Just two weeks out from their 11th studio album, 72 Seasons, Metallica has shared the album’s title track.
On “72 Seasons,” which clocks in at nearly eight minutes, the band reflects on their formative years, and how their youth shaped them into who they are now.
“Wrath of man / Leaching through, split in two / Wrath of man / Crash into point of view / Wrath of man / Violence, inheritance / Wrath of man / Thrive upon, feeding on / Seventy-two seasons gone,” sings Metallica’s lead vocalist James Hetfield on the song’s chorus.
Upon the song’s release, Hetfield revealed that it was inspired by breaking free from the barriers placed upon him during his youth.
“72 seasons. The first 18 years of our lives that form our true or false selves,” said Hetfield in a statement. “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. Much of our adult experience is reenactment or reaction to these childhood experiences.”
In the song’s accompanying video, the band performs as the screen displays them engulfed in various color schemes and patterns, representing various seasons in time.
You can watch the video for “72 Seasons” above.
72 Seasons is out 4/14 via Blackened Recordings. Find more information here.