Metallica - 72 Seasons - The Singles, Reviewed

Metallica - 72 Seasons - The Singles, Reviewed

Metallica are not only the biggest thrash metal band, but also arguably the biggest band in metal music full stop, producing a quintet of classic albums in their first 10 years, the rough and ready debut ‘Kill Em’ All’ in 1983 showing great potential, built on with albums like all time metal classic ‘Master of Puppets’, and even breaching into the mainstream with ‘The Black Album’ in 1991. Although since then their output has been spotty to say the least, with the incredibly divisive ‘Load’ and ‘Reload’, the infamous disaster ‘St. Anger’, and with their output since being considered OK by most accounts, but not much else (aside from ‘Lulu’ with Lou Reed in 2011, which despite the huge hate, I love and I make no apologies for it). Now, following a 7-year hiatus, and with renewed interest thanks to a notable inclusion in Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’, the band are back with ‘72 Seasons’, produced by metal titan Greg Fidelman and set for release on April 14th. Having not heard a Metallica album in full aside from ‘Lulu’, I really had no expectations. I wasn’t expecting a career benchmark or anything, but I did hope that with quite a few more eyes on them than perhaps usual, that they would try as best they could to put their best foot forward. So, the question is: do they? Well there's only one way to find out as of now, so let's check out the singles. 

72 Seasons

As much as I might have ragged on previous singles for sounding like generic thrash, this thing really is blood pumping from the word go. Given its expansive run time they had a lot of ground they needed to cover to keep it interesting, but I reckon they do. The fast paced and dramatic guitars that begin the track have a really cool sound, but the track really kicks into high gear once the drums come in. Starting out with a super pummelling, almost punky groove, it quickly transitions into the kind of mid-paced slamming beat and gnarly riff many of these tracks have showcased, and for whatever reason it works particularly well here, as does the time change in the pre-chorus incidentally. There’s yet another instrumental switch just over halfway through that works similarly well, utilising the fast riffs and drums from the intro, but in a way that doesn’t feel like structural recycling. Of course, Mr. Hammett also gives us a pretty great solo and nice dramatic leads for us to feast our ears on around this point. The song has quite a progressive feel in a sense, and much more in an epic way than a pompous one. The lyrics that seem to be about the natural cruelty and darkness inherent in the human condition, as well as parts that focus on youthful excess, are actually done quite effectively. Not too lexically edgy or flashy, but dark while still managing to be straightforward and effective, and while James Hetfield’s vocal style will probably never be my thing, I can certainly respect the energy and conviction in his performance. Metallica had a quite hefty task in front of them with this one, and I have to say they executed it pretty damn well. Fair play guys.

Screaming Suicide

This track goes for a bit more of a grandiose presentation, Kirk Hammet’s wah-wah guitar leads soaring over a base of dramatic riffs and pounding drums in the intro, before transitioning into a typically thrash vibe with galloping, punchy drums and gnarly yet infectious guitar riffs. The mid-paced pre-chorus goes for a subtly sinister, tension building approach with both the instrumentation and vocals that sounds pretty cool, particularly along with Hetfield’s vocals and the dive bombing riffs that follow. The bridge also goes for somewhat of  a similar approach, fast paced, but with that ominous sonic palette. Like the single that preceded it, this track is musically pretty straightforward thrash: chugging, fast paced, catchy riffs, some cool tempo and feel changes, unrelenting rhythm sections and some great soloing throughout too. Although, like ‘Lux’, it feels very generic. Decent, but there’s not much in the way of original ideas here. Vocally, James’ delivery on here is certainly more gravelly and intense which works really well here, while also having a certain foreboding element to it that fits the instrumental well, particularly in the pre-chorus. My only real objection vocally is that the spoken delivery in the bridge is a little cheesy, although thankfully that doesn’t last too long. Lyrically it’s a slightly different story. Now I’ll admit, the choice to tackle a subject as delicate as suicide and the inner turmoil that results from those thoughts it is very admirable, and is done decently well without seeming tactless, especially difficult given it’s being sung from the perspective of suicide itself. The only thing is that it’s just lyrically a bit too blunt to really come at it from an interesting perspective, which might seem like a weird critique, but the exploration of the themes here just seems very heavy handed without really adding much in the way of nuance (“my voice appears, teaching you of fears, are you good enough? Don't ever speak my name, remember you're to blame, keep me inside, my name is suicide”). Granted, it’s certainly not the worst attempt at tackling this subject. So overall, it’s a pretty good, if very by the numbers thrash cut with an honourable lyrical sentiment, even if not approached in the most groundbreaking way.

Lux Æterna

This first single is a couple of things, the primary one being pretty decent. First of all, Greg Fidelman’s production is as punchy and crisp as ever, giving Metallica's unrelenting wall of guitars and drums a really bombastic, militaristic feel. Despite accusations of programming, Lars’ drums have a real breakneck pace and momentum to them, the production adding a real sense of heft, and the guitars on top of them are suitably thrashy and chugging for a Metallica comeback track. Furthermore, Kirk Hammet provides a pretty cool, acrobatic, shredding solo around the 1:40 mark, and James Hetfield’s vocal performance is pretty solid too, the gnarly baritone verses and soaring choruses working well enough, if seeming quite generic by his standards. Which brings me to the track’s main downfall: it sounds incredibly generic. Keep in mind this is coming from someone who isn’t too familiar with Metallica, or thrash metal at all, but to me it seems incredibly cookie cutter. Decent, yes, but not really doing anything new besides a pretty sick guitar solo. Additionally, while Hetfield’s lyrics about the unity found within a concert crowd is a pretty nice concept, the needlessly pretentious sounding, overdramatic phrasing he uses makes it sound like these lyrics came from an online thrash metal lyrics generator, (“exhilaration, frenzied sensation, kindred alliance connected inside, commiseration, sonic salvation, cast out the demons that strangle your life”), which given my overarching criticism, certainly doesn’t help. So, it’s fine, certainly, but I’m not exactly falling over myself to recommend it.

If Darkness Had a Son

This third single also seems to follow in many of the same footsteps of the previous two, meaning that it mostly just sounds like really generic thrash, but a bit longer. You might say that I’m not in a position to be making such points without having much experience, but I reckon even I can sense there’s not loads going on. The intro admittedly does sound quite cool, with the marching drum beat, chugging rhythm guitars and sinister leads giving it a very foreboding vibe. However, when they switch the marching beat for a bare-bones kick/snare pattern, the interest is basically gone. Not even a transition fully into the chorus groove with that diving thrash riff could give it a great deal of life, despite Greg’s huge production sound. While Lars is admittedly doing some cool, rapid fire stuff drum-wise on the verses, the rest of the band don’t really do much to compliment it besides a basic descending riff. The chorus, again, like much of everything else, is absolutely fine, fairly gnarly-ish riff, slow stomping groove, you get the idea. I can certainly give praise to the midsection for acting as a good canvas for Kirk’s impressive soloing skills, but beyond that, there’s not loads. As far as vocals and lyrics go, this is about as Metallica as you can possibly get. The low, foreboding delivery on the verses, the projected, gnarly choruses, and James Hetfield singing about the destructive nature of temptation and previous vices. Not a bad concept, but it does sound a little like a more developed version of that one ‘St. Anger’ outtake. Also, just more for fun really, I reckon the writing and delivery of lines like, “if darkness had a son, here I ayyyuummm” might be the most stereotypically Metallica thing ever, and not necessarily in a good way. So there are highlights here: the intro, the solo, some of the drumming, but it’s beginning to feel like we’re just getting more or less the same thing every time, just with enough changes to where it’s not completely uncanny.

So, based on this, have my expectations for the album now changed? Well, maybe a little bit. Despite not being that familiar at all with their back catalogue, it sounds to me like Metallica may just be continuing under their recent M.O. of making decent, serviceable thrash metal albums, and not really doing much else. I would say that perhaps their resurgence in popularity led them to make a more widely accessible album, but given the timeline I don’t think so. They could very well be keeping their best tricks up their sleeves, but for now we can only speculate.