Metallica： Crown of Barbed Wire - Metallica： Crown of Barbed Wire

What this video is

Released April 18, 2023, as part of Metallica's unprecedented full-album video campaign for '72 Seasons' — their eleventh studio album and first in seven years since 'Hardwired...to Self-Destruct' (2016). The campaign represented a significant moment in legacy rock/metal promotion strategy, with Metallica committing to individual videos for all twelve tracks. Concurrently, the band also released American Sign…

Why it matters

Represents the early-2020s convergence of animation and heavy metal video production as a deliberate aesthetic choice for narrative complexity, free from the logistical constraints of live-action. The fully animated format allowed thematic abstraction of violent and psychological lyrical content,…

The director

Corey Daigle is an animator and director best known for directing and animating the official Metallica music video for 'Crown of Barbed Wire' (2023), released under Blackened Recordings. He is credited as both director and writer on the project per IMDb…