Metallica: 'We Have 1200 Pieces Of Music'

It looks like Metallica are not short of material for that new album when they finally decide to start recording it.

Thought reports seem to vary on when the band will finally get into the studio and get to work properly (mostly thanks to the guys themselves, let’s be honest), there’s no doubt that they’ve got the riffs ready to go – or at least that’s how Kirk Hammett sees it.

“We’ve jammed on certain bits and pieces of music and figured out this piece of music works, this works, this doesn’t,” Kirk tells Rolling Stone. “But we’re still going through that process. James [Hetfield] has 800 pieces of music. I have 400 pieces of music. Once we figure out what pieces of music are actually gonna work for us, then we’re going to start turning those pieces of music into songs and seeing where that leads us.”

“What I can say is, we’re one day closer to the next record being released than we were yesterday,” adds Lars Ulrich. ”Unless there’s what’s called an ‘Act of God,’ I would hedge my bets that ’201′ would be the first three digits in the release year. And I don’t know much beyond that. We’ve been jamming along. We’ve been putting in some time.”

Metallica will likely release the album in the second half of next year, but in the meantime will be playing some fan-curated sets around Europe and beyond.

Metallica headline Sonisphere in July. Tickets are on sale now from http://sonisphere.co.uk/, with a £50 deposit scheme now up and running.

Merlin was promoted to Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has written for Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.