Watch Metallica’s Combative New ‘Halo on Fire’ Video

The push and pull of darkness and light appear to be at odds in Metallica‘s new video for “Halo on Fire.” The black-and-white clip was directed by Hardwired … to Self-Destruct’s album package photographers Herring & Herring (who also helmed the album’s videos for “Now That We’re Dead” and “Am I Savage?“).

In the video, the band plays a rousing concert in the round, surrounded by fans that sing along. The performance scenes are interspersed with a storyline featuring a woman who wakes up covered in bruises. While it’s unclear initially what caused the black marks, James Hetfield sings of the “secrets inside.” Later, she’s seen in the center of the crowd, replacing the band, as she fights people as the attendees cheer her on. “Hello darkness/ say goodbye,” Hetfield belts while the woman battles those she encounters in the makeshift ring, and later takes a victory lap.

“Halo on Fire” is a cut from Metallica’s upcoming 10th LP, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct, out November 18th. The band will mark the release with a “Blackened Friday” event – a twist on Record Store Day’s Black Friday – at hundreds of independent record stores across the U.S. Fans participating in the midnight sale will be eligible to win items like limited edition vinyl slip mats and posters; the grand prize winner will receive the new album in a variety of formats, including the deluxe box set and a test pressing of the record.

In August, drummer Lars Ulrich spoke to Rolling Stone about Hardwired, detailing the album’s “simpler” songs. “We introduce a mood and we stick to it, rather than songs we’ve done where one riff happens and we go over here and then over there and it becomes a journey through all these different soundscapes,” he said. “The songs are more linear. And by ‘less frenetic,’ I mean there are certainly less starts and stops in the songs. It cruises along a little bit more than the last record.”

Find out five things you didn’t know about Metallica. Watch here.