The history of Metallica is riddled with “sad but true” stories, but the most recent is probably the most perplexing. Upon the release of the band’s 2016 Hardwired… to Self Destruct, it was revealed that lead guitarist Kirk Hammett hadn’t contributed any material to the new album, essentially making it a James Hetfield solo album. It was awesome, but not without another cloud of controversy hanging over it. In fact, Hammett claimed to have lost his phone carrying all of this material at an airport. That won’t happen again.
Hammett revealed to Australia’s Mixdown magazine that he has a “ton of material” for the new album, one we shouldn’t have to wait much longer for.
“When I was 13-14 years old, bands put out albums every year. Seriously, KISS put out an album every eight months,” he said, scorning, “None of this eight years between albums.”
The guitarist went on to admit, “None of us are very comfortable with the fact it’s been so long, because that is a long time. We’re hoping to avoid that this time around.”
“We’re in our third year since Hardwired,” Hammett continued, taking stock of Metallica’s current situation. “Maybe we can get a bit more focus and go into the studio a bit sooner,” he hoped, revealing, “I have a ton of material. I’ve over-compensated, so I’m ready to go anytime.”
The band’s ongoing tour appears to conclude before Thanksgiving, which should allow the band to work on new music going into the New Year. Could we get a new Metallica album late 2020? It’s definitely a possibility.
Thanks to Loudwire for the transcript.