Thirded on Slayer going at the right time. I need to revisit their last couple of albums but they definitely felt by-the-numbers at the time.
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I may be in the minority, but I thought 72 Seasons sounded the most inspired Metallica has been in years. Hetfield's vocals are fantastic, the riffs are groovy as hell and Lars' drums don't sound like tin cans anymore. Hammett is out of ideas for sure and many of the tracks should have been trimmed down, but it's definitely not a dud either.
It's comfortably solid after one listen, enjoyable enough as its on but nothing really memorable or that stands out except Lux Aeturna because it's short and relatively catchy. The rest really is badly in need of editing, and it does seem to me to lack catchy numbers like Hardwired had (Atlas Rise, Moth into Flame, Spit Out the Bone, hell even the slower ones like Confusion and Here Comes Revenge) or any sense of dynamics. Agreed that Hetfield's vocals are great, though. Need more time with it overall but it does feel soulless to me so far - compare and contrast with the new Overkill, out on the same day...