After more than forty years on the scene, Metallica is breaking all records once again with their new album "72 Seasons." Metallica's twelfth studio album was released on April 14, 2023, by Blackened Recordings. Produced by Greg Fidelman with Hetfield and Ulrich, it runs over 77 minutes with 12 tracks and is the band's first full-length collection of new material since 2016. The man behind Metallica's new image, director Tim Saccenti, talked exclusively to N1 about working with James, Lars, Robert and Kirk.

Saccenti told N1 how the collaboration with Metallica came about.

He said that the people in the band came up with the idea of doing something that would be different from their past albums. Saccenti said he mainly works in the world of electronic and fine art, not in the world of music that they associate with.

When he and the band met there wasn't much of talking and they went straight into the studio. Saccenti said they trusted each other and when they recorded “Lux Aeterna,” they got to know each other and a friendly atmosphere prevailed.

He added that the band is very dedicated to the people it works with. When they start trusting someone and realize that they understand each other well enough, ideas from both sides start coming up and everything fits together nicely.

The director recalled the time when they shot the first video and the band asked his team had any other ideas.

Saccenti told N1 that he thinks about the quality of the sound the most when approaching music. While working on this album, he said he wanted to make it sound the opposite of the experience of 50,000 people attending one of their concerts. His goal was to focus on the quality of the sound, the listener's emotions, adrenaline and excitement.

Instead of bombastic and over-the-top visuals, he wanted a minimalistic version of what Metallica's sound does to the listener when they listen to the band, which transcends all language barriers and the meaning of the lyrics.

He said that every video from Metallica's album “72 seasons” had a special effect that was used for the first time ever in a music video. Up to 90 people edited the videos, and after the recording they took the material to post-production where they would do special effects and everything lasted for several months. Metallica has a new visual identity, thanks to director Tim Saccenti.

To see the full interview and hear what else he had to say about his collaboration with the legendary band, play the video above.