Metallica made a comeback with their newest album “72 Seasons.” seven years after “Hardwired… to Self Destruct” was released. “72 Seasons” marks the 11th studio album from the band, and has been a highly anticipated one for Metallica fans. Is this album worth jamming along to, or is it one that’s worth skipping?

Many know the heavy metal band Metallica for some of their most popular songs: “Enter Sandman,” “From Whom The Bell Tolls,” and “Master of Puppets” featured in the fourth season of the popular Netflix series “Stranger Things.” The band was established in 1981, and is my personal favorite band of all time. I am a huge fan of rock and heavy metal music, and to me, Metallica perfectly captures awesome beats with vocals that can actually be understood. So, when they announced that they were releasing a new album, I got really excited since this was their first album in a long time, and just to see a taste of what the Metallica fandom is really like. 

One of the album’s most enjoyable qualities was being able to listen to songs by Metallica while its members are currently in their later phases of life as they have passed their prime days. The title of the album refers to the band’s first 18 years of their lives, which to them represents when they formed their true and false selves. To the band, much of their adult experiences are a reflection of their own childhood experiences, and that is exactly what this album communicates. The songs that stood out in the album were “Inamorata,” “72 Seasons,” and “Sleepwalk My Life Away.”  I not only felt they were good songs that reflected the larger message of the album about the reflection of their own experiences. 

The album does feature all of the sick guitar riffs and heavy metal mayhem that would be expected of Metallica, but I also appreciated the message the band was trying to convey. James Hetfield’s singing in this album was among the best, if not the best singing that he has ever done. His voice was clear and consistent throughout, and it blended really well with the electric guitars and the drum set in the background of the songs. Honestly , I  had a great time listening to the album, as well as hearing Metallica making new music again. 

Even though listening to the album as a whole was a fun experience, most of the actual songs I don’t think stand very well on their own. The songs are all well written and performed, but I do feel that these are songs that I won’t listen to again very regularly. The big reason for that was because a lot of the songs were about 6-8 minutes long, and I felt that was too long for many of them. And by doing this, a lot of the songs felt really repetitive. I didn’t think that was a huge problem, but it felt odd to me throughout the album that a lot of the songs felt very similar. 

While I don’t think that “72 Seasons” is anywhere as good as albums such as “Ride the Lighting” and “Master of Puppets,” I still found this album to be an enjoyable experience to listen to Metallica do what they do best. A lot of the songs were a bit too long, and some of them felt a bit repetitive, but I still had a blast listening to this album. The highs for this album aren’t as high as Metallica’s best album, but the lows are not as low either. For me, this is a mid tier album for the band. I would say that this is an album specifically for fans of Metallica, as well as fans of heavy metal in general. For those not a fan of Metallica or heavy metal, they can definitely skip this one.