ackground

In October 2011, bassist Robert Trujillo said that the band had returned to the studio to begin
writing new material. He said: "The writing process for the new Metallica album has begun.
We've been in the studio with Rick Rubin, working on a couple of things, and we're going to be
recording during most of next year".[1] In an interview with Classic Rock on January 8,
2013, Lars Ulrich said regarding the album, "What we're doing now certainly sounds like a
continuation [of Death Magnetic]". He also said, "I love Rick [Rubin]. We all love Rick. We're in
touch with Rick constantly. We'll see where it goes. It would stun me if the record came out in
2013".[2] In a July 2013 interview, Ulrich told Ultimate Guitar, "2014 will be all about making a
new Metallica record"; he said the album would most likely be released during 2015. [3] Trujillo
and Kirk Hammett later confirmed the band's intention to enter the studio. [4]
In March 2014, Metallica began a tour called "Metallica By Request", in which fans requested
songs for the band to perform,[5] and a new song, titled "Lords of Summer", was written for the
concerts and released as a "first take" demo in March 2014.[6] A Black Fridayexclusive single
featuring the "First Pass Version" and a live version limited to 4,000 copies was released later
that year onvinyl.[citation needed] In March 2015, Ulrich told Rolling Stone that twenty songs had been
written for the album, and that he hoped some of them could be played at their shows later in
the year.[7] In October 2015, the band unveiled a new website with an introduction from Ulrich
containing footage from the studio of the band working on new material. [8] In November,
Hammett said that the album was expected to be released in late 2016 or early 2017. [9]
On February 6, 2016, during their "The Night Before" show at AT&T Park prior to Super Bowl
50, James Hetfield said that the band was nearing the end of the recording process, and Ulrich
said that the album would be released soon.[10] Ulrich further elaborated in March 2016 when he
said that the band hoped to finish production of the album during the spring. "I think [2016] will
be a pretty in-your-face year, at least the back half of it... hopefully we should be able to knock
that on the head (finishing the album) this spring, I would guess". [11] In March 2016, Hammett
said that the band had worked with Greg Fidelman, who engineered and mixed Death
Magnetic, as producer on the new album. "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.[12]
In April 2016, during the week leading up to Record Store Day, for which the band was its
ambassador for 2016, Ulrich told Billboard that the band's expanded role within the music
industry had played a part in the amount of time that it had taken to write and record the album.
"The way we do things now is very different than the way we did things back in the days of Kill

'Em All and Ride the Lightning. Nowadays we like to do so many different things." Ulrich was
also optimistic that production of the album had almost reached its completion. "Unless
something radical happens it would be difficult for me to believe that it won't come out in 2016".
[13]

In May 2016, Ulrich said in an interview withMetal Forces that the album would be released

in the summer of 2016, and that details for the new album would be finalised in the next month.
"If the record doesn't come out this year then it won't be because its not done... it will be
because there's some sort of cosmic reason that it would be smarter to hold onto it until next
year. But the record will be done this summer.[14]
In a live Facebook event on August 18, Lars Ulrich said the album will be released in
November 2016 and will contain 12 tracks. According to the announcement on the band's
website, the CD version of the album will contain two discs with six tracks each, and that the
album contains over 80 minutes of new music.[15] Metallica released their first single
"Hardwired" on August 18, 2016; those who pre-order the album through the band's official
website will receive an instant download of the song.[16] The music video was released on
YouTube on the same day.[17]

Track listing
All lyrics by James Hetfield.

Disc One
No
.

Title

1. "Hardwired"

Music
Hetfield, Lars Ulrich

Length
3:08

2. "Atlas, Rise!"
3. "Now That We're Dead"
4. "Moth into Flame"
5. "Am I Savage?"
6. "Halo on Fire"

Disc Two
No
.

Title

1. "Confusion"
2. "Dream No More"
3. "ManUNkind"

Length

4. "Here Comes Revenge"

5. "Murder One"
6. "Spit Out the Bone"