Metallica Unveil New Single 'If Darkness Had A Son'

Metallica are BACK with a seven-minute thrasher, If Darkness Had A Son, the third (and possibly best) single from their upcoming album, 72 Seasons, due for release on 14 April. Check it out below.

“If darkness had a son, here I am,” James Hetfield sings over that commanding riff. Everything about this number resembles the band in their prime (Master Of Puppets days), with a phenomenal drum sound, an already memorable dirty riff, and a solo that will make fans lose their minds when it’s played on stage.

For the last four days, Metallica have teased their new single on TikTok, with clips of Lars Ulrich playing that heavy marching beat, bassist Rob Trujillo creeping in, Hetfield playing the rhythm on a Flying V guitar, and Kirk Hammett joining in, sans wah pedal, on a Gibson Les Paul SG with three humbucker pickups – not one of his usual guitars, but it’s stunning, nonetheless. It’s a clever way to engage a whole new audience before releasing a seven-minute epic, so good on them!

In mid-January, Metallica released Screaming Suicide, the second single from 72 Seasons. The track is more mid-tempo than the first single, Lux Æterna, but still contains some thrashy riffs. The music video sees the band clouded in mystery with a wicked guitar solo from Hammett. As far as current-day Metallica singles go, it's a banger. 

"Screaming Suicide addresses the taboo word of suicide," Hetfield offered in a statement. 

"The intention is to communicate about the darkness we feel inside. It's ridiculous to think we should deny that we have these thoughts. At one point or another, I believe most people have thought about it. To face it is to speak the unspoken. If it's a human experience, we should be able to talk about it. You are not alone." It's a poignant, powerful message from the biggest heavy metal band in the world.

The legendary heavy metal band's new album will be 12 songs and 77 minutes long and produced by Greg Fidelman alongside James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. The album is Metallica's first since 2016's Hardwired … To Self-Destruct.

Hetfield said about the album: "72 seasons. The first 18 years of our lives that form our true or false selves.

"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."

Pre-order 72 Seasons here.