Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Metallica - 72 Seasons (2023)

I have not listened to a Metallica album the whole way through since the black album some thirty-two years ago. For a band who’s 80’s output is regarded as near flawless for me the peer and media charted decline of the band was unfathomable to comprehend, as release after release got shit-canned, perturbing me from wasting my time in bothering to find out for myself whether the criticism was justified. Snippets of albums found their way through to me still, Until It Sleeps, I Disappear, St. Anger and Frantic all underlining my choice to stay away as being more than justified. If anything, based on the coverage I have read, things have only gotten worse as time has gone on. Death Magnetic and Hardwired…to Self-Destruct being subject to particularly harsh derision and of course the Lulu collaboration attracting the most negative responses overall.

An internet acquaintance commented that 72 Seasons was the best thrash metal album of 2023 the other day. If I had taken that comment at even the basest of accuracy levels, I would have been mistaken in assuming 72 Seasons is even a thrash metal record. This is Youthanasia era Megadeth style heavy metal with some elements of well-played guitars hoping to rescue an otherwise below-average metal album. (For the record Youthanasia is a better record). The second part of that statement about this being the “best” release in the realm of thrash in a year that has seen an Enforced album as well as a Drain record to boot is equally if not more ridiculous than the mis-tagging suffered upon on 72 Seasons.

None of the above of course means that (when considered in isolation) 72 Seasons is a terrible record. If it was made by a band that did not have such a heritage in the world of metal, then it would perhaps be receiving less criticism. Fact is though that does not even sound like Metallica to my ears. Granted there have been many years that have passed since I last ventured into these waters, but Hetfield sounds nothing like he used to and indeed it is only Hammett’s trademark lead work that establishes any semblance of the band I remembered. I could go on about the drums, but Saxy has more than covered all relevant points on that front already in his review. The point I am getting to is that whilst 72 Seasons is not terrible overall, it remains little more than below-average in terms of songwriting prowess and rhythmical maturity – regardless of who plays on it.

Laboured song lengths that expose the obvious lack of ideas may be symptomatic of the issues with the band nowadays but even the shorter tracks such as Lux Aeterna offer little in the way of hope, seemingly just acting as stop-gaps between the longer tracks. The lack of control of the structure of Crown of Barbed Wire is frankly painful with the vocals seemingly crow-barred into a song that they were never actually written for. The unnecessary build on most tracks before they settle into anything vaguely resembling form is tiring, especially from a band who used to be able to do that so successfully back in the day. Even when offered the chance to go for the jugular (something else they could do superbly in their heyday) the band make a hash of the shorter offerings by muddling pace, tempo and arrangement into some hurried exit strategy so we can go back to another long-assed build on the next track.

Metallica in 2023 are indecisive, isolated in their own version of reality and completely unrecognisable as the force of music they so quickly became some forty years ago. For once the hype is correct and I have seemingly missed nothing during the last thirty years.