Metallica tease announcement with online countdown

Metallica press shot
Metallica (Image credit: Herring & Herring)

Metallica have shared a new website which suggests the band will make an announcement later this week.

They posted a link to MetallicaXX.com on Twitter, with fans clicking on the link met with a countdown timer which is due to hit zero on Thursday.

There’s no official indication of what the announcement will be, but the XX could point to the number 20 – and, as this year marks the 20th anniversary of Metallica’s landmark S&M album, perhaps the reveal could be a home release of their recent S&M2 shows from San Francisco.

Last month, Metallica played two sets with the city’s symphony orchestra, led by conductor Edwin Outwater, with a special appearance by Michael Tilson Thomas, with the film set to hit cinema screens around the world on Wednesday (October 9).

Metallica also shared a clip of their performance of 1997 track The Memory Remains last week, ahead of a trio of preview screenings which took place in London, New York and Los Angeles over the weekend.

Metallica explained: “The response to the two S&M2 shows at San Francisco’s new Chase Center has been nothing short of mind-boggling! 

“We had the most incredible time with the San Francisco Symphony and now cannot wait to share it with the world on the big screen.”

It was recently reported that Metallica guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield had re-entered rehab, which resulted in the band postponing their tour of Australia and New Zealand.

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Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.