Introduction to 'Mand and Metal'
00:00:08
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to Mand and Metal, my name is Daria. And I'm Laz and together we're a husband and wife team, both pro musicians talking all things heavy
Review: Metallica's '72 Seasons'
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Speaker
metal. And today we're bringing you a short review of 72 Seasons, the title track by Metallica that they released a couple of days ago. Yeah and on top of that we're also going to be doing a small preview of the album, 72 Seasons, which is going to come out very soon, I think it's about a week from now. Shall we get stuck in?
00:00:36
Speaker
So I've heard the track a few times now and I'm left feeling the same thing I'm feeling about the rest of the tracks, which is that I'm just not... Let's look at the way I'm reacting. I'm just not very excited. It's okay. It's a mediocre Metallica song. It's...
00:01:01
Speaker
I've been trying to give it a chance okay I have and I always do I always do I always listen a few times and you know this is partially why I don't like doing anymore I don't like doing this instant reactions because you need a time for it to sink in to give a you know sort of a
00:01:20
Speaker
a good opinion on it okay.
Comparing Metallica to Avenged Sevenfold
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Speaker
I think a good example of this is Nobody by Avenged Sevenfold because when we first heard Nobody we were both just like what is this and then as we've listened more and more we've loved it more and more and unfortunately with the new Metallica track it just seems to be the opposite for me. I hear it and I think oh that's a cool riff oh that's nice you know that's interesting and then I hear it again and I'm like oh yeah I mean my problem with this all is that
00:01:46
Speaker
I'm just not hearing anything new from Metallica. And Metallica were always a band that I thought could continue pushing boundaries and could continue, I'm not suggesting they're going to innovate a new genre or anything, but they could continue to push these boundaries and try out new things. If you look at Megadeth, their art rivals, Megadeth had a new album out last year that really did that.
Praise for Megadeth's Innovation
00:02:10
Speaker
It took them, it took Megadeth back and it was kind of like, holy shit. When I'd say that. Okay, there you go.
00:02:16
Speaker
We said, jeez, this is Megadeth back at their best. And even though Dave Mustaine's vocals, we have an issue with them, musically, they're still pushing boundaries, Megadeth. I just don't feel that we're there with Metallica anymore.
Critique: Metallica and Iron Maiden's Recent Works
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Speaker
Do you know what it sounds like to me? It sounds like they're a bit tired.
00:02:35
Speaker
They're a bit tired and sorry, it's like they're trying to create something and it's just not happening. When you said that in the last video, it's like they're running out of ideas. Because what I'm hearing in this new song, 72 Seasons, the main slash intro riff, I thought was fantastic. It was really kind of Anjustice for All-E mixed with Black Album, got that heaviness, got some progression to it. I love the drums on it. I could criticise the drums on the last track. I thought the drums are much better on this one.
00:03:04
Speaker
individually riff by riff, solo was good, I like the verse section but when you put it all together it just doesn't amount to anything for me. Yeah and you know what the big thing for me is in this one, there's no hook per se, it's like there's nothing to sing along to and for example Laksa Turner.
00:03:23
Speaker
You just sang it, didn't you, in your head? Of course you did. Same with, if darkness had the sun, that was a good chorus. Here, I just, I'm like, I'm struggling to remember, oh yeah, okay, I remember the melody now, but I'm struggling to just instantly remember it. There you go. So that's just kind of says
Acknowledging Metallica's Legacy
00:03:39
Speaker
it all for me. It feels to me very unfortunately, because Iron Maiden are also one of my favorite bands, but I think we're in this stage with Iron Maiden where after Brave New World, the 2001 album,
00:03:52
Speaker
Everything just kind of sounded the same. And I know Dance of Death had a folkiness to it. The Final Frontier, I thought, stood out compared to others. But Iron Maiden are just producing albums that are just not sounding any different. And to an Iron Maiden fan, it's cool because it's like, yeah, I'm more Maiden, more of what I love. But I think we just have to accept that Iron Maiden are well past those glory days in the 80s. And I think the same thing is happening with Metallica. Because Metallica, arguably,
00:04:20
Speaker
have done more for metal than Iron Maiden because they've pioneered and they've innovated stuff. You know, they basically invented speed metal with Kill'em All, then Ride the Lightning, Master Puppets were huge masterpieces for thrash music and Justice Fall took that thrash base and applied progressive, some progressive elements and so even death metal elements to it. Then the Black Album kind of explored that accessibility, load and reloaded the garage stuff and they're always pushing boundaries and doing stuff.
00:04:47
Speaker
And I just forever thought that they would be
Releasing Singles: A Double-Edged Sword
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Speaker
that band. But unfortunately, I think every band does reach a peak and reach reach their moment and maybe Metallica on the coming down the hill, unfortunately. But that doesn't necessarily mean that this isn't a critical video. This isn't us criticizing them. This isn't saying that the album is going to be a disaster because
00:05:08
Speaker
I'm still excited for it. I will always be excited for new Metallica music and a new Metallica album. Yeah, you know, ultimately, I personally think that this thing we have nowadays where a band releases a bunch of singles before it is in the album, I think they should have stopped at three. Four was a bit too far for me personally. Like it almost took a little bit of excitement out of the upcoming album for me. I don't know why, but there is. Well, it's because
00:05:35
Speaker
when you come to listen to the album from start to finish, if you've had six months of listening to Luxa Turner, I don't know how, four, five months, whatever, if you've already had four months of listening to that, then when it comes in its natural point in the album, it doesn't feel natural anymore because you've already exposed yourself to it.
Criticism of '72 Seasons' Cohesion
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Speaker
Giorgira did the same with Fortitude, and that actually had an impact on me and the way I view the album, because they released, I think it was about five singles before, and a lot of bands do this now, you know, you've got to generate interest, you've got to show people what's coming out,
00:06:06
Speaker
But you're right, when you release so many songs or as singles from the new album, and when you get to that stage in the album, even if two of the tracks that were the singles are next to each other on the album, I think that displaces you even more from the experience. So yeah, I mean, the whole thing, musically and sonically, it feels like Death Magnetic and Hardwired. Now with Death Magnetic, they had this refreshing new
00:06:35
Speaker
Metallica sound, they had the thrash metal, they had the heaviness, they had the intricate riffs, they had the long progressive song legs, but you had a new James Heckfield, you had him singing, and he still does his sort of shouty stuff, but overall there was melodies there. And I thought this was a really fresh take on, I don't know, you want to call it, aging thrash metal, you know, whatever. Hardwired just felt like the leftovers of Death Magnetic.
00:07:02
Speaker
And as an album, I didn't feel it had any direction. It didn't flow from start to finish where Death Magnetic did.
Listener Engagement and Promotion
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Speaker
And I'm just feeling like 72 Seasons is more leftovers of that because we are hearing different stuff. We're hearing that homage back to Speed Metal. We're hearing some of the Death Metal heavy metal elements in the new song, some of those intricate riffs.
00:07:25
Speaker
We're hearing elements, but blended together just not sounding much different to me than death, magnetic or hardwired, which I'm upset about because I love metallic and I want something new, I want something different. So here are our thoughts on the new track 72 Seasons. Please let us know what you thought of the track. Actually, do you remember we did a little pull?
00:07:48
Speaker
last week oh yes and the majority of you guys said that you didn't unfortunately like it so let us know maybe what you like in the song as well because i'm sure that part that you like and dislike share it from the comments yeah so we're 11 days away from the release of 72 seasons as an album and as we've both sort of mentioned in this video you know we're still excited in general but we're apprehensive based on these singles so let us know what you think and
00:08:15
Speaker
your excitement for the album. Are you really looking forward to it? Have the singles kind of dampened your spirits a bit? Or is it just another Metallica album? So let us know your thoughts in the comments. And please don't forget to give us a like, a share and subscribe to our channel for new videos. Have a mental day. Have a lovely day. We'll see you very soon.