Metallica has announced a new album, 72 Seasons, and an extensive 2023–2024 world tour. The 12-track, 77-minute album, due out on Friday, April 14th, 2023, will mark the first new studio LP from Metallica since 2016’s Hardwired…To Self-Destruct.
The 2023–2024 Metallica tour, billed as M72, will be comprised of two-night “No Repeat Weekend” runs at each stop on the itinerary. In addition to unique setlists, each night will feature different supporting acts including Architects, Mammoth WVH, Five Finger Death Punch, Ice Nine Kills, Volbeat, Pantera, and Greta Van Fleet.
The tour will also feature “a bold new in-the-round stage design that relocates the famed Metallica Snake Pit to center stage.” Other new highlights include a special “I Disappear” full-tour pass and the debut of discounted tickets for fans under 16 years of age.
The tour is due to kick off in late April 2023 with a two-night stint in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The band will go on to play weekend runs in France, Germany, and Sweden throughout May and June. In August and early September 2023, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo will return to North America for “No Repeat Weekends” at East Rutherford, NJ’s MetLife Stadium (8/4, 8/6), Montreal, QC’s Stade Olympique (8/11, 8/13), Arlington, TX’s AT&T Stadium (8/18, 8/20), Inglewood, CA’s SoFi Stadium (8/25, 8/27), and Glendale, AZ’s State Farm Stadium (9/1, 9/3). After a brief pause, Metallica will round out its year on the road with two-night stands in St. Louis, MO (11/3, 11/5) and Detroit, MI (11/10, 11/12).
In 2024, Metallica will once again begin its touring year in Europe with stops in Munich, Germany (5/24, 5/26), Helsinki, Finland (6/7, 6/9), Copenhagen, Denmark (6/14, 6/16), Warsaw, Poland (7/5, 7/7), and Madrid, Spain (7/12, 7/14). From there, the band will head back across the pond for August and September stadium runs in Foxborough, MA (8/2, 8/4), Chicago, IL (8/9, 8/11), Minneapolis, MN (8/16, 8/18), Edmonton, AB (8/23, 8/25), and Seattle, WA (8/30, 9/1). Finally, Metallica will head to Mexico City, MX for two separate two-night runs at Foro Sol (9/20 & 9/22, 9/27 & 9/29).
A portion of proceeds from every ticket sold for the 2023–2024 Metallica M72 World Tour will go to the band’s All Within My Hands foundation. Founded in 2017, AWMH’s efforts to assist and enrich the lives of members of the communities who have supported the band have raised nearly $13 million. To date, the foundation has issued $5.9 million in grants to career and technical education programs in the U.S., over $2.5 million to combat food insecurity, and more than $3.2 million to disaster relief efforts worldwide.
Citi is the official card of the Metallica M72 Tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to pre-sale tickets in the U.S. from Wednesday, November 30th at 2:00 p.m. local time until Thursday, December 1st at 10:00 p.m. local time through the Citi Entertainment program. For complete Citi cardmember pre-sale details, head here.
Two-day tickets for the 2023–2024 Metallica tour dates will go on sale on Friday, December 2nd via Ticketmaster and will include the option of pre-ordering copies of 72 Seasons on CD and/or vinyl. Single-day tickets will go on sale beginning January 20th, 2023. For further information including fan club pre-sales, enhanced experiences, and more, head here.
72 Seasons, produced by Greg Fidelman along with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, is due to arrive in various formats on April 14th, 2023. The album package was once again conceived and art directed by acclaimed designer David Turner and his team. Turner, who has been in charge of the “look and feel” of the band’s recent releases—including Through The Never, S&M2, and Hardwired…To Self-Destruct, previously won a Grammy Award for his work on Metallica’s 2008 LP, Death Magnetic.
Related: How To Stream Metallica’s Helping Hands Benefit Concert
As vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield explains of the concept behind the new 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 reenactment or reaction to these childhood experiences. Prisoners of childhood or breaking free of those bondages we carry.”
Along with the announcement of the new album and the 2023–2024 world tour, Metallica has shared Tim Saccenti-directed music video for the lead single from 72 Seasons, “Lux Æterna”. Watch the video below.
72 Seasons is available for pre-order now on CD, 2LP 140g black vinyl, two different colored vinyl variations, and digitally in the Met Store. Click below to check out the album’s complete tracklist and a full list of upcoming Metallica tour dates. For more information head here.
Metallica – “Lux Æterna” (Official Music Video)