A quick post today to discuss the news of a new Metallica album as well as the newly released single.

On Monday, Metallica announced their 12^th studio album would be called 72 Seasons and will release on April 14, 2023. In addition to the album, Metallica are planning a huge tour that involves playing two nights in each stop and a “no-repeat” set for each city. More details can be found in the post on the band’s official website.

Also on offer is the first single from 72 Seasons. Lux Æterna comes on offer with sound and video (the band did record a video for every song from their prior album Hardwired…To Self Destruct, curious if they’ll do the same here).

Lux Æterna is a good offering, I’ve enjoyed it so far. It’s brief and to the point and it “feels” like a 2022 Metallica song. It seems like maybe the band “found their pocket” with Hardwired… and are going to stay in that territory. For my money, it’s a wise decision. There is plenty of disagreement over the new track, but I’ve noted a fair share of positive reception for the new song as well.

Of course my main concern is with how the album as a whole plays. It’s 12 songs at 77 minutes long, not as long as Hardwired… but still a plenty long enough album. Seems to be the trend for a lot of “boomer rock” these days, including many of my favorite acts. We’ll see how the full-length pans out, especially with the hefty amount of songs.

I’m personally pretty stoked for this, the new song sounds good and Metallica seem to have a good sense of direction in the latter portion of their career. It’s still over four months until album release, so there’s plenty of time to speculate on exactly what we’re getting with 72 Seasons.