Heavy metal band Metallica released their 13th studio record titled “72 Seasons” on April 15.

There was a lot of hype around this record and for very good reason. The entire record is one hour and 17 minutes of in-your-face, Metallica-style metal that any metal fan will enjoy. I am more of a hard rock fan so I will always lean toward heavier music so beware. 

I like Metallica, I won’t say that I’m a die-hard, loyal follower but I think that Metallica is one of the most successful bands that survived the ‘80s and ‘90s and truly deserve their success and loyal following.

The first track and title track are typical, basic Metallica. Which is in no way a bad thing. It’s in your face and loud as anything. Kirk Hammet, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Robert Trujillo are no amateurs in making great, classic metal records.

I will say right off the bat that my two favorite songs are track six, “Lux Eterna,” and track 10, “Too Far Gone?” They both are just awesome songs that I added to my playlist immediately.

What I like most about “Lux Eterna” is the chorus and harmony between the band in the “full speed or nothing” chorus section. When it comes to choruses and singing together, Metallica is not the first band that comes to mind but I will accept it with open arms.

Rewinding just a little bit, track four, “Sleepwalk My Life Away,” has such a chunky bassline from Trujillo which is met by a heavy riff from Hetfield that it makes me want to run through a wall or stand in front of a bus (not actually but that’s how hype it is).

Hetfield’s voice has held up great over the years and it really does age gracefully unlike some of the bands that grew up with Metallica.

Another great song from this record is “Crown of Barbed Wire,” which has a run time of five minutes and 49 seconds.

It’s not as thrash-like and in-your-face as some of the other songs on the record, it’s “slower” and I put that in quotes because there’s no such thing as slow metal music.

The riffs from the entire band are heavy and Ulrich beats the living hell out of the drums on this song which is great because I love being able to hear the kick drum and hear the heaviness of the drums which sometimes gets washed out in the final mix.

Some of the other great songs off the record include “If Darkness Had a Son,” and the 11:10 song, which is the longest song ever by the band “Inamorata.” Those two songs have to be incorporated into the band’s setlist this coming summer and I will be very disappointed if they are not. 

I have to give Metallica credit, they have not changed their musical style to what’s popular and they have never really given in to going mainstream, their basic roots of metal have led them to become the most popular metal band on earth and as I said before, they deserve every ounce of it.

Finally, it’s time for The Singer’s Thoughts:

1. It’s still so awesome to see Metallica “bring it” in terms of knowing exactly what you are getting, no garbage fillers, just in-your-face metal.
2. I hope this record shows other bands that they don’t have to change to become popular. After 13 records, Metallica hasn’t for sure and they don’t have to and shouldn’t, this record should be a classic
3. I think that there should be a follow-up to this record, I’m sure the band has more than enough material to make a great or even better follow-up to this record. 

Overall Grade: 8/10