The album was released through Blackened Recordings in April 2023. It´s the successor to "Hardwired... to Self-Destruct" from November 2016.

Stylistically Metallica pretty much continue the heavy metal style of "Hardwired... to Self-Destruct", although they also add the occasional thrash/speed metal part to their music. The music is centered around heavy hard rocking riffs and rhythms, Kirk Hammet´s wha-wha effect laden blues rock influenced guitar solos, and James Hetfield´s distinct sounding commanding vocals. It´s the sound of a Metallica with nothing to prove and completely at ease with what they´re doing. There´s a mature confidence in the way the songs are constructed and the way they are performed, only a seasoned act like Metallica can produce. That unfortunately also means that some tracks are a bit too safe and predictable, and could rightly be called filler material, but "72 Seasons" is predominantly a good quality release.

Featuring 77:10 minutes of music "72 Seasons" is a very long album, and had the most unremarkable material been cut, it would arguably have made for a more intense and consistent quality release. Highlights include the opening title tracks, first single "Lux Æterna", and the closing 11:10 minutes long stoner metal/doom metal influenced "Inamorata". The latter is probably the only song on the album, where Metallica try something a bit different and I´d say it´s THE standout track on the album.

"72 Seasons" features a sound production which is powerful, organic, and detailed. It´s a sound production, which suits the material well and again it´s a feature of "72 Seasons", which is relatively similar to how "Hardwired... to Self-Destruct" sounded. Compared to some of their most successful releases from the 90s, the sound production on "72 Seasons" is more stripped-down, simple, and organic. It works relatively well on most of the material, but the slightly faster tracks could have prospered from a more sharp sounding production.

Upon conclusion Metallica have created another good quality late career release (like they´ve done a few times post-2000). It won´t surprise you, and it won´t dethrone your favorites from the 80s/90s, but it´s a release which shows that Metallica still have a little fuel left in the tank. As mentioned above I think it would have been a stronger release, had some of the fat been trimmed and the playing time been shorter, but I´m sure the hardcore fans won´t complain. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

The band's most recent album, it saw them continue their thrash renaissance, but it has a vast amount of filler. There are great moments, especially the song Inamorata, being the band's longest song to date, but there is a lack of passion. The guitar solos from Kirk are very lazy but Lars does show off some of his best drumming. James's vocals are some of his strongest but sadly his lyrics, while showing promise, end up wrapped with too many clichés. The idea behind the concept was good but there wasn't enough creativity to its action.