Metallica confirm they've started "serious" work on their next album

(Image credit: Herring & Herring)

Metallica have confirmed they've started work on a follow up to 2016 album Hardwired... To Self-Destruct.

In a conversation with singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers, conducted as part of Rolling Stone's Musicians on Musicians series, drummer Lars Ulrich admitted that the band have officially been getting together for some "pretty serious writing".

"We’re three, four weeks into some pretty serious writing," Ulrich told Bridgers. "And of all the shit – pandemics, fires, politics, race problems, and just fucking looking at the state of the world – it’s so easy just to so fall into a depressive state.

"But writing always makes me feel enthusiastic about what’s next. It’s like, 'Fuck, there’s an opportunity here to still make the best record, to still make a difference. To still do something that not even turns other people on, but turns me on.'"

The band have been hinting that they've been working on a new project for some time. Back in August, they uploaded video to Instagram Stories showing them back at their HQ and rehearsing together again, while the band performed a livestream from their HQ earlier this month.

However, it might be a while before fans get to experience any new music live, with Ulrich warning earlier this month that it could be one year, “at the earliest”, before major artists will be able to perform in arenas and stadiums once again.

“As we unfortunately have to come to grips with, the last thing that will happen are big concerts, you know 20,000 people in an arena, 50,000 people in a stadium,” he told CNBC.

“The good news,” he noted, “on the live concert front, [is that] when Metallica and other bands like Metallica play big arena or stadium concerts again, then you can pretty much count on the fact that COVID, as we know it now, is over.”

Meanwhile, it's been revealed that the band's November 14 livestream has raised $1.3 million for their All Within My Hands Foundation. Ticket packages to watch the show are still available to purchase until 11:59 PM PST on December 1st from Nugs TV.

Briony is the Editor in Chief of Louder and is in charge of sorting out who and what you see covered on the site. She started working with Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and Prog magazines back in 2015 and has been writing about music and entertainment in many guises since 2009. Her favourite-ever interviewee is either Billy Corgan or Kim Deal. She is a big fan of cats, Husker Du and pizza.