In a complete surprise announcement, Metallica not only announced a brand-new single, out that same day, called Lux Aeterna, but they simultaneously announced a new album, out February, and a world tour. That’s a lot of good news for Metallica fans, but how did the song hold up?

Lux Aeterna opens without taking a second to introduce itself – it barges through the door with a quick thrash riff and snare punches highlighting the rhythm. In a surprising twist, a double pedal groove bridges the intro riff and the riff that’ll take over the chorus later in the track - James Hetfield then barrels through with his classic gritty vocal performance in a very short, yet melodic verse. After a brief pre-chorus the chorus, bellowing the namesake of the song, grooves onward. Though lyrically quite unvaried, James’ vocal performance during the chorus is especially astonishing. It’s amazing that after so long doing grit-filled vocals his voice can withstand such high notes and deliver them so passionately. The guitar solo comes in later with a new section that takes the key down a bit, in a classic Kirk-Hammett shred-tastic delivery, the latter half filled with cool guitar sounds more than melodious passages. Another verse, another chorus, and a kickass outro that has its own encore at the very end gives Lux Aeterna a very complete feel.

This song was truly a gift, for Metallica fans and newcomers alike. Don’t get me wrong, I personally think the last album by the Big 4 giant, Hardwired, was fantastic. Its legacy held a weaker grasp for me than the other albums, loathed or loved, but Lux Aeterna feels like a retrospective look at Metallica’s career. They’ve always done good moving their sound forward, never staying in their own comfort zone. This moves the sound forward, but one could also pull parallels between this new track and songs dating all the way back to Kill ‘Em All. It’s not regressive in any way, in fact it’s progressive in the best sense – moving the ball forward without stranding the band’s old school fans behind. Lux Aeterna might just be the band’s greatest work in over two decades.

Author: Nicholas Gaudet

Music producer and writer from Dieppe, Canada.