The members of Metallica have also witnessed their children forge their own paths through the first 72 seasons of life. While he and Ulrich walk a fine line between supporting background roles and veteran advisors, Trujillo notes all the band members’ offspring are “very creative”: Ulrich’s sons Layne and Myles are in the band Taipei Houston together. Hetfield’s son Castor’s band Bastardane dropped their debut LP last year. Trujillo’s bassist son Tye was a touring veteran with Korn at just 12, and is a member of OTTTO, who just released their own new album. Tye even contributed newly recorded guitar parts for the “Master of Puppets” intro and guitar solo heard in the headline-making epic battle scene in hit show Stranger Things.
Joining Metallica in 2003, Trujillo has long been praised as a level-headed and calm presence by his peers in every band he’s worked with, from Suicidal Tendencies and Infectious Grooves to Ozzy Osbourne and Jerry Cantrell. Though he brings that impressive résumé and a background in jazz, funk, and more to the table, Ulrich also praises his rhythm section partner for inspiring “by his presence, and his good energy and his nature.”
That’s something the LA native brings to all his roles, especially his job as father to now-teenagers. Watching his kids and other young musicians become part of “a movement happening in that whole hardcore scene” gives him hope that this next generation is finding their own way out of darkness. “I want them to have a launch pad,” he says. “I want them to be the next Metallica, the next Red Hot Chili Peppers. The next, whatever. I want to see bands survive.”
As he watches his kids bloom into rock stars of their own through their first 18 years, the elder Trujillo recalls the seeds that grew into Metallica’s 72 Seasons. Although rumblings about new songs were heard in 2019, it was during the pandemic when work began in earnest. “In my mind, what sparked the flame that ignited this journey was when James surprised us in 2020,” Trujillo recounts. “We got this text with an acoustic interpretation of our song ‘Blackened.’ Completely different from the original. And he said, ‘Hey, I put this together. I hope you guys like it, and if you do, please, please jam on it.’ At that point, we all had to get our home studios together, and our producer Greg [Fidelman] was managing everything.”
The idea was to remain active during lockdown by sharing reworkings of their classic tracks, something Ulrich saw as an extension of the band’s aspirations during more active times. “If you look at lockdown, as you’re sitting there and watching the state of the world and the misery and despair,” he muses, “the first thought is, ‘How can you make a difference? What role can music do to alleviate this even a smidgen?’”
While they were all game to look back as a way to light the way through dark times, it sparked something in Trujillo about the future. Recording new parts for “Blackened” ignited a flame of creativity. When he was next tasked with coming up with an acoustic version of “The Day That Never Comes,” he instead sent Ulrich an electric take of a wholly original idea. He’d seen how many artists were filling up the space with covers or at-home renditions of their own songs, and he saw an opportunity to do something new.
“I told Lars, ‘Let’s work on original stuff. Let’s start working on a new album.’ The cool thing was that idea that I had sent him, he actually played drums on it. I’d sent it, and a few hours later, I get this call FaceTime call from him. It’s like 11 at night, he’s all sweaty, and he’s like, ‘Hey, man, check it out!’”
Trujillo was understandably energized, calling that exchange “an important step personally, because, number one, he was motivated enough to play on the idea that initially he was confused by. He’s like, ‘This is not acoustic, what is this? What did you send me?’ That was my personal experience. I don’t think Kirk [Hammett] and James were a part of that particular incident. But that to me, was sort of like, ‘Okay, we’re going to embark on this journey.’”
Though Ulrich and Hetfield would, as per usual, “commandeer the ship” with Fidelman, the unique process led to Hammett and Trujillo having more writing credits than typical Metallica records. “And here we are, I don’t know, a year and a half later with some really cool songs!”
Ulrich isn’t fond of considering the “what if” of their recording process in a world without lockdowns. “What if night was day and day with night, what would that be?” he jokes. After all, there is only so much value in the hypothetical, as Metallica followed their “normal” songwriting process, if remotely. With all four members and Fidelman working from different locations, songwriting “started as it literally has for 35, 40 years.” They compiled all the jams, riffs, and hotel room recordings they’d produced over the years, filtered them through Ulrich, and then two members at a time would join the drummer via Zoom to get songs started.