Blackened RecordingsAt long last, Metallica's new album is here. Hardwired...to Self-Destruct, the metal legends' 10th studio album, arrives today.
"I think there is definitely more of a New Wave of British Heavy Metal thing on this record," drummer Lars Ulrich tells Rolling Stone. "It's just a lot of banging riffs and rockin' kinds of moments, as well as some straighter, simpler drumming."
Ulrich says listening to Hardwired...to Self-Destruct -- spanning two discs and nearly 80 minutes long -- is "quite a beating," but he also feels it "may be the most consistent record we've made."
"I think that this record is deep," he says. "I think there's a consistency that runs deeper than usual for us, so I'm pretty psyched about that."
Among the songs on Hardwired...to Self-Destruct include the single "Moth into Flame," the thrashy banger "Hardwired" and "Murder One," which frontman James Hetfield wrote as a tribute to the late Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister.
"James had never really written a song like that or about anybody," Ulrich says of "Murder One." "At first, I was a little taken aback by its directness or its bluntness, because James has a tendency to write very indirect lyrics. Most are very abstract. So it was odd for me in the beginning just how direct it was, but then a couple of things got tweaked and I fell in love with it."
Metallica will play a one-off show in Oakland December 17 before launching a tour through Asia next year in support of Hardwired. Plans for a full U.S. tour are still being "finalized," Ulrich says.
"We are definitely going to cover all of the U.S.," he adds. "And we look forward to getting out and doing a proper U.S. thing again."
Here is the Hardwired...to Self-Destruct track list:
Disc One
"Hardwired"
"Atlas, Rise!"
"Now that We’re Dead"
"Moth into Flame"
"Am I Savage?"
"Halo on Fire"
Disc Two
"Confusion"
"Dream No More"
"ManUNkind"
"Here Comes Revenge"
"Murder One"
"Spit Out the Bone"
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