Metallica's '72 Seasons': A Nostalgic Testament to the Band's Legacy.

Metallica's 11th studio album, "72 Seasons," strikes a balance between the honed muscle and worldly wisdom of the world's biggest metal band and the high-on-testosterone-and-NWOBHM energy of the kids who made Kill 'Em All. The album features thrash and speed, stadium-sized riffs, and nods to doom influences like Trouble. James Hetfield's lyrics are some of his most black-cloud since the bitter cynicism of ...And Justice For All. At an hour-and-a-quarter, the album is a lot to cram in in one go, but it consistently slaps hard and sounds like a band caught up in their own energy.