Metallica Releases Sign Language Videos For 72 Seasons Album

Metallica has recently released every music video from their latest album 72 Seasons with ASL (American Sign Language) interpretations.

In support of the National ASL Day on April 15, the legendary band declared their partnership with the Deaf Professional Arts Network (DPAN) and Amber G Productions teams and released the first ASL video, for the title track, “72 Seasons.”

Metallica then released in succession an ASL music video to accompany all their twelve songs on 72 Seasons. They are officially the first rock band to release an entire album in ASL and also the first artist to release official videos side by side with an ASL interpreter.

The DPAN is a non-profit organization founded in 2006 by deaf musician Sean Forbes and music producer Joel Martin to make music accessible to the deaf community. Forbes stated:

“As a deaf musician, who has been a huge fan of Metallica my entire life, it is an absolute honor to work with the band and Amber G Productions to make an entire album of their songs accessible in American Sign Language.

“It is our hope that more bands, artists, performers, will follow the example set by Metallica and make their music accessible in American Sign Language. There is an entire community of deaf music fans that are ready to experience more music and Metallica doing this speaks volumes to the deaf and signing communities.”

While Amber Galloway of AG Productions said:

“Metallica has shown the world what access and inclusiveness can look like.

“Oftentimes 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 also capture the voices of the instruments.”