Metallica, arguably the most popular heavy metal band in the world, have announced that they are going to release a new album titled ’72 Seasons come April 2023, following which they will go on a two-year tour called M72. The band from Los Angeles have also released the music video of their latest single, Lux Æterna, from their upcoming album.

Lux Aeterna is a Latin word that literally translates to “eternal light”. The phrase is taken from the Catholic Requiem Mass, and is said as an antiphon before singing prayers or hymns. 

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The phrase has often been used in album names. The theme song for the Darren Aronofsky film, Requiem for a Dream, was also called Lux Aeterna. Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey used a similarly titled choral music written by György Ligeti.

Metallica’s song, however, takes the meaning of the phrase quite literally. When speaking about the album’s name, frontman James Hetfield said that it is all about “The concept that we were told ‘who we are’ by our parents. A possible pigeonholing around what kind of personality we are.”

He further adds that the way we are brought up affects the way we lead our adult lives. The song Lux Aeterna can be interpreted as a call to the listener to break away from such a set perception of ourselves and join with other disaffected souls to reach the eternal light of wisdom.

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The song begins like this: “Anticipation/ In domination/ A sea of hearts beat as one, unified/ Magnification/All generations/ Approaching thunder awaiting the light”, clearly stating that a whole generation who has been under domination is coming together as one towards the source of knowledge.

Another part of the song goes…”Emancipation/ Kill isolation/ Never alone for the feelings alike/ Amplification/ Lightning the nation/ Never alive more/Than right here tonight”. 

These lyrics call the listener to end their isolated existence, emancipate themselves, and to understand that their feelings are shared by others, and thus they are never truly alone”. Such lyrics are quite pertinent during these post-COVID times when people are isolating themselves within their rooms, and their only connection with the outside world is through their cellphones or computers.

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Metallica songs have always had a message for the disenfranchised and the disaffected, and Lux Aeterna proves to be no different. It reaches out to the voices that are never heard, and asks them to connect with people who feel isolated just like them.