And now it’s happened. Metallica has finally revealed the details of their new album. So the 12th studio album, which is called “72 Seasons” will be released on April 14, 2023 on the band’s own Blackened Recordings label. It will be the first full-length LP from the 2016 album “Hardwired… To Self-Destruct.” The album will include 12 new tracks totaling over 77 minutes. The album was produced by Greg Fidelman with contributions from James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. In addition, the band also presented the first single from the album “Lux Æterna”, which means “eternal light” in Latin, along with a video clip which can be seen below.
Talking about the concept of the new album, Hetfield gave such a profound definition:
72 seasons. The first 18 years of our lives that form our true or false selves. The concept that we were told ‘who we are’ by our parents. A possible pigeonholing around what kind of personality we are. I think the most interesting part of this is the continued study of those core beliefs and how it affects our perception of the world today.
Much of our adult experience is reenactment or reaction to these childhood experiences. Prisoners of childhood or breaking free of those bondages we carry.
Metallica also announced a massive world tour for 2023/2024. Here’s what Lars Ulrich said:
We’re announcing a two-year world tour. We have all the dates for ’23 and ’24 ready to go. We’re coming to a city near you. We’re playing two nights in every city, playing two completely different shows. So you buy one ticket for two shows — a Friday and a Sunday — and you get what’s called a no-repeat weekend, which, obviously, is an old radio term. You get two one hundred percent completely different and unique shows.
All in all an interesting idea. As for the first single “Lux Æterna” – it’s a short, powerful composition, which pleasantly surprised, and it is imbued with the spirit of the 80’s and there are obvious references to the debut album Kill ’em All, both musically and in general atmosphere. But it’s too early to make conclusions about the whole new album just by the first single. Well, you can find all the additional information on the band’s website.
