Metallica is in the top echelon of bands who could easily rest on their considerable laurels after a remarkable 40-year career

James Hetfield roars on “Lux Æterna,” “Cast out the demons that strangle your life/ Full speed or nothin’, full speed or nothin’.” It’s an intense call to action that serves as Metallica’s motto and a rallying cry for milliоns of fans. He preaches that the song’s power-punk musicianship is as raw as the real-life horrors that inspire Hetfield’s words, and that the objectives are salvation and connection. Imagine the sensation as he storms onto the Metallica stage and yells, “Emancipation kιll isolation/ Never alone for the feelings alike,” to the sizable audience.

“Lux Æterna,” the first single from 72 Seasons, is a continuation of 1983’s explosive Kιll ‘Em All debut. Though from the perspective of a younger, brasher thrasher, “Whiplash,” the album’s first song, similarly tackles the revered audience-artist relationship: “Late at night, all systems go, you’ve come to see the show/ We do our best, you’re the rest, you make it real, you know.”

The latest studio album by Metallica has a lot of songs that are inspired by self-analysis, sobriety, and treatment. With 72 Seasons, Hetfield has gone further and more intimately personal than ever, exposing the injuries sustained over his first 18 years of life. His lyrics include both anguish and victory, providing hope for both Hetfield’s own generation—inspired by the singer’s introspection—and young listeners caught in the middle.

Metallica continues to hold the status of being the most known nаme in metal, even if that knowledge may come with more tattoos and graying hair. As usual, their fan base is prepared for a global tour that will go until September 2024. Metallica is at the top of the list of bands that could easily rest on their substantial laurels after an incredible 40-year career. However, Metallica represent the sharks in the musical ocean that must continue to swim or perish.

With his incredible attention to detail and relentless concentration, Ulrich leads the charge both onstage and off as the band’s Energizer bunny. Metallica “don’t really shut down,” the drummer observes in a long talk with Consequence. They haven’t taken a long vacation in fact for the last eighteen years, or 72 seasons, to put it that way. Since its formation in 1981, they haven’t really slowed down either.

He claims that in 2005, “we really put the brakes on Metallica.” “We completed the St. Anger record, which was released in 2003. After traveling between 2003 and 2004, we spent the most of 2005 cleaning off. We’ve never taken a break like that. The drummer takes a little step back. Though it was more of a “Okay, we’ll see you guys next year” kind of thing, I sаy “shut down.” After about a month or two, you could think, “Hey, should we work things out and start getting together again?” It resembles restlessness. You know that we’re energized and prepared to go?

Within the Metallica community, maintaining that flame is a major idea. The audience will follow if the band members are absorbed and fixated on every facet of their craft. You have to always looking for new strategies to maintain interested. Ulrich says, “You have to force yourself to keep thinking of new ways to do things, so you don’t fall into autopilot or just traps of being stuck in a cage.” “We enjoy being involved in what we do with each other and we enjoy what we do.” We want to think that we’re having an impact on the audience and fans.

There’s no doubting that Metallica’s 72 Seasons album represents a significant musical and lyrical leap from their ramshackle thrash beginnings, but as with any old development, there are always traces of the past. Ulrich remarks, “I don’t feel that you can disregard your last point of reference every time you make a record.”

There are now two possible outcomes: “We’re going somewhere else, or it becomes somehow a response to where you ended off last time.” That is not to my liking. Thus, he’s happy that the Hardwired film, which was created by Fidelman in 2016, has held up “unexpectedly well.” When we would begin a new project at various points in our careers, we would run as far in the other way as we left off on the prior project. I’m definitely speaking to that.

I’m quite happy with how Metallica’s two most recent albums have developed; it means they have many more successful, thrashing years ahead of them. Ulrich laughs and adds, “It feels like we’re firing on all 12 or 24 or however many numbers of cylinders you’re supposed to fire on.” “We feel, in my opinion, more charged, strong, and cohesive than ever before.”