Are we really surprised? In a recent interview with Consequence, Robert Trujillo admitted that Metallica fans don’t like it when the band take things in more experimental directions.
Specifically, he feels that fans get “pissed off” when the band push their sound in new directions. We’re all thinking of Saint Anger with this I’m sure, though you have to admit, that once-cringy drum sound informs a lot of modern metal.
Further, Trujillo admits that he gets it when fans have this reaction, since he often feels the same way about some of his favorite bands. How fans will react to the new Metallica album, 72 Seasons, is still up for debate.
He expands:
“Metallica fans, I get it. They’re the best fans in the world, in my opinion. But they love us so much that they get pissed off at us when we try different things. It always seems like the band bounces back, and somehow we (are) able to make the right statement in their mind. I get it because I’m that way with groups that I like.”
In the same interview, Lars Ulrich gave more details on why experimentation in their sound is so important to him:
“You have to keep finding different ways to stay engaged. You force yourself to keep coming up with new ways to do it, so you don’t fall into autopilot or just traps of being a stuck in a cage.
“We love what we do, and we love being engaged with what we do with each other. We like to feel that we’re making a difference for the fans, the audience.”
72 Seasons will be out April 14 via the band’s on label, Blackened Recordings. What we all, and the collective Metallica fan consciousness at large, think about the album will be interesting to see.