Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett has been firing on all cylinders lately it would seem. In addition to release an book, ‘The Collection” Kirk Hammett‘, which features storytelling and a look through his sprawling collection of prized guitars, the 62-year-old thrash metal icon is also working on his first solo album and stockpiling riffs for Metallica‘s eventual twelfth full-length outing.
In a newly published interview with Rolling Stone, Hammett, who infamously lost some 250 riff ideas on his phone over a decade ago now, has been stockpiling ideas for the follow-up to “72 Seasons“. He said of that:
“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.”
Hammett has also been making some headway with his first solo album. Back in 2022, the revered metal musician and wah-wah enthusiast dipped his toes into solo waters with the release of his EP “Portals“. While he opted to remain instrumental on that first outing, this next offering will likely include some vocals. He relayed of that:
“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.”
Later in the chat he revealed that he finds the idea of Metallica now revisiting their at the time controversial 90s reinvention an intriguing proposition. He stated of the band possibly revisiting that era:
“Who knows? We might just say, ‘Okay, let’s go back to the Nineties again. It’s not a bad idea! We haven’t said that to each other yet. And it’s interesting because when ‘Load‘ and ‘Reload‘ came out, there was a lot of backlash. But nowadays I run into fans and they love that era. We play ‘Fuel’ and people go nuts. We play ‘Until It Sleeps’ and people know every word.
It’s kind of like how when I was a teenager, I listened to all the Zeppelin albums except ‘Zeppelin III‘ because it was more acoustic and I just wanted the high-energy aggressive stuff. But over time I really came to embrace ‘Zeppelin III‘ and how wonderful it is.”
As the man himself mentioned above, Metallica still have a year’s worth of touring commitments to get through with the following dates currently announced:
04/19 Syracuse, NY – JMA Wireless Dome (feat. Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
04/24 Toronto, ON – Rogers Centre (feat. Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
04/26 Toronto, ON – Rogers Centre (feat. Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
05/01 Nashville, TN – Nissan Stadium (feat. Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
05/03 Nashville, TN – Nissan Stadium (feat. Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
05/07 Blacksburg, VA – Lane Stadium (feat. Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
05/09-11 Columbus OH – Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival
05/23 Philadelphia, PA – Lincoln Financial Field (feat. Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
05/25 Philadelphia, PA – Lincoln Financial Field (feat. Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
05/28 Landover, MD – Northwest Stadium (feat. Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
05/31 Charlotte, NC – Bank Of America Stadium (feat. Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
06/03 Atlanta, GA – Mercedes-Benz Stadium (feat. Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
06/06 Tampa, FL – Raymond James Stadium (feat. Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
06/08 Tampa, FL – Raymond James Stadium (feat. Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
06/14 Houston, TX – NRG Stadium (feat. Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
06/20 Santa Clara, CA – Levi’s Stadium (feat. Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
06/22 Santa Clara, CA – Levi’s Stadium (feat. Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
06/27 Denver, CO – Empower Field at Mile High (feat. Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
06/29 Denver, CO – Empower Field at Mile High (feat. Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
With Evanescence & Suicidal Tendencies:
11/01 Perth, AUS – Optus Stadium
11/05 Adelaide, AUS – Adelaide Oval
11/08 Melbourne, AUS – Marvel Stadium
11/12 Brisbane, AUS – Suncorp Stadium
11/15 Sydney, AUS – Accor Stadium
11/19 Auckland, NZ – Eden Park
