Metallica are back, and they’ve learned Latin. Yesterday, the metal legends returned with “Lux Æterna,” the lead single off their forthcoming 11th studio album, 72 Seasons. The title translates to “eternal light”—a phrase that turns up in the Catholic Requiem Mass—and fans quickly hit the internet to figure out what hell the lyrics are all about. As such, “Lux Æterna” shot straight to No. 2 on the Genius Top Songs chart.
Written by frontman James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, “Lux Aeterna” is an old-school thrasher that opens with a meaty descending guitar riff and galloping double kick drums. The lyrics are fairly vague, but Hetfield seems to be touching on humanity’s shared need for salvation. There’s something hopeful about the opening lines.
Anticipation
In domination
A sea of hearts beat as one, unified
In the pre-chorus, Hetfield likely nods to a lyric from “Motorbreath,” off the group’s 1983 debut album, Kill ‘Em All.
Full speed or nothing
Full speed or nothing
Then comes the chorus, which uses the title phrase as a rallying cry. In Catholicism, “eternal light” refers to what the dead might hope to bask in through God’s mercy. But Hetfield appears more interested in burning bright here on Earth.
Lux Æterna
Lux Æterna, yeah!
In the second verse, Hetfield mentions “exhilaration” and “frenzied sensation.” It’s hard to imagine he’s talking about anything but the cathartic powers of rock music—especially given the lines that come next.
Kindred alliance connected inside
Commiseration
Sonic salvation
Cast out the demons that strangle your life
Things get more inspirational in the third and final verse, where Hetfield references Lightning to the Nations, the 1980 debut album by the British heavy metal band Diamond Head, a major influence on Metallica.
Never alone for the feelings alike
Amplification
Lightning the nation
Never alive more
Than right here tonight
While the song is definitely open to interpretation, Metallica have been pretty forthcoming about the meaning behind the title of their new album, which arrives in April 2023. “72 seasons—the first 18 years of our lives that form our true or false selves,” Hetfield said in a statement. “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 a reenactment or reaction to these childhood experiences. Prisoners of childhood or breaking free of those bondages we carry.”
You can read all the lyrics to “Lux Æterna” on Genius now.
