On December 16th, Metallica performed at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles for the third Helping Hands Concert benefiting their NGO All Within My Hands . At the event, the group played two sets: one acoustic and one electric. In the latter, the band performed their latest single, “Lux Æterna,” live for the first time.
The event, which featured an opening act by Greta Van Fleet , was not made available online for fans, but the recording of the premiere of "Lux Æterna" has just been released by the band. The video can be watched at the end of this article.
“Lux Æterna” is the first single from the band's 12th album, 72 Seasons , which will be released on April 14th. Speaking about the track, vocalist James Hetfield explained : “'Lux Æterna' is an upbeat, kind of fast and cheerful song, I would say – indicating the new wave phase of British heavy metal, a kind of riff reminiscent of the 80s. It's just fun and makes me want to dance. It was fun to make the video, fun to record a song that comes out very easily, it was a very easy song to write and play, as I said, very much like the early 80s for us.”
Hetfield also spoke about the meaning of the song: “There’s been a lot of darkness in my life and in our career and things that have happened to us, but always having a sense of hope, always having the light that’s in that darkness… Without darkness, there is no light. And there’s no meaning to it – everyone has some sense of hope or light in their life and, obviously, the song is mine. And the song specifically speaks about bringing people together at a show and being able to see the joy, the life and the love that comes from the music.”.
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