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Among the "Big Four" of thrash metal, alongside Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth. Forty years of career behind them and eleven studio albums released. An avalanche of memorable tracks gifted to humanity and a hundred million records sold over their career.
The Metallica have reached every corner of this planet, even the most remote and cold, Antarctica included. They cut their hair and changed their look, angering old fans and winning over new ones. They were born with speed metal, then moved on to hard rock. They made an album with Lou Reed and two with the San Francisco Symphony. They sued Napster, fought against slander and alcoholism, and inspired dozens of bands around the globe.
I don't even want to say what it evokes in me (even though thirty years have passed) listening to "Enter Sandman", "Nothing Else Matters", "Master of Puppets" (that's forty years now), or "The Unforgiven" (and I'll stop here so as not to go on too long).
I loved them even when they produced a bizarre album like "St.Anger", with its echoing drums, the questionable mixing for many, and the arrival of the great Robert Trujillo to replace the never-loved bass of Jason Newsted.
I rejoiced when in 2008 "Death Magnetic" was released, it happened at just the right time, as we wondered what had happened to thrash metal and Lars' pounding drums.
They left us bewildered with "Lulu" (Lou Reed will forgive us), which I personally still have to assimilate, also because the eight years we had to wait for new music left us with a lot of questions and few answers.
We were last at 2016 with "Hardwired… to Self-Destruct" and its artwork created by someone after taking a dose of hallucinogens, the unprecedented power, and some tracks with the blemish of the loop inside. We told ourselves that for a while we'd have to make do with it. Time has passed inexorably. A pandemic, a new rehab for James Hetfield, sobriety, and the new implausible look with Mexican-style mustache and luscious hair like a Corleone. Still nothing. The year 2022 is coming to a close, we think about the upcoming twelve months and we forget about Metallica, listening to new music and occasionally indulging in their old hits. And as it happens with the conception of children or the birth of love, the news comes when we're not even thinking about it.
On November 22 of the year 22, a fluorescent yellow cover pops up. It makes us think of a lighthouse in the fog. On it, there's the silhouette of a man. He exhibits the same gestures as us when we discovered the four from San Francisco have ambushed us. The band's logo becomes an extension of the shadow of the hapless one. "Lux Æterna" is the name of the track. I'm tempted to touch my balls, but I'm too excited to do it, even just for pleasure.
I look for an empty room. I click play and start. Lars' double pedal immediately messes up my hair. Kirk and Rob are serious, like in the old days. Maybe even better. James also wants to join the party. He starts to warm up. I can't see him, but I imagine him like before. Long hair, leather jacket, torn pants, a bully face of eighties suburban style.
Three minutes and twenty-five seconds of non-stop headbanging. A bit "Battery", a bit "Through the Never", and a lot of "Hardwired". When we least expected it, we were satisfied. We returned to the origins, albeit not shouting a miracle because caught up in something innovative or original. But you don't change a winning team. The lyrics are full of energy (the cover already gave a hint), telling us to get excited, to shine with new eternal light, and to leave behind the closure of recent times. And here I agree: after the pandemic, we've disgustingly regressed in this society.
The Metallica are like good wine and still make us drunk. And it's a luxury to get drunk with quality stuff, avoiding Tavernello. Whether you are the angry fans of the first hour or those who survived without asking too many questions.
Awaiting the new album, "72 Seasons" due out next spring (so only one season of waiting will suffice). It won't have a dark cover hiding the Gadsden flag or showing a field of crosses. "From the Grave to the Cradle" might be the saying this time. Because sometimes life goes a bit in reverse. But the important thing is that it keeps going, like the music we love. Whatever it is. Even beyond death. Like an eternal light.
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