Released: 1988″Blackened” by Metallica is a searing commentary on the destructive nature of mankind and the potential for our behaviors to lead us to our own extinction. It’s a gloomy canvas reflecting humanity’s potential to disrupt the balance of life on Earth and eventually, our eventual demise.
Diving straight into the lyrics, “Blackened is the end / Winter it will send / Throwing all you see / Into obscurity”, Metallica sets the mood. Painting a picture of Earth’s demise, they invoke the image of a harsh, eternal winter that blots out all life. “Death of Mother Earth / Never a rebirth / Evolution’s End / Never will it mend”, adds to this narrative, likening Earth to a dying mother and bemoaning the irreversible damage being done.
The chorus: “Fire / To begin whipping dance of the dead / Blackened is the end / To begin whipping, dance of the dead / Color our world blackened”, rings out as a war cry. It’s an ominous prediction, akin to a dance macabre, with the ‘blackening’ signifying the obliteration of life and the onset of desolation.
The verse “Blistering of Earth / Terminate its worth / Deadly nicotine / Kills what might have been”, is basically shorthand for highlighting mankind’s reckless tendencies to poison the environment – nicotine’s reference could be an allusion to the toxicity that we’ve introduced into the planet’s ecosystem.
The band then hits you with: “Opposition (opposition) / Contradiction (contradiction) / Premonition (premonition) / Compromise”, showcasing the ongoing battle between the drive to preserve the Earth (opposition) and the forces contributing to its destruction (contradiction). The ‘premonition’ is our awareness of the consequences, yet we’re continually compromising Earth’s health.
“Expectation / Liberation / Population / Lay to waste,” here Metallica is suggesting that our expectations of freedom and unchecked population growth are merely guiding us to lay waste to our own existence. They further drive home this point with “See our mother / Put to death / See our mother die,” speaking poignantly to the destruction of Mother Earth at our hands.
The final verse “Smoldering decay / Take your breath away / Millions of our years / In minutes disappears / Darkening in vain / Decadence remains / All is said and done / Never is the sun,” is a grim climax for this rock saga. It is a chilling reminder of the speed at which centuries of evolution can be undone by the arrogance of one species.
“Blackened” is a sobering reminder of the self-induced apocalypse we might be hurtling towards. Metallica’s artistry allows us to see the ruinous future that could be, if we continue down the path of unchecked destruction and greed.
