Advertisement

Metallica Rage About the ‘Wrath of Man’ on ’72 Seasons’ Title Track

Metallica Presents: The Helping Hands Concert (Paramount+) - Credit: Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images
Metallica Presents: The Helping Hands Concert (Paramount+) - Credit: Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images

Metallica conjure the “wrath of man” in a molten hellscape in the video for “72 Seasons,” the title track of their upcoming album. James Hetfield sings bleak lyrics like “staring into black light, permanently midnight” and “mad seasons take their toll” while playing heavy, piston-chugging riffs. The song is a nearly eight-minute, epic journey reckoning with “72 seasons gone” – referring to the first 18 years of life – and all the hardships that accompany coming of age (plus a fiery, wah-wah inflected solo by Kirk Hammett, who cowrote the track with Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich). The song is the new album’s first track, which comes out on April 14.

Hetfield explained his outlook for the album last year when the group debuted the first single from the album, “Lux Æterna.”72 seasons — the first 18 years of our lives that form our true or false selves,” he said in a statement. “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 a reenactment or reaction to these childhood experiences. Prisoners of childhood or breaking free of those bondages we carry.”

More from Rolling Stone

At the time, the band also announced world tour dates, featuring Five Finger Death Punch and Pantera as openers. Metallica will play two nights in every city with no repeat songs in their set lists. They’ve since released videos for the album’s “Screaming Suicide” and “If Darkness Had a Son.”

Outside of making music, Metallica announced that they were donating $250,000 for earthquake relief, via their All Within My Hands foundation, in the regions of Turkey and Syria hit by a deadly quake. “We’re at a loss for words to describe the devastation in southern Turkey and northern Syria,” the band said in a collective statement. “The death toll continues to rise, tragically exceeding 36,000 lives lost. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake has reduced the entire region to rubble.”

Best of Rolling Stone

Click here to read the full article.