To kick off their four-night residency on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday (April 10), Metallica sat down for an interview before performing “Lux Æterna,” the lead single from the band’s upcoming album 72 Seasons. The project is available on April 14 on their own Blackened Recordings label.
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Introducing the band’s James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo, Kimmel called them “the most adorable boy band of all time.” Kimmel also joked that he saw a line of fans waiting outside for the band that looked like they were still in high school.
“That’s the boy band in us,” joked Ulrich. “I don’t think they know how old we are. Let’s keep this a secret between all of us.”
During their 10-minute, interview the band discussed how their 1986 classic “Master Of Puppets” recently had a second life on the charts after being featured on the Netflix sci-fi series Stranger Things.
“We wrote that song for ‘Stranger Things’ in 1980-something,” joked Hetfield. He added that the band was not against having the song featured on the show. “No one was against it, for sure,” he added. “Anything that’s gonna get us out there — especially older music — it still blows my mind that people like that song first of all, and a younger generation are embracing it.”
Ulrich added, “It’s a nine-minute heavy metal song from 1986 that probably predates some of these people by 25 or 30 years. It’s just insane. Who would have thought, right?”
The band also talked about their kids being musicians, the structure of their upcoming tour, the vinyl plant they purchased in Alexandria, Virginia, and their competition for high school and college marching bands, who can win more than $150,000 in prizes for their cover of a Metallica song.
Some members also revealed the first albums they bought with Hammett admitting that his was A Partridge Family Christmas Card.
Metallica previously appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2021 to read one-star reviews of their Black Album. The host worked with the band in December of 2022 for a benefit concert around their charitable foundation All Within My Hands.
Produced by Hetfield and Ulrich, along with Greg Fidelman, 72 Seasons runs more than 77 minutes over 12 songs, and includes the epic seven-plus minute title track. The album is Metallica’s first new music since their 2016 album Hardwired…To Self-Destruct.
The band’s upcoming M72 World Tour kicks off on April 27 and will run through September 29, 2024. The trek will feature Metallica playing two nights in every city with supporting artists, including Five Finger Death Punch, Mammoth WVH, Greta Van Fleet, and more.
Photo: Tim Saccenti / Nasty Little Man
