METALLICA Shares Music Video For Band's Longest Song To Date, 'Inamorata'

METALLICA has shared the Jess Cope-directed official music video for the song "Inamorata" from the band's latest album, "72 Seasons". The track, which closes the LP, has the distinction of being the longest METALLICA song to date, with a running time of 11 minutes and 10 seconds.

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield, who wrote the lyrics to "Inamorata", stated about inspiration for the cut in the "72 Seasons" track-by-track breakdown video: "'Inamorata', having a love affair with misery. A long classic song that screamed out to end the album. Really, really cool riffs in it, really great groove. I love the way it rounds this thing out."

In an interview with METALLICA's So What! fan-club magazine, James said about the lyrics for "Inamorata": "That whole song, you know, misery as my mistress, and I'm trying to hide her. I enjoy her at certain times, but I don't want the world to know about her. I don't want to introduce her to the world because it's not okay. So misery as a mistress, it does serve a purpose in my life, but I don't want it to be my life, and I'm tired of it running my life."

METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo told So What! about the bass breakdown in "Inamorata": "I believe James had a vision of having this sort of SABBATH-y, 'Geezer-esque' moment where the bass is sort of a naked moment, here's this beautiful-yet-dark statement coming from the bass guitar. It feels raw, but at the same time it's got this dark beauty to it. And what I tried to do was really just close my eyes and channel every note. I say to people that that song reminds me of… it's a cross between driving on Pacific Coast Highway in the sun in your convertible, a beautiful warm summer day, ocean to your right or your left, depending on what direction you're going. It has that swagger to it; it's just very cool. Nothing's rushed. It's just a beautiful drive on PCH and the California coast. And when it gets to the breakdown, it's very strong and powerful, this raw, beautiful moment. So maybe the ocean is speaking; that's what I see. I see waves, I see the power of the ocean, the sun, the coastline. And when it gets down to that breakdown, it's just this raw, beautiful moment, and I was closing my eyes, channeling every note. I was trying to be somewhat melodic, but then I was trying to create enough space so that James could slide in there, and we could work together and communicate. It's one of my favorite moments in METALLICA."

He added: "You know, I think about the incredible statements that [late METALLICA bassist] Cliff Burton was able to make with the songs that he was involved with. I feel that [we] obviously had hit a grand slam with 'Inamorata'. It's a cross between a beautiful old film with a really cool painting or something… it resonates 'California.' There's something that's beautiful about it. It has a certain flavor and feel to me."

"72 Seasons" is reportedly on track to shift around 150,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release to debut at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart.

METALLICA's last six albums all topped the Billboard 200 chart, having landed at No. 1 with "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct" (2016),"Death Magnetic" (2008),"St. Anger" (2003),"Reload" (1997),"Load" (1996) and "Metallica" (1991).

"72 Seasons" was released on April 14 via METALLICA's own Blackened Recordings. Produced by Greg Fidelman with Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, it is METALLICA's first full-length collection of new material since "Hardwired…To Self-Destruct".

In the seven 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".