New Metallica Album.com

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…)

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