Metallica: ‘Our album is taking ages because we keep analysing everything’

Metallica have given an update on the progress of their new album and forthcoming 3D movie.

The metal titans, who have not released an album for five years, have revealed it is taking longer than usual because they’re constantly analysing their material. Bassist Robert Trujillo told Billboard: “The work ethic is super, super strong, and that’s what takes us longer than other bands, because we’re sitting there and sometimes we’re really analysing things. I mean, for every one lyric, [James] Hetfield has, like three lyric possibilities. But I can tell you this; the grooves and the riffs that are already on the radar are really, really awesome. We’ve still got more riffs to go through and jam out and throw into the process, but we’re getting there, and we’ll have something great, hopefully, in the next year.”

Hetfield added: “We got out into the room and jammed and we’ve come up with enough material for a record, for sure. We’ve gone through maybe one-tenth of the material that’s on our riffs CDs. We’ve got enough for an album, we just haven’t had enough time to really focus on it and dial in and start whittling it into these masterpieces, hopefully. I want it done yesterday.”

The frontman also gave an update on their forthcoming 3-D movie Metallica – Through The Never. “The film is not done, but we’re extremely close,” Hetfield explained. “There’s editing, dialing, sounds, mixing, things like that that have to happen. But it’s pretty complex. It’s like three movies in one. So there’s a lot of different dynamics happening within this movie, and every time we go and see it and tweak here and there. It’s like putting a song together – only it’s a little more expensive. It’s pretty scary but it’s been something on our radar for awhile. It’s become more unique than we ever though it would.”

The project is an unusual hybrid of concert movie and fictional feature film. Actor Dane DeHaan, best known for Chronicle, plays a crew member who gets given an urgent mission during a gig – with life-changing results. The movie was written and directed by Nimród Antal, whose previous credits include 2010’s Predators.

Source: NME