Metallica’s 72 seasons: Bringing back the 20th into the 21st century
It’s safe to say that the album is not meant for the tik-tok generation of today
When James Hetfield entered rehab for the umpteenth time in 2019, cancelling some of Metallica's pre scheduled tours to New Zealand and Australia in the process, heavy metal purists feared the worst.
Little did they know that Metallica's 11th studio album, 72 Seasons, which was fully released just three nights ago would be heavily inspired by Hetfield's latest stint in rehab.
The album is not a mere reference to fighting addiction, like Hetfield's lyrics to 'If Darkness Had a Son' where he goes "Temptation, Temptation. The beast still shouts for what it's yearning", but also to the first 18 years of their lives. Hence, the name '72 Seasons'.
Keeping true to what Hetfield said, 72 Seasons is just not a reenactment of the band's childhood experiences, but also a back to basics approach where you feel as if they attempted to sound and sing like the glory days of the 80's.
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In a sentence, the new album has enough worthwhile material to keep the fans happy, that is if you overlook some of its shortcomings. But I am afraid that you will not be able to convince a non-believer of Metallica's greatness to pick 72 Seasons over any of the classics as an ice-breaking album.
Firstly, if you are under the impression that this piece is a review of every single track of the entire 77 minutes long album, you are wrong. That's because I am not sixteen anymore, and I do not jam to Metallica for hours throughout the day.
This is more of an overview as to what the new album sounds like, how it settles alongside contemporary music of the 21st century and other compositional aspects. But it's safe to say that the album is not meant for the tik-tok generation of today.
The album displays both the advantages and drawbacks of their approach to go back in time and sound like they used to in their haydays. It would only be a bitter Metallica fan who would not feel the pump in his veins when tracks like 'Lux Aeterna' power along, or when 'Screaming Suicide' disintegrates into multiple Kirk Hammett' 'Wah- heavy' solos.
It's impossible to ignore the fact that both 'Harvester of Sorrow' from 1988's '...And Justice for All' and the final single from 1991's 'Sad But True' are equally a part of the album's musical makeup.
Without minimising Hetfield's personal sufferings, the songs that address his current issues have a weight and an edge that reasonably substitute for the fervour and testosterone that fueled their 80s music.
Bassist Robert Trujillo had some sort of a reinvention as 72 Seasons saw him getting more heavily involved with writing some of the songs. His back vocals were reminiscent of a time when Jason Newsted used to create havoc with his deep and aggressive back vocals in the late 80's and early 90's.
Composition wise, one must look no further than the title track 72 Seasons to get an understanding of the musical dexterity that Metallica put on full display. Metallica have their own tonal base, the structural bedrock upon which they laid down the entire composition of the track.
It starts off with a rather long tremolo picking in E, which served as the structural bedrock. They superposed a chord progression on top of the background picking, which built up momentum till the vocals came in.
The chorus hits you out of nowhere - there is no steady transition from the pre-chorus. It's an aspect that I, however, personally like.
However, the title track does throw a curveball at you because after one of the choruses, the song transitions and modulates into G#, relative to the key of B and goes into Phrygian. That is something which you associate with the likes of Dream Theater, but not a heavy metal band.
When it comes to the lyrics, if you were looking for Hetfield's socially conscious lyrics of the past which instigate self reflection; this album is not going to quench your thirst. Even though the lyrics have deeper meanings associated with them, they are not lyrical poetry.
