Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett hooked up with Altpress.com for a chat that covered his guitar pedals and more, while also shining some light on the new Metallica album. As a result of the discussion, we have what looks to be an official confirmation of the album’s producer—that being Greg Fidelman (Slayer, Slipknot). His involvement should come as no surprise, given that he was also involved with the band’s previous album “Death Magnetic“, as well as their much-derided “Lulu” album with Lou Reed. Hammett offered of the new album sessions:
“We’re pretty much doing it with Greg Fidelman. He is in the mix. As far as what the final outcome will be, I don’t know. We have not brought in any [other] producer and it looks extremely [unlikely] we’d bring one in this late into the project.”
He further explained that the producer title however is an ambiguous role with the band:
“The title “producer” itself is a bit ambiguous. It differs from person to person. You can call Rick Rubin a producer, but he’s not the [same] type of producer as Bob Rock, who is there for every note. At the same time, Rick Rubin gets stuff done. Greg Fidelman is a different type of producer in that he’s with the engineer always looking to try and move the project forward. And that’s different from, say, Dr. Dre, who is the type of producer who is actually making backing tracks, producing music, writing music. In the hip-hop world, Dre is a producer. It’s so ambiguous. If you go by the traditional term, we’re doing it with Greg, pretty much.
He continued:
“If you ask Greg what the hardest part is about recording Metallica, he’ll say each guy’s schedule. Hey, for us, life has its demands. We’re trying to make an album and go on tour, trying to be a band, but we all recognize that if someone has a family situation, that takes priority over everything. That’s another reason why [the new album] is taking so long. That’s another obstacle for Greg Fidelman. He’s always joking about it, but it really takes a lot of, like, you know, tap dancing and juggling.”
In other news, Hammett is apparently ready to give it another shot in the movie business:
“I want to make a movie. And I’ll make a movie right away, just as long as someone else is paying for it. The one thing I’ve learned about making movies is that it’s always better if someone else is paying for it [Laughs.]. Give me $30 million and I’ll give you a killer movie! I’ll tell you this much: [this] month, I start writing my script. If it’s good or bad, I’ll let you know.”
