Rating: 5/5 stars

Thrash metal is reborn and fresh out of therapy with Metallica’s (“Hardwired … to Self-Destruct”) latest album “72 Seasons” released on April 14. The band has a pat- tern of releasing a new album only every five to eight years, though the live album “S&M2,” was released in 2020.

It is safe to say that Me- tallica has come a long way in their craft since their debut album “Kill ‘Em All” in 1983. Af- ter all this time the band still manages to find new angles on the themes of darkness and suffering.

On the surface, the lyrics are bleak and spiraling down- ward, but singer James Hetfield includes an upward turn on nearly every track. No lon- ger emitting the blind, raging energy of their youth, Metalli- ca takes a deeper dive in this new work telling listeners to hang on in times of despair. This is evident in the opening title track, when Hetfield sings “But what is done is done and done/Look back, psychotic/No chance before this life began.” It clocks 7:39, in case anyone forgot that vocals are but one part of Metallica’s signature instrument-heavy style.

A great amount of artistic attention was given to this track in particular. Its video features work created by Kel- ly Richardson, a professor of visual arts at the University of Victoria in British Colum- bia. Hetfield appears against a halo of red at one point, which is totally metal.

All of the songs are full of head-banging goodness but “Shadows Follow” is the head- banger totally reminiscent of their glory days. Sick drums by Lars Ulrich and blistering guitar by Hetfield and Kirk Hammett are supported by thundering bass from Robert Trujillo as Hetfield belts, “I, I run/Still my shadows follow.”

The official video includes some animation, with fiery reds and oranges dancing on screen. The band’s cartoon-if- ied selves perform on what looks like a giant sundial on a rock in space surrounded by rotating metal rings. The style of the art seems to take influ- ence from anime. The video for “Room of Mirrors” contains some of that same animation. The only credit line given at the end said it was directed by Tristan Zammit, an indepen- dent artist based in Philadel- phia.

In the song, Hetfield is asking listeners if they would take him as he is, or if they would scrutinize his pain and declare him insane. Monsters fly around the haunted house the animated band plays in before it blasts apart in a giant explosion.

Perhaps the maturing of the band’s subject matter is best displayed in “Chasing Light,” which laments a young

man caught in the throes of addiction and inner pain. The verse “It is destroyed/He’s just a boy” suggests Hetfield is looking back on his younger self, or maybe former band- mate Dave Mustaine (“Mega- deth”) whose alcohol issues booted him out of the group in April 1983.

Between “Too Far Gone?” and the closing track “Inamo- rata” is where the lyrical con-

trast shines brightest. In “Too Far Gone?” Hetfield goes from “I am desperation/ am iso- lation/I am agitation” to “I’m never too far gone to save/I can make it through the day.” All of this happens alongside some true ‘80s power guitar awesomeness.

“Inamorata,” meaning “fe- male lover” is a love song to misery. “But she’s not what I’m living for,” Hetfield sings. It is pretty up there in length at 11 minutes and 10 seconds long. Metallica does much of its speaking instrumentally throughout. About halfway through we are treated to a soft ballad tone from Hetfield,showing he has quite the range even after decades of intense yelling. The album ex- its quietly, letting its audience ponder the experience. Give it a listen, all 77 minutes are worth it.

Photo from Metallica via Twitter