Metallica Deep in “Some Pretty Serious Writing” for New Album
After first floating the idea of working on new music while under quarantine in April, by June Lars Ulrich had revealed that Metallica were, indeed, in writing mode. James and Rob have both said they’ve been busy working on new songs, too, and Kirk Hammett has trumpeted the fact that he has over 600 song ideas recorded (after infamously losing his cell phone with 300+ ideas prior to the sessions for Hardwired).
Despite the challenges of writing a record without jamming together in person, Metallica’s preferred method, Ulrich now tells Rolling Stone the sessions are moving along nicely:
“We’re three, four weeks into some pretty serious writing. And of all the shit — pandemics, fires, politics, race problems, and just fucking looking at the state of the world — it’s so easy just to so fall into a depressive state. But writing always makes me feel enthusiastic about what’s next. It’s like, ‘Fuck, there’s an opportunity here to still make the best record, to still make a difference. To still do something that not even turns other people on, but turns me on.’”
Trujillo previously told Metal Hammer of the writing process:
“I’m not gonna speak on behalf of the other guys, but to me, it feels like this could be a very collaborative [writing process]. And for me personally, I love that. I love that we are in that head space to be more collaborative, and I think that’s very exciting for where we’re at now, the journey we’re about to take, the fact that those doors are opening like that.”
In that same piece, Kirk added of the cell phone mishap:
“There’s a lot of material. I know I have tons, because I totally overcompensated. You know, last time around, it was a real shock to my system losing all those musical ideas. So, I was very determined to try and make up for lost time. I also felt that, creatively, I have so much more to offer this time around.”
Lars previously indicated the band planned to isolate in a bubble to jam in person some time before year’s end, but it’s unclear if the latest writing bout took place in that fashion.
Metallica have stayed busy during the lockdown in a number of ways. In May, they released a semi-acoustic, reimagined version of “Blackened.” Then, in August, they hosted a pre-recorded drive-in concert at hundreds of outdoor movie theaters and just released a recording of last year’s S&M2 concert. A re-worked version of “Nothing Else Matters” is scheduled to appear in Disney’s upcoming Jungle Cruise movie starring The Rock and Emily Blunt, and the band just hosted a livestream performance for their All Within My Hands charity foundation.
