New Metallica Album.com

The video shows Lars Ulrich being interviewed by Spin magazine prior to the band’s May 14, 2008 benefit concert at the 2,200-seat Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. Watch the four-minute video ahead. All proceeds from the show will go to the Silverlake Conservatory of Music, a nonprofit music school for low-income students that was co-founded by Red Hot Chilli Peppers bassist Flea.

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William Goodman of Spin.com conducted an interview with METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich earlier today (Thursday, May 15) about the group’s much-anticipated new record, which, according to Lars, the outfit will cap next week with “a couple of nips and tucks” for release this September.

Here are some bullet points from Lars‘ comments about the forthcoming CD:
(Listen to audio of the interview here)

* The yet-to-be titled new record will drop sometime in September.
* The quartet will wrap production on the record next week, “by Wednesday or Thursday,” Ulrich confirms. (more…)

See video here: The first Mission Metallica winner hangs backstage with Lars at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. See Video after the break.

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Metallica is “a couple of nips and tucks” away from completing its next album, which is still on target for a September release, according to drummer Lars Ulrich.

During a conference call yesterday (May 15) promoting this year’s Bonnaroo Music Festival, which Metallica will headline on June 13, Ulrich told reporters that the group hopes to wrap up work on the album in time for the Memorial Day weekend holiday. Metallica recently met with a graphic designer to begin planning the package, though there’s no confirmed title for the album yet and the songs still have working names. (more…)

Metallica has been saying for months that their new record will harken back to some of their older material, and drummer Lars Ulrich reiterated that point in a conference call yesterday. “It’s definitely pretty all over the place: a lot of variation, a lot of fast, slow, melodic, hardcore, nutty, super-fast speed stuff,” he told reporters. “It’s more like some of the earlier records, which were a little more dynamic within the songs. And on those records, there were a lot of long songs that were - without sounding too corny - journeys. You’d go here and then you’d go over here and then this, and then that would happen. It feels like kind of a lot of that stuff. It’s difficult for me to sit down and brand it yet, because I’m still so close to it.”Ulrich also said the band hopes to have the album finished by Memorial Day and they have already met with a graphic designer about the artwork. They plan to release it in mid-September and start touring in October. (more…)

“That was the first show of the tour,” announced Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett, who, along with his bandmates, shredded through a nearly two-hour set with such hits as “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Fuel,” “Master of Puppets,” “…And Justice for All,” “Enter Sandman,” and “Seek and Destroy,” at Los Angeles’ 2,300-capacity Wiltern Theatre. (more…)

Here is some footage from the MissionMetallica.com page. Its the first taste of what we can expect from the site. It’s actually pretty damn cool to see the guys back at work and for the most part having fun. Lars talks to producer Rick Rubin about not using a click machine on a track ‘Hell and Back’ while recording the drums in a pretty funny clip. Though he is not totally happy with it, i think we can see that they are trying to be old school and really capture a raw live feel to the album, a big change from the cut and paste St. Anger. (more…)

Metallica has set up a web site at MissionMetallica.com to promote the band’s upcoming ninth studio album. The site will go live in May and says it will offer fans a chance to “experience the new album before it’s done.” A postcard about the site was also included with the recently released vinyl reissues of the band’s Kill ‘Em All and Ride the Lightning albums. Metallica has been recording its yet-to-be-titled new album with producer Rick Rubin. The disc is tentatively scheduled for release in September, with a single coming around the same time. (more…)

Metal Hammer magazine recently conducted an exclusive interview with METALLICA’s drummer Lars Ulrich about the progress of their recording sessions for the group’s new album, as well as few other subjects. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Metal Hammer: You’ve already recorded the drum, guitar and bass tracks for the new album, with the rest to be added some time in August.

Lars: “The backing tracks are done, yeah. But Rick [Rubin, producer] likes to keep things organic and work in a way that can be described as ‘of the moment.’ If we continue in August we should be done by October.”

Metal Hammer: Rubin isn’t known for being too giving with his time. What role has he played in the sessions?

Lars: “He’s been there every single day so far. He’s all about the big picture. He doesn’t analyze things like drum tempos or tell James [Hetfield] to play something in F sharp. He’s more about the feel: is everyone playing together? Rick’s a vibe guy.”

Metal Hammer: And is it okay for Rick to tell you something you’ve done sucks? (more…)

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich told a Los Angeles radio station on Monday (May 5th) that the band’s new web site, MissionMetallica.com, will showcase the kind of “making-of-the-album” features usually found these days on a DVD accompanying a CD release. Ulrich explained, “We thought, instead of doing the usual DVDs and all that, why don’t we just do it on the Internet and people can kind of tune in every day, watch clips, contests, get updates for what’s going on with the record and kind of watch the last couple of months of song titles, album titles, final mixes…So it’s kind of a little bit of a countdown type of thing. It should be fun.” (more…)

Video footage of METALLICA rehearsing the classic song “Creeping Death” in preparation for the band’s upcoming spring/summer tour dates can be viewed below. The clip, which was apparently shot on May 2, 2008 at the group’s “headquarters” in San Rafael, California, was previously released exclusively to the members of METALLICA’s official fan club.

METALLICA’s recently announced web site — MissionMetallica.com — where the band says it will offer fans a chance to “experience the [group's] new album before it’s done,” is scheduled to go “live” on May 12. See video after the break. (more…)

Creating much controversy across the internet, Metallica have suggested in an interview with Rolling Stone that they might follow the lead of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails and embrace the music download culture. After downplaying the band’s helping hand as RIAA spy or “tool” by suing Napster, drummer Lars Ulrich discusses how the Metallica members have been watching the two bands’ methods and hope to pursue “possibilities with the internet” sometime in the future.

Basically, Lars Ulrich and Metallica are running scared. (more…)