New Metallica Album.com

“One of these days I’m gonna put out an experimental album that’s gonna be so fucked up it will probably sell 10 copies, but I am gonna put it out.” – Kirk Hammett

Ever seen Metallica look this happy? Guess that’s what happens when you get to announce your new home in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Enjoy these pics of Metallica’s visit to the Fuse studios, and smile along with these legends of metal while you can. They’ll be back to growling and sneering before you know it. Hey, nobody does it better than Metallica — and now it’s official.
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Call Death Magnetic Kirk Hammett’s revenge. Famously browbeaten into accepting Lars Ulrich and producer Bob Rock’s dictum that guitar solos were “dated” and thereby verboten for 2003’s St. Anger — a fraught recording chronicled on the 2004 documentary Some Kind of Monster — Metallica’s lead guitarist dominates this 2008 sequel, playing with a euphoric fury not heard in years, if not decades. This aesthetic shift isn’t because Hammett suddenly rules the band: powerless to add solos to St. Anger, he couldn’t reinstate them without the blessing of Ulrich and James Hetfield, the politburo of Metallica. The duo suffered some combination of shame and humility in the wake of the muddled St. Anger and Monster, convincing these two unmovable forces to change direction. They ditched longtime producer Rock — who helmed every album since 1991’s breakthrough blockbuster Metallica — in favor of Rick Rubin, patron saint of all veteran rockers looking to reconnect with their early spark. Rubin may be the go-to producer for wayward superstars, but as the producer of Slayer, he’s also rooted in thrash, so he understands the core of Metallica’s greatness and gently steers them back to basics on Death Magnetic.   (more…)

A five-minute audio interview with Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett conducted on August 15, 2008 at the 23rd Pukkelpop music festival in the village of Kiewit, near Hasselt (Limburg province), Belgium

Kirk Hammett, lead guitarist for METALLICA has become an avid surfer in the past few years and as the band is nearing completion on their upcoming album “Death Magnetic” is it possible Kirk and his wife Lani are thinking about business endeavors outside Metallica?

Hammett recently revealed he has had initial thoughts of starting a clothing line geared toward the surfing industry: “I’ve actually thought of a sportswear line, surf clothing line. I have the name and it’s so good I’m not even going to tell you guys. But yeah, I have big plans. Whether they actually find the time to actually come to the surface remains to be seen.”

You have been working on the new Metallica album for almost three years. How do you know which riffs and solos to keep and which to throw out?
I know whether I’m cutting it or not. And I always try to make a solo the best it can be. I recorded over 100 solos for one track on this album — and the solo is only 25 seconds long [laughs]. But it’s apparent when the solo works that it’s all there. It’s either “Wow!” — or it’s not good enough. It’s that black-and-white.

How would you describe your role in Metallica’s two-guitar sound?
James [Hetfield] and I have always been complementary. We’ve never gotten into guitar squabbles, like a lot of bands with two guitar players do. His approach is primal — rhythmic and percussive. Mine is more technical and fluid. I see the guitar as a bunch of scales and tones. I write riffs and arrange chords to make sure they fit tight harmonically.

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Following a year-long collaboration between Randall Amplifiers and Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett, Randall has unveiled the KH-15 Signature Practice Amp. The KH-15 is the latest Kirk Hammett addition to Randall’s gear line-up since they announced partnership during Winter NAMM 2008.

The practice amp features two channels – one clean, and one custom overdrive with boost for extra gain. The rest of the spec includes 3-band EQ (bass, middle and treble), spring reverb, front 1/4″ headphone jack and rear CD/tape input. The KH-15 will set you back $129.90.

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Author and journalist Joel McIver spoke with James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo of METALLICA before their spectacular Wembley Stadium show on Sunday night (July 8). McIver has released the following excerpts from the conversation to BLABBERMOUTH.NET:Q: A lot of long-time METALLICA fans are asking one simple question. Is your new album going to be old-school thrash metal?

Trujillo: “There’s a lot of everything, man. There’s speed on this. There’s a couple of tracks where you’re gonna go ‘Wow!’ and I know you’re gonna like it because it has the flavor of the old. But it has this kind of groove and power behind it that I think is us today. And then there’s stuff that I think is pretty progressive. Sometimes, when you’re in the thick of it, when we’re all creating it together, it’s hard to get the feel of an outside perspective. But then you get someone like Scott Ian from ANTHRAX, who is in the lounge waiting for us to go to dinner or something, and he’s like ‘Rob, man! That riff fuckin’ ruled, bro! What song is that? Is that on the album?’ and stuff like that — and you go, I think we’re doing the right thing. I gotta say, the attitude and the conviction of the old school is there, the speed is there and the power, there’s an element of groove there that’s really strong.” (more…)

Greece’s Rock Hard magazine conducted an interview with Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo on May 22, 2007. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow (translated from Greek):

Rock Hard Greece: Could you describe the new album’s sound? Lars Ulrich, just before the release of “St. Anger”, had — very accurately — described it as raw, ugly and unpolished. Can you come up some adjectives for the new album?

Trujillo: “I would say that this is album is dynamic, heavy, groovin’ and you’ll probably be excited to know that there will be guitar solos on it! In addition, Lars remembered to tune his snare drum properly this time! For me, this album incorporates part of the dynamic and character of ‘Master of Puppets’, as well as the melodic style that people liked in the ‘black album,’ as far as the melodies are concerned. As for the general music style, much of the current material is groovy, heavy, dynamic and surely interesting. I would say that it’s different than ‘St. Anger’ — in a good way, of course.” (more…)

Video: Kirk talks about the new album, guitars, and Robert Trujillo’s contributions. Filmed during a ‘Sick of the Studio Tour’ stop in Norway.

“We feel like the band we were in the 80’s..”

Randall amplifiers have released their Kirk Hammett custom amp, the RM100KH. This 100-watt amp contains three custom sound modules designed in cooperation with the Metallica guitarist to provide his clean and distorted tones. The volume, drive, and level indications on the amp’s modules are written in Kirk’s handwriting. The amp retails for $1,999.00. (more…)

See NBC 11 report on Metallica on record day here.

Hetfield: “Record stores are disappearing, and we want them to stay.”

“You can call it old school, or we’re dinosaurs, or whatever, but I grew up going to a record store, hanging with my friends, just going through stuff. We weren’t texting each other, what was the new thing.”

Hammett: “It was a place to meet other like-minded individuals. You’d see someone in the heavy metal section that you never saw before. I would go up to them and say, ‘Hey, man, you’re into metal? I am too.’” (more…)

Airdate: 4-10-08. Dave Navarro hosts a talk show about the arts and human condition. This show includes an interview and a guitar lesson from musician Dave Mustaine. He still hates Lars and slept with Kirk’s girl!? I think most of all he is pissed that noone cares when a new Megadeth album comes out.

click ahead for the whole interview (more…)