Released: 2023

Genres: Thrash Metal, Heavy Metal

The Musiquarium’s 72 Seasons Review Score: 7 out of 10

Seven years after Hardwired… To Self Destruct, which was a refinement of Metallica’s modern thrash formula with much better production than what was found on 2008’s solidly-written, but poorly-produced Death Magnetic, Metallica are back with 72 Seasons (a.k.a. 18 years) and another serving of thrash metal.

72 Seasons is very much like its predecessor and while it doesn’t do anything wrong, it also doesn’t do anything too bold or exciting either. However, it still houses some good songs, like the singles Lux Æterna, If Darkness Had a Son, Screaming Suicide and the title track, as well as the 11 minute-long Inamorata, the band’s longest song to date (excluding anything from the 2011 Lou Reed collaboration, Lulu).

The production here is solid and the performances are good (well, maybe outside of Lars Ulrich) and I suppose that’s about as much as you can ask from a modern Metallica record. That album cover is one of their worst, though.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view Metallica on Discogs.

Back to the 2023 Album Guide or the Metallica Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard