Metallica & ASL

As announced on several news sites (and even the evening news!), Metallica is the first major rock band to release ASL videos for all of the tracks on their new album. “72 Seasons” is Metallica’s eleventh studio album and came on April 14, 2023 on Blackened Recordings. The announcement came out on April 15th -National American Sign Language Day. When I heard that Metallica was doing this, my response was “of course!” And then I did a deep dive to find out how this works. While I was once heavily involved in the music scene, it’s been a long time since I’ve paid attention and almost as long since I’ve been to a “big rock show.” The ASL interpreter featured on 72 Seasons title track is Amber Galloway (Amber G Productions). According to Billboard (4.17.23), Galloway is a “fan-favorite” who’s “gone viral several times for her high-energy signing at festivals including Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza.” Her team at Amber G Productions appears in the 12 videos created for the albums. ASL interpretation for rock music isn’t just about signing the lyrics but creating access to the full music experience so when you’re watching the videos, you have a gateway into “rocking out.” Galloway states that “Metallica has shown the world what access and inclusiveness can look like.” (Guitar dot com, n.d.) As she explains, “Often times hearing individuals think that captioning a music video is sufficient. Sadly text does not show intonations, it doesn’t show the emotional connection that ASL does. These videos capture the voices of the instruments.”

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