At a recent press conference in Mexico City, thrash metal immortals Metallica confirmed that they are intent on beginning the writing process for a new album. During the press conference, the band made a couple comments on writing a new record, and the will to get the process started. “We’re not going to start recording, we’re going to start writing,” drummer Lars Ulrich stated. “We don’t know what’s inspiring us right now,” said frontman James Hetfield. “I’ve been itching to write for a long time — all of us have — so there’s lots of ideas.” Bassist Robert Trujillo added, “[There are] lots of riffs to jam on, and that’s pretty exciting for us.”. Back in early June, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett stated in an interview with Guitar World Magazine that he has over 400 riffs already written for the new album.
Metallica are fresh off of their very first headlining festival of their own, Orion Music + More Festival, at Bader Field in Atlantic City, NJ. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Lars stated that the Orion Music + More Festival will be back in 2013 for a 2nd annual installment. He also said that the location will remain close to the original one (Atlantic City, NJ).
The band is currently in Mexico City for an epic 8-show run at Palacio de los Deportes (Sports Palace) in Mexico City. The ‘Tallica guys are no strangers to this arena; in 1993 on the Black Album Tour, Metallica played 5 shows at the arena and recorded the live CD/DVD box set (then VHS…wow.) Live Sh*t! Binge & Purge, and in 2009, they played 3 shows on the World Magnetic Tour which were recorded for the Mexico City Live DVD. The set this time around is an incredible, all-encompassing stage show featuring larger-than-life props spanning the band’s entire career, complete with enough fire and pyro to light up a small country.
Metallica have been touring relentlessly for the last 5 years. Their last record, 2008’s Death Magnetic, which saw the band return to form. Both heavy and thrashy, it’s a nice mix of …And Justice and Black Album. Magnetic debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200, and has since gone multi-platinum. It was nominated for 5 Grammy Awards, winning two of them (“Best Recording Package” and “Best Metal Performance” for “My Apocalypse”). Tentatively, Metallica plans to head into the studio in September to begin working on the new album. Producer Rick Ruben, who won the Grammy for “Producer of The Year – Non-Classical”, will once again be leading Metallica’s charge. – by Matt Bishop