James Hetfield explains the meaning of Metallica’s new album 72 Seasons

Metallica have just broken the internet today with the announcement of their long-awaited new album, along with killer lead single Lux Æterna. If you’ve been busy streaming that on repeat, then you might have missed frontman James Hetfield’s explanation about the record as a whole.

The album – the follow-up to 2016’s excellent Hardwired… To Self-Destruct – is called 72 Seasons. If you do the maths and divide that number by the seasons in a year (four) then you’ll arrive at 18, which is the key to this whole thing…

“72 seasons,” begins James. “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 re-enactment or reaction to these childhood experiences. Prisoners of childhood or breaking free of those bondages we carry.”

So there you have it. Sounds fascinating, right?

While we await for the full album to arrive on April 14, 2023 (via Blackened Recordings), watch the video for Lux Æterna below:

Check out the 72 Seasons tracklist:

1. 72 Seasons
2. Shadows Follow
3. Screaming Suicide
4. Sleepwalk My Life Away
5. You Must Burn!
6. Lux Æterna
7. Crown of Barbed Wire
8. Chasing Light
9. If Darkness Had a Son
10. Too Far Gone?
11. Room of Mirrors
12. Inamorata

Catch Metallica on their just-announced No Repeat Weekend world tour:

April 2023

27 Amsterdam NL, Johan Cruijff Arena
29 Amsterdam NL, Johan Cruijff Arena

May 2023

17 Paris FR, Stade de France*
19 Paris FR, Stade de France
26 Hamburg DE, Volksparkstadion
28 Hamburg DE, Volksparkstadion

June 2023

16 Gothenburg SE, Ullevi Stadium**
18 Gothenburg SE, Ullevi Stadium

August 2023

4 East Rutherford, NJ, MetLife Stadium
6 East Rutherford, NJ, MetLife Stadium
11 Montreal, QC, Stade Olympique
13 Montreal, QC, Stade Olympique
18 Arlington, TX, AT&T Stadium
20 Arlington, TX, AT&T Stadium
25 Inglewood, CA, SoFi Stadium
27 Inglewood, CA, SoFi Stadium

September 2023

1 Glendale, AZ, State Farm Stadium
3 Glendale, AZ, State Farm Stadium

November 2023

3 St. Louis, MO, The Dome at America’s Center
5 St. Louis, MO, The Dome at America’s Center
10 Detroit, MI, Ford Field
12 Detroit, MI, Ford Field

May 2024

24 Munich DE, Olympiastadion
26 Munich DE, Olympiastadion

June 2024

7 Helsinki FI, Olympic Stadium
9 Helsinki FI, Olympic Stadium
14 Copenhagen DK, Parken Stadium
16 Copenhagen DK , Parken Stadium

June 2024

5 Warsaw PL, PGE Narodowy
7 Warsaw PL, PGE Narodowy
12 Madrid ES, Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano
14 Madrid ES, Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano

August 2024

2 Foxborough, MA, Gillette Stadium
4 Foxborough, MA, Gillette Stadium
9 Chicago, IL, Soldier Field
11 Chicago, IL, Soldier Field
16 Minneapolis, MN, US Bank Stadium
18 Minneapolis, MN, US Bank Stadium
23 Edmonton, AB, Commonwealth Stadium
25 Edmonton, AB, Commonwealth Stadium
30 Seattle, WA, Lumen Field

September 2024

1 Seattle, WA, Lumen Field
20 Mexico City MX, Foro Sol***
22 Mexico City MX, Foro Sol
27 Mexico City MX, Foro Sol***
29 Mexico City MX, Foro Sol

Show 1 Support Europe: Architects & Mammoth WVH**
Show 2 Support Europe: Five Finger Death Punch & Ice Nine Kills
*Five Finger Death Punch/Ice Nine Kills play show 1 in Paris, Architects & Mammoth WVH play show 2 in Paris
**Volbeat replaces Architects on show 1 in Gothenburg
Show 1 Support North America: Pantera & Mammoth WVH***
Show 2 Support North America: Five Finger Death Punch & Ice Nine Kills
***Greta Van Fleet replaces Pantera on show 1 both weekends in Mexico City

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