Video: Metallica release stripped-down isolation version of Blackened

Metallica have released a video of them playing Blackened under lockdown. 

The footage appeared on the band's social media channels accompanied by the message, "Here’s a little something we cooked up over the last few days. Hope you’re all safe & sound. Have a great weekend." 

Blackened, a song about the destruction of the environment, originally featured on the band's 1988 album ...And Justice For All. It was the only track from the album to feature a writing credit for then-new bassist Jason Newsted.

Earlier this week, Lars Ulrich revealed that the band could possibly record an album this year, telling Salesforce,  "All four of us are in four different locations in four different states right now. But one topic of conversation on these weekly sessions is what does it look like going forward? What will the next couple of months look like? What will the rest of the year look like? 

"And what will the next decade look like in terms of how do we create, how do we write music, how do we record music, how do we share music, and how is it all going to look with the uncertainties ahead of us.”

He adds: “As we sit here, we go, ‘Maybe in a month or two from now, is there a chance that the four of us can be together maybe at our studio here in northern California, if the quarantine and stay-at-home orders subside?’"

Metallica are currently sharing live shows from their archive every Monday, the most recent being an epic Black Album performance filmed in Muskegon, Michigan, in 1991.

Earlier this week, Classic Rock published the Metallica Doodle Map, an interactive map featuring videos of all Kirk Hammett and Rob Trujillo's local doodles from Metallica's WorldWired tour.

Metallica Doodle Map

Click image to access the Metallica Doodle Map (Image credit: Per Ole Hagen / Getty Images)
Fraser Lewry

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.