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METALLICA’s KIRK HAMMETT ‘Definitely’ Plans To Release Another Book

Manos Spanos
METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett has told Bloody-Disgusting.com that he is working on a follow-up book to "Too Much Horror Business - The Kirk Hammett Collection", which came out in 2012. "Oh, yeah, there's definitely plans for another book," Hammett said. "It's going to be slightly different from 'Too Much Horror Business'. It's going to be more based upon the pop culture of the '60s and '70s, with a lot of hot rod culture and surf culture as well as monster and horror culture. There'll be a lot of TV stuff, too. But all within collecting. Toy collecting, artwork, posters, and whatnot." He added: "I said to myself that I have to give the next METALLICA album priority. I'm going to wait until we're two-thirds through the next METALLICA album before I start work on the book. And so, maybe the book will come out in the end of 2015, beginning of 2016, if the planet has blown up by then. [laughs] "But yes, I'm definitely planning on doing another book and I haven't started it yet and I won't start it until the end of this year. So, that's that." "Too Much Horror Business - The Kirk Hammett Collection" was an oversized 228-page hardback book documenting Kirk's love of all things related to the horror genre and featured more than 300 photos of items from the collection of horror memorabilia he has accumulated over the years. The book also included three lengthy interviews with Hammett, who also wrote the captions for many of the photos. Hammett told the San Francisco Chronicle, "I've been into [horror] stuff since I was five years old . . . My love for this stuff is insane and totally obsessive-compulsive. It's just one of those things. I'm still waiting to outgrow it or get tired of it or get bored with it. But it does not seem to happen." Hammett, who has been collecting items and watching horror movies since he was a child, told Loudwire why he thinks the genre is so popular. He explained, "They're just fun. They're a fun experience. It's not unlike a roller coaster ride, you know? A good horror movie should have peaks and valleys, a good horror movie should move you emotionally, a good horror movie should be exciting to watch and energizing in a weird kind of way . . . horror movies deliver that." Hammett added, "I've always been attracted to the darker things in life. I was never one to go for light, airy stuff, even as a child. My whole aesthetic has always been one of the darker side. That rings true also in my tastes in music." Hammett has hosted Kirk's Crypt, a haunted house stocked with posters, film props, vintage comics and custom guitars, at the first two installments of the Orion Music + More festival, a music and lifestyle festival created by METALLICA and their friends at C3 Presents. Hammett will host his own horror convention, "Kirk Von Hammett's Fear FestEvil", this coming weekend in San Francisco, California. The three-day event (February 6-8) will feature vending, live music, "Kirk's Crypt" private tours, panels, signings and special guest appea
03 min read

METALLICA’s LARS ULRICH Comments On 3D Movie’s Disappointing U.S. Box Office Run

Manos Spanos
METALLICA's 2013 IMAX 3D concert film, "Metallica Through The Never", arrived on DVD, Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, video on demand and digital on January 28th through the band's own Blackened Recordings label. The $18 million film, which combined concert footage with a fictional narrative, made less than $4 million in its initial U.S. box office run last fall. Drummer Lars Ulrich admitted he was disappointed that it didn't do better. "Well, I think anytime you do anything, obviously at some point you're disappointed," he told RollingStone.com. "It seemed with [the 2004 METALLICA documentary] 'Some Kind Of Monster', there was a group of people that fell in love the film that that weren't necessarily METALLICA fans. And I think that we were thinking that there was a shot of that happening too [with 'Through The Never'] and that didn't happen. Maybe we were disappointed that that didn't happen." Asked if he is hoping "Through The Never" takes on a new life in the video release, Lars said: "Obviously, every single filmmaker on this planet will say the following sentence: 'My movie should be seen on a big screen, not on an iPod.' [Laughs] But this movie I would like to say in my own selfish way really should be seen on a big screen. If you'll get something out of it on an eight-inch monitor on an airplane, I think that's totally cool — and obviously I want people see it any way they can but, given a preference, I would rather they see it on an IMAX screen rather than an eight-inch monitor on an airplane. But I can't control that. And the minute you let go of it, you let go of it." Ulrich said that making the "Through The Never" movie re-energized METALLICA's creativity, explaining, "[Working on the film] gave us a chance to experience a whole other way of being creative and having a creative outlet. We were very inspired by making that [movie], and now we're energized to make a record. The film was fun, but it's all about the next record." METALLICA will hit the European festival circuit this summer, with the band's set lists comprised of requests made online by fans attending each date. One slot at each night's show will be reserved for a new tune.
02 min read

METALLICA’s HAMMETT: Other Than Our Fans, No One Else Was Interested In ‘Through The Never’ Movie

Manos Spanos
METALLICA's 2013 IMAX 3D concert film, "Metallica Through The Never", arrived on DVD, Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, video on demand and digital on Tuesday (January 28) through the band's own Blackened Recordings label. The $18 million film, which combined concert footage with a fictional narrative, made less than $4 million in its initial U.S. box office run last fall. Guitarist Kirk Hammett admitted he was disappointed that it didn't do better. "You know, I really, really felt that we had put our all into this movie," he told The Pulse Of Radio. "I mean, we spent a lot of time making it, we spent a lot of time editing it in post-production and making sure that it was exactly what we wanted it to be. We spent a lot of time making sure it sounded up to par with, you know, all our other stuff. And, you know, it's just amazing because other than our fans, no one else was interested in the movie. [laughs]." Although METALLICA expects to start working on its 10th studio album soon, drummer Lars Ulrich has all but ruled out any chance of the disc arriving in 2014. At the Grammy Awards last Sunday (January 25), Ulrich was first asked whether METALLICA plans to make another movie. He replied, "One at a time. The next thing we have to give birth to is another record, so that's the focus for '14 and '15." Asked when fans might get to hear the new disc, Ulrich added, "I would say definitely not before '15." METALLICA's last all-new album, "Death Magnetic", came out in September 2008. Ulrich said that making the "Through The Never" movie re-energized METALLICA's creativity, explaining, "[Working on the film] gave us a chance to experience a whole other way of being creative and having a creative outlet. We were very inspired by making that [movie], and now we're energized to make a record. The film was fun, but it's all about the next record." METALLICA will hit the European festival circuit this summer, with the band's set lists comprised of requests made online by fans attending each date. One slot at each night's show will be reserved for a new tune.
02 min read

METALLICA’s ROBERT TRUJILLO: It Was Our Manager’s Dream For Us To Connect Musically With LANG LANG

Manos Spanos
The four members of METALLICA were interviewed by Fuse News senior contributing correspondent Jack Osbourne (Ozzy Osbourne's son) on the red carpet at the 56th annual Grammy Awards, which was held last night (January 26) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. You can watch the chat below. Asked how METALLICA's performance of its classic song "One" with Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang at last night's ceremony came about, METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett said: "Lang Lang is the Grammy ambassador to China, and that had a lot with us hooking up with him." METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo added: "And one of our managers, his dream, as well, was for us to unite and connect with him musically, with Lang Lang." Prior to last night's show, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told Artisan News about playing with Lang Lang: "He's a very talented musician, he's a very dynamic musician, he projects himself very well. I mean, when he plays, he's really full of energy and he's got a lot of kind of showmanship and kind of energy that protrudes off the stage and right into people's hearts and souls. So I would like to think that it's a good collaboration." METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett told Rolling Stone that the band's performance at the Grammy Awards would be "completely insane." He explained, "Lang Lang has interjected himself into the song in a way I don't think anyone else has ever done in the course of our career. He's going to be playing major parts of the song. He's going to be playing through the melody." Hammett told The Pulse Of Radio that the song's arrangement highlighted Lang Lang's playing without changing the song. "We're not lightening up the song just for him," he said. "We're still hanging onto all the heavy parts and it's gonna be amazing. He's just an amazing pianist, and at one point he's going to be, like, weaving in and out of my guitar solo and playing parts of my guitar solo with me. That's gonna be interesting. I've never, ever experienced that ever before with anyone we've ever played with." "One" was the first single released from METALLICA's 1988 album "…And Justice For All", becoming the first song from the band to gain substantial commercial radio airplay. It was also the basis for the first music video the group ever did. METALLICA's feature film "Metallica Through The Never" will be released tomorrow (Tuesday, January 28) on Blu-ray, 3-D Blu-ray, DVD and digital. The film came out last September in 3D IMAX but earned less than $4 million in its U.S. box
03 min read

Video: METALLICA Performs ‘One’ With Chinese Pianist LANG LANG

Manos Spanos
METALLICA played its classic song "One" with Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang earlier tonight (Sunday, January 26) at the 56th annual Grammy Awards. Video footage of the performance can be seen below. During the rehearsals for tonight's show, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich spoke to Artisan News about playing with Lang Lang and how it feels to be back in primetime at the awards. "It's been 22 years, I do believe [since we last performed at the Grammys], so we're excited to be back," he said. "That's a long time to be away from anything, so we've got a lot of energy stored up that we're ready to unleash. "Obviously, the Grammys are mostly about mashups, and so we're doing a very cool one with our new best friend, which is the worldwide renowned pianist Lang Lang." Speaking about the collaboration with Lang Lang, Ulrich said: "Well, I would like to think that on a broader scale that music is music. We have a tendency in METALLICA to not look much beyond that in terms of definitions. But, obviously, he's a very talented musician, he's a very dynamic musician, he projects himself very well. I mean, when he plays, he's really full of energy and he's got a lot of kind of showmanship and kind of energy that protrudes off the stage and right into people's hearts and souls. So I would like to think that it's a good collaboration." METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett told Rolling Stone that the band's performance at the Grammy Awards would be "completely insane." He explained, "Lang Lang has interjected himself into the song in a way I don't think anyone else has ever done in the course of our career. He's going to be playing major parts of the song. He's going to be playing through the melody." Hammett told The Pulse Of Radio that the song's arrangement highlighted Lang Lang's playing without changing the song. "We're not lightening up the song just for him," he said. "We're still hanging onto all the heavy parts and it's gonna be amazing. He's just an amazing pianist, and at one point he's going to be, like, weaving in and out of my guitar solo and playing parts of my guitar solo with me. That's gonna be interesting. I've never, ever experienced that ever before with anyone we've ever played with." "One" was the first single released from METALLICA's 1988 album "…And Justice For All", becoming the first song from the band to gain substantial commercial radio airplay. It was also the basis for the first music video the group ever did. Hammett told Rolling Stone that METALLICA has recorded a demo of "One" with Lang Lang's contributions on it.
02 min read

METALLICA To Start Working On New Album ‘In A Couple Of Weeks’

Manos Spanos
METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett tells Billboard.com that the band will start working on the follow-up to 2008's "Death Magnetic" "in a couple of weeks. When we start, that's going to be our main priority, and we're pretty excited about it because we've been saying we need to start working on this album, but we've been procrastinating greatly with it," he says. "We've pretty much come up with every sort of excuse we can not to start work on the album, but we've run out of excuses, so we pretty much have to start work on it now." According to Hammett, there is no shortage of ideas for METALLICA's next CD, with the guys reportedly having met up twice in the last few months to cook up some tasty riffs in the studio. "We're a band that never has a shortage of ideas," Hammett says. "You hear about these bands that are sitting in the studio and they don't have any songs, what are they gonna do? That's not METALLICA. METALLICA's problem is the total opposite. We have too many ideas. James [Hetfield, guitar/vocals] has, like, 800 ideas. I have 400. Those number alone are just crazy. That's formidable." METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich acknowledged in an interview with U.K.'s Kerrang! magazine that the band's next studio album is unlikely to arrive before 2015 at the earliest. The drummer explained: "Obviously, there are a lot of people asking where the next record is. We're going to make another record, but like I said before, we don't really feel this kind of… what's the word? I guess 'responsibility' is probably the right word. We don't feel this inherent responsibility to just churn out records whenever people want them. [Adopts a sarcastic voice] 'I'm sorry! Let me slap myself on the wrists and go make a record for you!' We'll get 'round to it again." Asked about a possible release date for METALLICA's next CD, Ulrich replied: "Actually, we know the date… no, we don't! If I was betting on this, I would say 2015 — that's where my money is. So if you think of the actual age of this planet, if it's been 75 billion years since dinosaurs walked the Earth or whatever, then one year is basically a blink of an eye, right?" Ulrich also spoke about METALLICA's mindset going into the songwriting phase for the band's next album. He explained: "The only thing I can tell you is that there seems to be a consensus in the band that [2008's] 'Death Magnetic' was a really good record that we're proud of, that had good legs on it — meaning that it still sounds really rocking five years later. And I can tell you that with most of the previous METALLICA records, I found any faults, I had any issues with them way, way sooner than five years. So the stuff that we've been jamming on is certainly not a million miles removed from where we left off from 'Death Magnetic'. But two years from now, when I sit and talk to you about the new record, it'll probably be a different story from the six-year-old looking for the ice cream shop."
03 min read

METALLICA To Perform With Pianist LANG LANG At GRAMMY AWARDS

Manos Spanos
METALLICA will share the stage with renowned concert pianist Lang Lang during the 56th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, January 26. Says METALLICA: "We're honored to be asked back to the Grammys to perform... "It's been 22 years since the last time we hit the stage at the annual awards show! "This performance will be truly special with Lang Lang, who has appeared on stages all over the world including the opening ceremonies at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, a White House state dinner, World Cup ceremonies, and the Nobel Prize concert in Stockholm among many other acclaimed appearances. "We are also very proud that the 'Through The Never' soundtrack has been nominated for a Grammy for 'Best Recording Package' and we're hoping for another win for our friends from Turner Duckworth, who also designed the 'Death Magnetic' art and took home the mini gramophone in 2009." The 56th annual Grammy Awards will take place at the Los Angeles Staples Center and will be broadcast live at 8:00 p.m. ET on CBS. METALLICA will head into the studio in early 2014 to begin work on its 10th studio album. The band will emerge next summer for a European tour on which each night's set list will be chosen online by fans attending the gig. The band's traditional 18-song set will include the 17 top voted songs along with a brand new track. The tour, dubbed the "Metallica by Request" tour, will kick off on May 28 at the Sonisphere festival in Helsinki, Finland and travel across Europe through July 11.
01 min read

METALLICA’s KIRK HAMMETT To Perform With EXODUS And DEATH ANGEL At ‘Fear FestEviL’

Manos Spanos
Lifelong horror enthusiast and METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett will host his first annual horror convention, dubbed Kirk Von Hammett's Fear FestEviL, on February 6-8, 2014 at The Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, California. The three-day event will include musical performances by Nuclear Blast artists EXODUS, CARCASS, DEATH ANGEL and ORCHID. In addition to hosting the convention, Hammett will join EXODUS and DEATH ANGEL for their encores. Says EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt: "EXODUS is stoked as fuck to announce that none other than Kirk Von Hammett himself will be jamming with us during our encore at Fear FestEviL! What song? Hmm, that remains to be seen! I guess you will have to be there to find out!" Hammett's relationship with DEATH ANGEL goes back more than two decades, when the METALLICA guitarist produced DEATH ANGEL's 1986 demo, "Kill As One". Hammett was a member of EXODUS' original lineup before replacing Dave Mustaine in METALLICA in 1983. In fact, Hammett was not only the person who came up with the EXODUS name, but also the first from the band to meet original EXODUS singer Paul Baloff and brought him into the group. Visit www.FEARFESTEviL.com for the latest information on horror's newest and coolest fan convention. In 2012, Hammett released "Too Much Horror Business - The Kirk Hammett Collection", an oversized 228-page hardback book documenting his love of all things related to the horror genre and features more than 300 photos of items from the collection of horror memorabilia he has accumulated over the years. The book also included three lengthy interviews with Hammett, who also wrote the captions for many of the photos. Hammett told the San Francisco Chronicle, "I've been into [horror] stuff since I was five years old . . . My love for this stuff is insane and totally obsessive-compulsive. It's just one of those things. I'm still waiting to outgrow it or get tired of it or get bored with it. But it does not seem to happen." Hammett, who has been collecting items and watching horror movies since he was a child, told Loudwire why he thinks the genre is so popular. He explained, "They're just fun. They're a fun experience. It's not unlike a roller coaster ride, you know? A good horror movie should have peaks and valleys, a good horror movie should move you emotionally, a good horror movie should be exciting to watch and energizing in a weird kind of way . . . horror movies deliver that." Hammett added, "I've always been attracted to the darker things in life. I was never one to go for light, airy stuff, even as a child. My whole aesthetic has always been one of the darker side. That rings true also in my tastes in music." Asked to name his favorite horror films, Hammett mentioned movies like 1932's "The Mummy" and a '70s low-budget cheesefest called "Dracula Vs. Frankenstein" before saying, "To me, it's just endless. I think about certain movies and I think, 'Oh, that's my favorite.' Then I think about others and I say, 'No, that's my favorite.' It's so difficult for me." Hammett has hosted Kirk's Crypt, a haunted house stocked with posters, film props, vintage comics and custom guitars, at the first two installments of the Orion Music + More festival, a music and lifestyle festival created
03 min read

METALLICA: Official HD Footage Of Entire Antarctica Concert

Manos Spanos
METALLICA has made the band's entire historic "Freeze 'Em All" concert in Antarctica available for viewing on the group's official YouTube channel. Check it out below. The 10-song show, which is availble for digital purchase at METALLICA's official web site, took place at an Argentinean base on the world's southernmost continent, with a small audience of fans in attendance and hearing the show through headphones. METALLICA played one of the first rock concerts ever staged in Antarctica, and became the only band to ever perform on all seven continents in one year. METALLICA's setlist was as follows: 01. Creeping Death 02. For Whom The Bell Tolls 03. Sad But True 04. Welcome Home (Sanitarium) 05. Master Of Puppets 06. One 07. Blackened 08. Nothing Else Matters 09. Enter Sandman 10. Seek & Destroy METALLICA will head into the studio in early 2014 to begin work on its 10th studio album. The band will emerge next summer for a European tour on which each night's set list will be chosen online by fans attending the gig. The band's traditional 18-song set will include the 17 top voted songs along with a brand new track. The tour, dubbed the "Metallica by Request" tour, will kick off on May 28 at the Sonisphere festival in Helsinki, Finland and travel across Europe through July 11.
01 min read

METALLICA Drummer Nervous About Letting Fans Pick Set List

Manos Spanos
According to The Pulse Of Radio, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told BBC Radio One that he's nervous about letting fans select the band's set list for each night on its European tour next summer. Ulrich, who usually writes the set list, explained, "It certainly gives me butterflies in the stomach in a good way and I think it should be a lot of fun for the fans. This at least puts a stop to the whining about the set list because it's basically the fans that are picking it.” Starting about 10 years ago, METALLICA began changing its set list nightly, with Ulrich telling The Pulse Of Radio a while back that it keeps the show fresh. "When we started the 'St. Anger' touring cycle, we started just changing the set every night," he said. "Up through the Nineties, we got a little stuck, and it got a little rigid, and we would go out and play the same set list for six months every night. So we're really trying to just play different stuff every night. It's pretty cool." Fans who purchase tickets online to the European dates will be invited to vote on the set list METALLICA will play at their show, choosing from close to 140 recorded songs. The band's traditional 18-song set will include the 17 top voted songs along with a brand new track. Ulrich added that he's excited to play a new song during the tour, saying, "Since 2014 is basically about the next METALLICA record and we're so excited about writing and getting all that off the ground that it only is right to bring a new song out there. Obviously we haven't quite figured out what that's gonna be, but as we get a little closer, hopefully we'll come up with something cool." The tour, dubbed the "Metallica By Request" tour, will kick off on May 28 at the Sonisphere festival in Helsinki, Finland and travel across Europe through July 11.
02 min read