Watch: METALLICA Performs 'Lux Æterna' Live For First Time

METALLICA performed its new single "Lux Æterna" live for the first time last night (Friday, December 16) at its "Helping Hands Concert & Auction", which took place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The third edition of the "Helping Hands Concert & Auction" opened with a special set from guest GRETA VAN FLEET followed by a unique set from METALLICA. Fan-filmed video of the "Lux Æterna" performance can be seen below.

Earlier this month, "Lux Æterna"landed at position No. 2 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. The band now boasts 25 top 10s on the tally, with its first, "Enter Sandman", arriving in 1991. "Lux Æterna" also entered Billboard's Hot Hard Rock Songs chart at No. 1 and at the Rock & Alternative Airplay chart at No. 2.

"Lux Æterna" is the first single from METALLICA's upcoming 12th studio album, "72 Seasons", which is due on April 14, 2023 via the band's own Blackened Recordings. Produced by Greg Fidelman with METALLICA's James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, and clocking in at over 77 minutes, the 12-track "72 Seasons" is METALLICA's first full-length collection of new material since 2016's "Hardwired…To Self-Destruct".

In a recently released behind-the-scenes look at the making of "72 Seasons", Hetfield stated about "Lux Æterna": "'Lux Æterna' is an upbeat, kind of fast and joyous song, I would say — really indicative of New Wave Of British [Heavy] Metal stuff, so kind of a harkening-back-to-'80s kind of riff. It's just fun and makes me move. It was fun making the video, fun recording a song that comes out really easy, that was a real easy song to write and to perform, like I said, very much like the early '80s for us."

As for the inspiration for the "72 Seasons" album title, Hetfield said: "'72 Seasons' came out of a book I was reading about childhood, basically, and sorting out childhood as an adult. And 72 seasons is basically the first 18 years of your life. How do you evolve and grow and mature and develop your own ideas and identity of self after those first 72 seasons? Some things are more difficult than others — you know, some things you can't unsee and they're with you for the rest of your life, and other things you're able to rewind the tape and make a new tape in your life. So that's the real interesting part for me, is how you're able to address those situations as an adult and mature."

He continued: "There's been a lot of darkness in my life and in our career and things that have happened with us, but always having a sense of hope, always having the light that is in that darkness… Without darkness, there is no light, and being able to focus a little more on the light in life instead of all of the… how it used to be and how horrible it is... There's a lot of good things going on in life — focusing on that instead, and it helps to balance out my life. And there's no one meaning to it — everyone has some sense of hope or light in their life, and, obviously, music is mine. And the song specifically talks about gathering of people at a concert and [being] able to see the joy and the life and the love that comes out of music and the family and the kinship in that, and just a sense of uplifting."

Late last month, METALLICA released the Tim Saccenti-directed music video for "Lux Æterna", along with details about the album's accompanying "M72" world tour featuring two-night stops in nearly two dozen cities. Presented worldwide by Liquid Death and Blackened American Whiskey (in North America only) and promoted by Live Nation, the 46-show trek will launch in Amsterdam on April 27 and will include shows all over Europe and North America through 2024. Each "No Repeat Weekend" on "M72" will feature two completely different setlists and support lineups. The "M72" tour will feature a bold new in-the-round stage design that relocates the famed METALLICA Snake Pit to center stage, as well as the "I Disappear" full-tour pass and the debut of discounted tickets for fans under 16 years of age. Opening acts for the tour include PANTERA, MAMMOTH WVH, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, ICE NINE KILLS, ARCHITECTS, VOLBEAT and GRETA VAN FLEET.

In the six years since the arrival of "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct", METALLICA has reissued some of its classic albums, released a second live album with the San Francisco Symphony, commissioned a covers album featuring the likes of GHOST, VOLBEAT, WEEZER, Corey Taylor and THE HU, and landed on the Billboard songs chart with "Master Of Puppets" after a prominent placement in the hit Netflix show "Stranger Things".