Metallica Announce Upcoming ‘72 Seasons’ Album, 2023-2024 World Tour

Metallica will come roaring back in 2023 with a new album and a the launch of a massive world tour. The veteran metal band’s 12th studio album, 72 Seasons, is due out on April 14 via the band’s Blackened Recordings imprint.

The first full-length from the band since 2016’s Hardwired… To Self-Destruct, was produced by Greg Fidelman along with Metallica singer/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich. At more than 77 minutes, the 12-track collection can be previewed now via the thundering, breakneck first single, “Lux Æterna” (watch the video below).

“72 seasons. The first 18 years of our lives that form our true or false selves,” Hetfield said in a statement announcing the album. “The concept that we were told ‘who we are’ by our parents. A possible pigeonholing around what kind of personality we are. I think the most interesting part of this is the continued study of those core beliefs and how it affects our perception of the world today. Much of our adult experience is reenactment or reaction to these childhood experiences. Prisoners of childhood or breaking free of those bondages we carry.”

The band also announced a massive 2023-2024 Live Nation-promoted tour on Monday (Nov. 28), during which they will play two nights in every city they visit, with each No Repeat Weekend featuring two completely different setlists and support acts. The M72 world tour will feature an in-the-round stage set-up that will move the signature up-close Metallica Snake Pit section to center stage, with the band performing on the circular stage around the 800-1,000-person fan area. The tour will also feature discounted tickets for fans 16 and under.

The world trek is currently slated to kick off on April 27 with a pair of shows at the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam, followed by two-night stands in Paris, Hamburg (Germany) and Gothenburg (Sweden) before hitting U.S. shores on Aug. 4 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. for a series of North American gigs currently slated to run through a Nov. 12 show at Ford Field in Detroit. The outing will pick up again on May 24, 2024 with another European swing before returning to North America in August 2024.

Among the rotating group of opening acts slated to join them are: Architects, Mammoth WVH, Five Finger Death Punch, Ice Nine Kills, Volbeat, Pantera and Greta Van Fleet. Two-day tickets will go on sale on Friday (Dec. 2) here and will include the option of pre-ordering the 72 Seasons vinyl and/or CD; click here for more ticketing information.

Watch the “Lux Æterna” video and check out the 72 Seasons track list and 2023-2024 tour dates below.

72 Seasons track list:

“72 Seasons”

“Shadows Follow”

“Screaming Suicide”

“Sleepwalk My Life Away”

“You Must Burn!”

“Lux Æterna”

“Crown of Barbed Wire”

“Chasing Light”

“If Darkness Had a Son”

“Too Far Gone?”

“Room of Mirrors”

“Inamorata”

M72 2023-2024 tour dates

April 27 – Amsterdam NL @ Johan Cruijff Arena

April 29 – Amsterdam NL @ Johan Cruijff Arena

May 17 – Paris FR @ Stade de France*

May 19 – Paris FR @ Stade de France

May 26 – Hamburg DE @ Volksparkstadion

May 28 – Hamburg DE @ Volksparkstadion

June 16 – Gothenburg SE @ Ullevi Stadium**

June 18 – Gothenburg SE @ Ullevi Stadium

August 4 – East Rutherford, NJ @ MetLife Stadium

August 6 – East Rutherford, NJ @ MetLife Stadium

August 11 – Montreal, QC @ Stade Olympique

August 13 – Montreal, QC @ Stade Olympique

August 18 – Arlington, TX @ AT&T Stadium

August 20 – Arlington, TX @ AT&T Stadium

August 25 – Inglewood, CA @ SoFi Stadium

August 27 – Inglewood, CA @ SoFi Stadium

Sept. 1 – Glendale, AZ @ State Farm Stadium

Sept. 3 – Glendale, AZ @ State Farm Stadium

Nov. 3 – St. Louis, MO @ The Dome at America’s Center

Nov. 5 – St. Louis, MO @ The Dome at America’s Center

Nov. 10 – Detroit, MI @ Ford Field

Nov. 12 – Detroit, MI @ Ford Field

May 24, 2024 – Munich DE @ Olympiastadion

May 26, 2024 – Munich DE @ Olympiastadion

June 7, 2024 – Helsinki FI @ Olympic Stadium

June 9, 2024 – Helsinki FI @ Olympic Stadium

June 14, 2024 – Copenhagen DK @ Parken Stadium

June 16, 2024 – Copenhagen DK @ Parken Stadium

July 5, 2024 – Warsaw PL @ PGE Narodowy

July 7, 2024 – Warsaw PL @ PGE Narodowy

July 12, 2024 – Madrid ES @ Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano

July 14, 2024 – Madrid ES @ Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano

August 2, 2024 – Foxborough, MA @ Gillette Stadium

August 4, 2024 – Foxborough, MA @ Gillette Stadium

August 9, 2024 – Chicago, IL @ Soldier Field

August 11, 2024 – Chicago, IL @ Soldier Field

August 16, 2024 – Minneapolis, MN @ US Bank Stadium

August 18, 2024 – Minneapolis, MN @ US Bank Stadium

August 23, 2024 – Edmonton, AB @ Commonwealth Stadium

August 25, 2024 – Edmonton, AB @ Commonwealth Stadium

August 30, 2024 – Seattle, WA @ Lumen Field

Sept. 1, 2024 – Seattle, WA @ Lumen Field

Sept. 20, 2024 – Mexico City MX @ Foro Sol***

Sept. 22, 2024 – Mexico City MX @ Foro Sol

Sept. 27, 2024 – Mexico City MX @ Foro Sol***

Sept. 29, 2024 – Mexico City MX – Foro Sol

Show 1 Support Europe: Architects & Mammoth WVH**
Show 2 Support Europe: Five Finger Death Punch & Ice Nine Kills
*Five Finger Death Punch/Ice Nine Kills play show 1 in Paris, Architects & Mammoth WVH play show 2 in Paris 
**Volbeat replaces Architects on show 1 in Gothenburg

Show 1 Support North America: Pantera & Mammoth WVH***
Show 2 Support North America: Five Finger Death Punch & Ice Nine Kills
***Greta Van Fleet replaces Pantera on show 1 both weekends in Mexico City