Metallica has announced they will celebrate the release of their forthcoming album Hardwired…To Self-Destruct with fans and independent record stores around the world as part of Blackened Friday. The band will lead a Midnight record sale for their new album at independent record stores all over the country. There is also a contest to be an Honorary Blackened Ambassador:Continue reading
Metallica has announced they are hosting a flash contest to allow local bands to open for them on their upcoming tour. The deadline is tomorrow, October 21st and winners will be selected on October 22nd. Details ho to enter are below: Continue reading
Metallica has dropped another crunching new track from their forthcoming new album Hardwired..To Self-Destruct releasing on November 18th from Blackened Records.. The band premiered the song this morning on The Howard Stern Show and them debuted the video on their website. Continue reading
In a new published interview, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich confirmed that the band’s long-awaited new album would be completed this summer. The bands hasn’t released a new studio album since 2009’s Death Magnetic.
“We’re now coming towards the end of the musical creative process and we’re starting to look ahead and the process of how we’re gonna share this record with the universe.”
Lars talked about the timeline of finally finishing and releasing the new album, the band’s 10th studio release:
“The month of June is basically when we’re gonna sit down and figure what we’re gonna do with it all; what we’re gonna call it and what’s gonna be on it.”
Previously frontman James Hetfiled promised fans a new album by late 2016 or early 2017. This spring guitarist Kirk Hammett stated Metallica had tapped producer Greg Fidelman(Death Magnetic) for the new album.
Lars also discussed Fidelman: “Greg Fidelman is 24/7 on this record and has been since last summer. He’s doing an insanely great job and has been putting his heart and soul in it pretty much every waking moment of his life in helping us engineer and produce this record”.
Regarding an actual release date:
“If the record doesn’t come out this year then it won’t be because it’s not done. It will be because there’s some sort of cosmic reason that it would be smarter to hold onto it until next year. But the record will be done this summer.”
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In an interview with Alternative Press, Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett revealed that Greg Fidelman is the de facto producer of the bands new album, which is said to be currently in the final phases of recording. Recently performing their first show of 2016 at CBS Radio’s The Night Before concert event at Super Bowl 50, both James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich claimed on stage that there would be a new Metallica album released during 2016.
Kirk commented on Fidelman’s level of involvement:
“We have not brought in any [other] producer and it looks extremely [unlikely] we’d bring one in this late into the project.”
“The title ‘producer’ itself is a bit ambiguous. It differs from person to person. You can call Rick Rubin a producer, but he’s not the [same] type of producer as Bob Rock, who is there for every note. At the same time, Rick Rubin gets stuff done. Greg Fidelman is a different type of producer in that he’s with the engineer always looking to try and move the project forward. And that’s different from, say, Dr. Dre, who is the type of producer who is actually making backing tracks, producing music, writing music. In the hip-hop world, Dre is a producer. It’s so ambiguous. If you go by the traditional term, we’re doing it with Greg, pretty much.”
“Greg is a real pleasure to work with. Even though he can be a bit of a taskmaster, he listens to you. He’s super-flexible. He knows how to crack the whip without fucking pissing people off.”
Hammett also commented on the difficulties of making an album for Metallica at this point in their career:
“The hardest part” about recording Metallica is coordinating the bandmembers’ schedules so that the production process can move forward at a comfortable pace. “Hey, for us, life has its demands,” he said. “We’re trying to make an album and go on tour, trying to be a band, but we all recognize that if someone has a family situation, that takes priority over everything. That’s another reason why [the new album] is taking so long. That’s another obstacle for Greg Fidelman He’s always joking about it, but it really takes a lot of, like, you know, tap dancing and juggling.”
The new Metallica album will be their 10th album of original music, not including live albums, compilations and covers. It will be the first new full length album from the band since 2009’s Death Magnetic. Fidelman may be seen by fans as a controversial, but safe choice for the band in the producer’s chair. Known for his work with Slipknot and Slayer, Fidelman came under fire from fans for the sound quality (clipping) associated with the Death Magnetic finished product.
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