Kirk Hammett Better Not Lose the ‘767’ Riffs He Apparently Wrote for Metallica’s Next Album
Someone find Kirk Hammett’s cellphone and put it under lock and key. He’s apparently written nearly 800 new riffs for the next Metallica album and we don’t want a repeat of what happened a few years ago…
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Hammett revealed that he’s been hard at work coming up with ideas for Metallica’s follow up to 72 Seasons. This isn’t anything new for the guitarist, really, as he’s been known to drum up scores of riffs between record releases. Though last time we heard about this, he’d lost some 250+ riffs when he misplaced his iPhone, which naturally begs the question — do you not understand the concept of backing up your files?!
But I digress. In the aforementioned recent interview, Hammett said he’s written 767 new riffs, which is a crazy amount to consider and an apparent nightmare to go through.
“I have 767 new ones for the next album. It is such a nightmare going through this stuff, too. And I’m the one responsible for all of it and I can’t do it… I don’t foresee us starting the next album for at least another year because we’re still finishing the tour. Once we fully finish this and go to all the outlying places like Asia and Australia and New Zealand, I think we’re gonna take a little bit of a break, not too much of one, and then we’re gonna get right back into it.”
On top of his work for Metallica’s next effort, Hammett said he’s been working on a debut solo album. You may recall he released a solo EP back in 2022 titled Portals. And while that release was strictly instrumental, he said that won’t be the case for his full-length effort.
“I’m just actively getting ideas together for my [first] solo album. I guess the best way to describe it is it’s gonna be a fusion of all sorts of styles…. All of a sudden I’m writing classical progressions, and all of a sudden I’m writing more heavy stuff and all of a sudden I’m writing like a funk thing…. There will be vocals because the songs that I wrote scream for vocals this time around.
“So I’m like, okay, who’s gonna be doing the vocals? I don’t know. I hope I’m not—I already have too much to do on stage… I have an instrumental piece that to me sounds like it’s 2000 years old called ‘The Mysterion.’ It’s based on all this stuff that I’ve been reading, the ancient Greek texts, and it’s amazing to me because I wouldn’t have had this instrumental if I didn’t start reading these ancient texts.”
As it stands, we have zero idea when either project will ever see the light of day. All we can hope for is that either he has his phone chained to his pants like a shitty chain wallet or he’s actually backing up everything important.
If you’d like to see Hammett play some old riffs, you can do so when Metallica gets back on the road for their M72 World Tour. Remember that some of the nights will feature Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies as openers, while other nights will feature Limp Bizkit and Ice Nine Kills. You can find the full set of dates below and get your tickets today.
4/19 Syracuse, NY JMA Wireless Dome (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
4/24 Toronto, ON Rogers Centre (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
4/26 Toronto, ON Rogers Centre (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
5/1 Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
5/3 Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
5/7 Blacksburg, VA Lane Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
5/9 Columbus, OH Sonic Temple @ Historic Crew Stadium
5/11 Columbus, OH Sonic Temple @ Historic Crew Stadium
5/23 Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
5/25 Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
5/28 Landover, MD Northwest Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
5/31 Charlotte, NC Bank of America Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/3 Atlanta, GA Mercedes-Benz Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/6 Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
6/8 Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/14 Houston, TX NRG Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/20 Santa Clara, CA Levi’s Stadium (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
6/22 Santa Clara, CA Levi’s Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/27 Denver, CO Empower Field at Mile High (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
6/29 Denver, CO Empower Field at Mile High (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
