On Monday (November 28), Metallica announced their 12th album, 72 Seasons, and shared its first single "Lux Æterna." Thankfully, the song was fans' first taste of new music, because the band was quite certain that the album would leak before they started promoting it.

“We’ve been working on a new album for the last year, year-and-a-half – our COVID lockdown record,” Lars Ulrich said in a new interview. “And the one thing that we’ve done all through that is for the first time in our career, we never really talked about it. So, rather than, ‘Hey, there’s a new record’ and countdowns and, ‘Guess what’s coming your way?’ and all that kind of s**t, we’ve been tight-f**king-lipped about it.”

“We thought for sure this thing would leak," he added. "It hasn’t f**king leaked.”

72 Seasons is slated for an April 14, 2023 release and will be the follow-up to 2016's Hardwired ... To Self-Destruct. According to frontman James Hetfield, the title refers to "the first 18 years of our lives that form our true or false selves. The concept that we were told 'who we are' by our parents. A possible pigeonholing around what kind of personality we are."

"I think the most interesting part of this is the continued study of those core beliefs and how it affects our perception of the world today," his statement continued. "Much of our adults experience is reenactment or reaction to these childhood experiences. Prisoners of childhood or breaking free of those bondages we carry."

In addition to the album, Metallica also announced a massive world tour that will take place in 2023 and 2024. Check out a full list of dates below

Metallica M72 Tour Dates

2023:

04-27 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Johan Cruijff Arena !@

04-29 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Johan Cruijff Arena #$

05-17 Paris, France - Stade de France #$

05-19 Paris, France - Stade de France !@

05-26 Hamburg, Germany - Volksparkstadion !@

05-28 Hamburg, Germany - Volksparkstadion #$

06-16 Gothenburg, Sweden - Ullevi Stadium ^@

06-18 Gothenburg, Sweden - Ullevi Stadium #$

08-04 East Rutherford, NJ - MetLife Stadium %@

08-06 East Rutherford, NJ - MetLife Stadium #$

08-11 Montreal, Quebec - Stade Olympique %@

08-13 Montreal, Quebec - Stade Olympique #$

08-18 Arlington, TX - AT&T Stadium %@

08-20 Arlington, TX - AT&T Stadium #$

08-25 Inglewood, CA - SoFi Stadium %@

08-27 Inglewood, CA - SoFi Stadium #$

09-01 Glendale, AZ - State Farm Stadium %@

09-03 Glendale, AZ - State Farm Stadium #$

11-03 St. Louis, MO - The Dome at America’s Center %@

11-05 St. Louis, MO - The Dome at America’s Center #$

11-10 Detroit, MI - Ford Field %@

11-12 Detroit, MI - Ford Field #$

2024:

05-24 Munich, Germany - Olympiastadion !@

05-26 Munich, Germany - Olympiastadion #$

06-07 Helsinki, Finland- Olympic Stadium !@

06-09 Helsinki, Finland - Olympic Stadium #$

06-14 Copenhagen, Denmark - Parken Stadium !@

06-16 Copenhagen, Denmark - Parken Stadium #$

07-05 Warsaw, Poland - PGE Narodowy !@

07-07 Warsaw, Poland - PGE Narodowy #$

07-12 Madrid, Spain - Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano !@

07-14 Madrid, Spain - Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano #$

08-02 Foxborough, MA - Gillette Stadium %@

08-04 Foxborough, MA - Gillette Stadium #$

08-09 Chicago, IL - Soldier Field %@

08-11 Chicago, IL - Soldier Field #$

08-16 Minneapolis, MN - U.S. Bank Stadium %@

08-18 Minneapolis, MN - U.S. Bank Stadium #$

08-23 Edmonton, Alberta - Commonwealth Stadium %@

08-25 Edmonton, Alberta - Commonwealth Stadium #$

08-30 Seattle, WA - Lumen Field %@

09-01 Seattle, WA - Lumen Field #$

09-20 Mexico City, Mexico - Foro Sol &@

09-22 Mexico City, Mexico - Foro Sol #$

09-27 Mexico City, Mexico - Foro Sol &@

09-29 Mexico City, Mexico - Foro Sol #$

! with Architects

@ with Mammoth WVH

# with Five Finger Death Punch

$ with Ice Nine Kills

% with Pantera

^ with Volbeat

& with Greta Van Fleet

Bob McLaughlin