It’s been roughly two years since Metallica released their 11th studio album, 72 Seasons, and the band’s lead guitarist Kirk Hammett says he’s already written more than 700 new riffs for their eventual follow-up.
Speaking to Rolling Stone in a recent interview, Hammett opened up about the foreseeable future of Metallica and explained that it will be “at least another year” before they start seriously working on new music. “I have 767 new ones for the next album,” he said, then adding, “It is such a nightmare going through this stuff, too.”
“I’m the one responsible for all of it and I can’t do it…” Hammett then went on to share. “I don’t foresee us starting the next album for at least another year because we’re still finishing the 72 Seasons tour.”
Metallica’s Kirk Hammett Has Written Over 700 New Riffs for the Band’s Next Album
“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,” he added, “and then we’re gonna get right back into it.”
As far as what the new album might sound like, Hammett very transparently explained: “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,” Hammett said, then offering a personal comparison from his youth. “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.”
Hammett is feeling a lot of “creative momentum” these days
At 62, Hammett gushed that he’s just as energetic about being creative and writing great music as he’s ever been. “I feel like I’m still climbing the summit,” he said. “Haven’t reached the top of the mountain yet. Haven’t reached the capstone of the pyramid. Still going up, man. I still feel like I’m improving and I still have a lot of creative momentum and energy in me.”
In terms of how he pictures Metallica’s long-term future, Hammett confessed: “A lot of it has to do with personal health. I don’t feel like I am winding down. If anything, things are ramping up around me. And I know that I’m not the only band member that feels this way. Lars is in really great shape, too.”
Hammett then concluded: “As long as we have our health and our mind, I think we can just keep on going.”
Metallica kicked off the M72 World Tour in April 2023 and is scheduled to pick it back up in Syracuse, New York next month. The final date of the tour is set for Nov. 19 in Auckland, New Zealand.
The post Kirk Hammett Has Written Over 700 New Riffs for Metallica’s Next Album appeared first on VICE.
