Photo by Ross Halfin
Today, the legendary metal band Metallica shared they will release their first album in six years, 72 Seasons, set to drop on April 14; released the first song off the project “Lux Æterna” and announced a world tour that will span from 2023 through 2024.
72 Seasons is comprised of 12 tracks and will clock in at 77 minutes. It marks the first full-length album from Metallica since 2016’s Hardwired… To Self-Destruct and was produced by Greg Fidelman, frontman James Hetfield and percussionist Lars Ulrich. “Lux Æterna” serves as their first new track in over six years and comes with a video directed by Tim Saccenti that can be seen below.
“72 seasons. The first 18 years of our lives that form our true or false selves. The concept that we were told ‘who we are’ by our parents. A possible pigeonholing around what kind of personality we are. I think the most interesting part of this is the continued study of those core beliefs and how it affects our perception of the world today,” Hetfield explained of the album’s title, In a press release. “Much of our adult experience is reenactment or reaction to these childhood experiences. Prisoners of childhood or breaking free of those bondages we carry.”
As for the 2023-2024 world tour, Metallica will traverse across the world with two dates with unique sets in each city. The tour will feature an eclectic array of opening bands, including Ice Nine Kills, Pantera, Mammoth WVH, Five Finger Death Punch, Architects and Greta Van Fleet.
The tour will kick off in late April of 2023, following the release of the new album, with a two-night stint in Amsterdam. From there, they’ll make stops in Germany, France and Sweeden throughout June. In August and early September, they’ll return to North America with stops at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, Stade Olympique in Montreal, along with other arenas in Arlington, Texas, Inglewood, Calif., Glendale, Ariz. and more. They’ll then continue to tour with stops in St. Louis, Mo. and Detroit to round out 2023. In 2024 they’ll head back over to Europe with performances in Germany, Finland, Denmark, Poland and Spain before once again returning stateside with shows in Chicago, Minneapolis and more. They’ll close their tour with four nights at Foro Sol in Mexico City, Mexico on Sept. 20, 22, 27 and 29 of 2024. It’s also notable, according to the press release, the tour will feature “a bold new in-the-round stage design that relocates the famed Metallica Snake Pit to center stage.”
a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales for Metallica’s 2023-2024 M72 World Tour will go to their All Within My Hands Foundation, which “is dedicated to creating sustainable communities by supporting workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other critical local services,” and has raised nearly $13 million since its inception.
Two-day ickets for Metallica’s 2023–2024 will go on sale on Friday, Dec. 2 and will include the option of pre-ordering copies of 72 Seasons on CD and/or vinyl. Single-day tickets will go on sale on Jan. 20, 2023. Learn more and find tickets here.
72 Seasons Tracklist:
1. 72 Seasons
2. Shadows Follow
3. Screaming Suicide
4. Sleepwalk My Life Away
5. You Must Burn!
6. Lux Æterna
7. Crown of Barbed Wire
8. Chasing Light
9. If Darkness Had a Son
10. Too Far Gone?
11. Room of Mirrors
12. Inamorata