New Metallica Album.com

See Metallica warmup before their first show at the Wiltern benefit show for friend Flea from RHCP in Los Angeles, May 14th 2008.  See the practice session with Flea playing his favorite song ‘Fight with Fire’ which they played later on in the night together.

“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…)

Metallica got extra loud in their first live set in a year on Wednesday, headlining a benefit concert in Los Angeles for Flea’s music school for kids, the Silverlake Conservatory. That meant no ballads and no new songs from the band’s upcoming Rick Rubin-produced album. Instead, for nearly two hours at the Wiltern Theater, Metallica erupted with big sludgy riffs and epic speed metal going all the way back to the early Eighties.

“Now that’s a beautiful sound right there,” singer James Hetfield told the crowd, responding to the cheers from 2,000 fans who had paid $300 (or $500 for VIP seats) for a rare chance to see the band in a smaller venue. “It’s great to be playing live again.” (more…)

METALLICA will play a May 14th benefit concert for L.A.’s Silverlake Conservatory of Music. The non-profit organization was created in 2001 by RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS bassist FLEA to provide reasonably-priced music education. SCARS ON BROADWAY, featuring DARON MALAKIAN and JOHN DOLMAYAN of SYSTEM OF A DOWN, will open the show. Tickets, were priced at 200 dollars and 500 dollars.

Will any new material in the form of a bootleg make it to us? Check back here to find out.

OZZFEST–the original and iconic hard rock festival–returns in 2008 as a one-day stadium spectacular that teams OZZFEST founder and namesake Ozzy Osbourne (in his only U.S. concert appearance this summer) with Metallica (marking their OZZFEST debut).

Produced by Sharon Osbourne and AEG LIVE, the all-day festival at Pizza Hut Park in hard music-loving Dallas will feature three stages of non-stop talent (with many OZZFEST alumni) and reliably twisted OZZFEST side attractions.

The full main stage lineup will also spotlight performances by Serj Tankian (System of a Down), Hellyeah, Jonathan Davis (Korn), Cavalera Conspiracy, Shadows Fall, Apocalyptica and In This Moment. Also scheduled on the main stage is a special all-star tribute to slain Pantera guitarist ‘Dimebag’ Darrell Abbott. Second stage acts include Sevendust, Devildriver, Kingdom of Sorrow, Soilent Green, Witchcraft and Goatwhore.  The Texas (third) stage—“an homage to the “many great metal bands that come from Texas,” says Sharon Osbourne–features The Sword, Drowning Pool and Rigor Mortis. (more…)

Metallica has announced yet another live performance in the U.S. in a posting online:

“Our friend Flea asked us if we could squeeze in one more day in Los Angeles and we just couldn’t say “no”, so we’re honored to partake in the annual “Hullabaloo” benefit concert for the Silverlake Conservatory of Music to be held at the Wiltern Theatre on Wednesday, May 14, 2008, along with our buddies Scars on Broadway.

“Flea and fellow musician Keith Barry founded the Silverlake Conservatory of Music in 2001 to help fill the void left by music education program cuts in public schools. Money raised by the benefit will go into scholarships for low income students who would otherwise be unable to afford instruments and/or lessons and will help expand the school’s summer camp program and fund a new building. For more information, check out www.silverlakeconservatory.com.” (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…)

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…)

Concert fans in Southern California are getting a lesson from the old school these days. First, Roger Waters brought his floating pig and Pink Floyd laser show to the desert grounds of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and today KROQ-FM (106.7) will announce that Metallica, those graybeards of thrash metal, will co-headline the station’s annual Weenie Roast on May 17 at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre.

Other performers include the Offspring, the Raconteurs, Rise Against, Pennywise, Bad Religion, the Bravery and Flogging Molly.

It was 25 years ago this summer that Metallica released “Kill ‘Em All,” the album that announced that this intended to be the hardest, fastest and loudest band in the world. (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…)

Sure, we’ve known that classic music and rock mix well, but when these two chicks translate classics such as “One” and my personal favorite “Master of Puppets” into lush lullabies, it messes with your head instead of actually banging it. But it’s pretty.

According to its blog, the duo kicked off its Spring 2008 tour last week paying many cover band gigs. Stopping in Dallas on May 21, they will be sandwiched between rockers Lame and Alcohollica, most likely bring the show to a screeching halt, but then probably end up as the surprise of the night. Chicks and instruments — you guys love that stuff, right? Or is just guitars? Listen after the break.

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Can’t get enough Metallica? Want to hear them anywhere you go in the house. You have to check out this new multi-room music streaming system from Sonos. It uses your network connection and can send music to upto 32 rooms. Use the wireless controller to control which room you want the music in. The best part is you can stream different music to different rooms. So have Master of Puppets in the living room, Blackened in the bathroom, and the Metallica Lullabys in the kids room. It’s truly a brilliant system with very good digital sound quality. Plus when hooked up to your internet connection you can stream directly from online services like Rhapsody, Sirius Satellite Radio, and Metallica’s favorite Napster! I just bought this thing and it its awesome and easy to set up. I was up and running in less than 30 minutes. The package deal is the way to go and you can save upto 250$. Buy now at a discounted price from here at the wireless music store, cheaper than their website. It’s a bit pricey but well worth the money.

Don’t take my word for it? Read all reviews:

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Ozzfest info to be released on the Official Ozzfest MySpace page. Sign up for instant updates. Get Ready!

This summer’s Ozzfest will consist of two separate two-day (Saturday/Sunday) events — one of which will be held in Dallas — in late July/early August, with Ozzy Osbourne headlining one day and Metallica headlining the next.

Not only are these two bands been announced for the Dallas show, but so has recently re-united thrash metalliers Rigor Mortis. The band has announced that they will play in the Dallas Ozzfest on August 9th, with Metallica rumored to close that show out. (more…)