Metallica's 72 Seasons Is a Tribute to a Legendary Career

 Few bands suffer more pressure from their own fans than Metallica. One may argue that it comes with the territory of being one of the world's most popular and longest-running musical groups. Perhaps a sense of entitlement has crept in: "We've been invested for decades, so give us what we want."

In any event, Metallica fans can be brutal - the wrath directed at the Lou Reed collaboration album Lulu, or even 2003's St. Anger, are great instances. Even bassist Robert Trujillo said that fans had strong opinions.

"They're the best fans in the world, in my opinion," he said in a recent cover story interview with Consequence. "But they love us so much that they get upset when we try new things."

Much of the upheaval has subsided in recent years, when Metallica shifted their artistic focus away from the alternative metal sound that culminated with St. Anger and back to the good old-fashioned thrash metal that they helped pioneer. This was heard on Metallica's 2016 album Hardwired... to Self-Destruct, which was the band's rawest bash-it-out thrash since the 1980s. After the slightly over-cooked production and arrangements on St. Anger and Death Magnetic, the recordings had a "return to the garage" feel to them.

As the years passed after the publication of Hardwired, anticipation for its sequel grew, as did doubts about what a new album might sound like. Looking at setlists of notable shows that had occurred in the interim — for example, the S&M2 performances — Metallica were relying heavily on songs from their history, notably those from their famous run of albums beginning with Kill 'Em All and ending with "The Black Album." To put it another way, the classics.

Imagine Metallica composing an album after repeatedly rehearsing songs like "The Four Horsemen," "Creeping Death," and "Wherever I May Roam" and you'll have a strong backdrop for 72 Seasons, their latest studio album. To address the previous question, they remain firmly in their thrash-metal wheelhouse, expanding on what worked best on Hardwired: extended songs with a plethora of riffs. Again, the LP clocks in at 77 minutes, with seven of the 11 tracks lasting more than six minutes.

The title track, which opens the album, sets the tone both musically and lyrically, with funky palm-muted chugs that lock into Lars Ulrich's uptempo groove. As he does throughout the album, James Hetfield sings with a little drawl and in a higher range, allowing him control over delicate melodies throughout verses and a soaring delivery during the chorus rise. Lyrically, the song starts the album's overarching theme of introspection, nostalgia, and evolution.

The idea is appropriate for an album in which Metallica frequently draws from their history without imitating themselves. This is a band that has frequently changed identities, having reached a stage in its history where it can clearly determine what worked and what didn't. The multi-faceted "If Darkness Had a Son" finest exemplifies this, spanning diverse eras of Metallica's history in a single song.

The track, which begins with a snare roll from Ulrich and Hetfield's tension-building repetition of the word "temptation," draws from all over Metallica's extensive repertoire: the alt-metal of Load/Reload creeps into the power-chord dominant verses, while the mid-song instrumental drop and emphasis on dynamics call back to the prog-tinged structures of "One" and Hardwired highlight "Spit Out the Bone." Other obvious references on 72 Seasons are the center riff on "Screaming Suicide," which has a Kill 'Em All compactness; or the head-nodding beat of "You Must Burn!" that's evocative of renowned...And Justice for All's deep cut "Harvester of Sorrow." 72 Seasons is a consistently gratifying listen for the seasoned Metallica fan who can find these audio easter eggs.

Meanwhile, outstanding performances bring forth the best in each song, particularly James Hetfield's voice. His vocals is as clear and strong as ever, allowing him to weave melodic hooks around riffs and make his lyrics stand out. The intimate musings on "Room of Mirrors" and the heartbreaking semi-acoustic dropout on closing "Inamorata" finest demonstrate his vocal mastery and the increased emotional weight of his words. It also begs the issue of whether Hetfield will ever record a solo singer-songwriter album, despite the fact that he's in terrific form during his few spotlight moments on 72 Seasons.

The remainder of the band is almost entirely automated. Kirk Hammett's riff tapestry, which draws from the guitarist's extensive lexicon of old NWOBHM ("Shadows Fall"), bluesy rock ("Sleepwalk My Life Away"), and full-bore thrash ("Lux terna"; "Chasing Light"), is kept in a tight pocket by Ulrich and Trujillo. That feeling of diversity, along with Ulrich's ability to direct transitions using drum fills, gives the tracklist a continuous flow (the repeated "Crown of Barbed Wire" being the only minor disturbance).

There's a degree of self-editing and consistency that puts 72 Seasons ahead of St. Anger, Hardwired, and Death Magnetic as the finest thrash album by Metallica of the twenty-first century, if not the best Metallica album of the twenty-first century. It's the sound of a band having a good time, putting down a slew of riffs and enjoying its own heritage as metal masters.

Every period of Metallica is represented on 72 Seasons, yet in a genuine, almost subliminal way that naturally draws the band back to its beginnings. It reflects an illustrious body of work and demands the required obsessive study for the die-hard admirer. However, the album achieves that distinct Metallica impact in that it may serve as an excellent introduction to heavy metal for the uninformed.