- Single: Metallica – Lux Æterna
- Released: November 28, 2022
- First single from the upcoming album “72 seasons”.
Facing brand new music from metal’s biggest band is always pleasant, and new single Lux Æterna kicks off from the beginning. A typical ‘Tallica intro ends up in atypical blasting double kick drums from the world’s favorite Danish stick handler. A signature yet fresh guitar riff lays on top of the double kicks, giving listeners a sense of both something new and something old at the very same time.
This is definitively Metallica, one might think as double kicks go bye-bye and Hetfield’s age-roughened voice spits out lyrics about dominating anticipation, unified heart-seas and approaching thunder. And the verse is very much Metallica as we know them from the two last albums (Death Magnetic and Hardwired): fast paced semi-thrash with familiar chord structures and snare-focused drum fills.
Then it’s chorus time. Lux Æterna means “eternal light”, and even though James supposedly is supposed to pronounce the Latin catchphrase different then how he is pronouncing it, the two-word chorus hits quite hard. It’s a catchy hook, just like one would expect from the masters of catchy metal music.
So far so good, but now the rest of the song starts. A Metallica song consists of two parts. The first part is the intro, verses and choruses, while the second part is a mixture of breakdowns, riff-o-rama and solos, with the intention of skyrocketing the first part. To make an instant ‘Tallica classic, both parts need to be top notch, but in Lux Æterna the band that in part 1 seems super inspired, in part two feels uninspired.
Kirk’s solo has already been heavily commented, and with good reason. The thoughts go to twenty-year-old documentary Some Kind of Monster where Kirk talks about how he doesn’t want to do “regular solos” anymore because it’s “boring” (might not be his exact words). St. Anger is famously stripped for solos, though the solos have returned since. But in Lux Æterna it sounds like Kirk is bored. The solo is basically some fast regular stuff combined with something just a little bit experimental, though not very exciting.
I can’t say I hate the solo, but I don’t like it. To semi-quote John C. McGinley’s legendary character Dr. Cox from TV-show Scrubs, I “nothing” it. (Yes, I have in fact used a Scrubs reference in a heavy metal review.) The solo is giving me nothing. It makes me feel nothing, which is quite sad being that Kirk Hammett’s strongest trait as a solo guitarist is his ability to sprinkle some emotions on his playing.
The rest of the song is basically just a run to get back to what makes this song good: a solid main riff, fun drumming and catchy Latin.
As the song ends, I’m left with two main thoughts. Metallica is still able to produce top notch music that seems Metallica-familiar, yet something I haven’t heard a thousand times before. It bodes well for the new album. The second thought is of a band that is settling with a good riff, fun drums, a solid verse and a quite catchy chorus, and a solo. That makes Lux Æterna a great song, but not an instant classic. It’s missing something, like a second chorus or a bridge to bring even more catchiness, or some alternative riffs. And an inspired solo. And maybe a Blackened-styled tempo change, something to break up Lars’ fast paced drums.
Lux Æterna is a solid single from the biggest metal band in the world, but it has potential to be even better, which is sort of a good summary of Metallica the past 20 years. Solid, yet with more potential. They just need to aim a bit higher.
Rating: 7/10 – It’s a good score. Lux Æterna makes us look forward to the new album with great excitement, yet it gives us the feeling that 72 Seasons will be comparable to both Death Magnetic and Hardwired in the way that they are both solid examples of Metallica’s post-thrash abilities, but they are missing the bands eagerness to push the limits of how good their music can be, as they did in the 80’s. But maybe we shouldn’t expect more.
The Seventh Son Reviewer