Metallica New Album Progress: There's a 'Little Bit of Movement,' Says Lars Ulrich

Metallica New Album Progress: There’s a ‘Little Bit of Movement,’ Says Lars Ulrich

2021-02-02

Metallica press photo, featuring James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo.

Metallica – Story by Cat Badra, photo by Ross Halfin

Lars Ulrich of Metallica says the band is making “a little bit of movement” on their new album, but progress is slow

With bands unable to perform on major tours right now due to the pandemic, Metallica fans have been hoping the metal men would use the downtime to work on their upcoming album, which will mark their follow-up to 2016’s “Hardwired…to Self-Destruct.” Now, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich says that while the band is making some progress on the new tunes, it’s slow.

When asked by Classic Rock magazine about the status of a new Metallica record, Ulrich answered that progress is “glacial,” adding, “These are the craziest of times and nothing is letting up. There’s a little bit of movement (in that direction), but it’s hard to do a lot when we’re not together.”

In other Metallica news, original bass player Ron McGovney recently shared an image of the band’s first business card, dating back to 1982, via Twitter of Metallica’s first-ever business card with the world. This, of course, was before Metallica became one of the biggest metal bands in the world with 1991’s self-titled release, dubbed “The Black Album.” It was even before the release of Metallica’s debut album, 1983’s “Kill ‘Em All.”

The Metallica business card features the band’s logo, which has remained consistent over the years, with the words “Power Metal” underneath it. The card also features a phone number to call, which McGovney says was actually the phone number for his bedroom back in in 1979.

“I moved to our rental house two doors down in 1981 and took the number with me,” McGovney explained in a tweet, along with the photo of the business card. “That house was where Metallica started. I lived in a condo 1983-1987 and had that same number.”

McGovney was a member of Metallica until 1982, when Cliff Burton joined the band as their bass player. Burton performed played on Metallica’s first three studio albums and passed away in a tragic bus accident in 1986. Jason Newsted replaced Burton on bass guitar and left the band in 2001. Robert Trujillo joined Metallica in 2003 and has been in the band ever since.

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Anne Erickson

Meet the expert - Author, writer and editor Anne Erickson is a Detroit-based music reporter and radio host. She has written for the USA Today Network, Consequence.net, Blabbermouth.net, Loudwire.com and many more. Anne holds a master's degree from Michigan State University. Contact Anne at anne@audioinkradio.com.