METALLICA's KIRK HAMMETT To Perform With EXODUS And DEATH ANGEL At 'Fear FestEviL'

Lifelong horror enthusiast and METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett will host his first annual horror convention, dubbed Kirk Von Hammett's Fear FestEviL, on February 6-8, 2014 at The Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, California. The three-day event will include musical performances by Nuclear Blast artists EXODUS, CARCASS, DEATH ANGEL and ORCHID.

In addition to hosting the convention, Hammett will join EXODUS and DEATH ANGEL for their encores.

Says EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt: "EXODUS is stoked as fuck to announce that none other than Kirk Von Hammett himself will be jamming with us during our encore at Fear FestEviL! What song? Hmm, that remains to be seen! I guess you will have to be there to find out!"

Hammett's relationship with DEATH ANGEL goes back more than two decades, when the METALLICA guitarist produced DEATH ANGEL's 1986 demo, "Kill As One".

Hammett was a member of EXODUS' original lineup before replacing Dave Mustaine in METALLICA in 1983. In fact, Hammett was not only the person who came up with the EXODUS name, but also the first from the band to meet original EXODUS singer Paul Baloff and brought him into the group.

Visit www.FEARFESTEviL.com for the latest information on horror's newest and coolest fan convention.

In 2012, Hammett released "Too Much Horror Business - The Kirk Hammett Collection", an oversized 228-page hardback book documenting his love of all things related to the horror genre and features more than 300 photos of items from the collection of horror memorabilia he has accumulated over the years. The book also included three lengthy interviews with Hammett, who also wrote the captions for many of the photos.

Hammett told the San Francisco Chronicle, "I've been into [horror] stuff since I was five years old . . . My love for this stuff is insane and totally obsessive-compulsive. It's just one of those things. I'm still waiting to outgrow it or get tired of it or get bored with it. But it does not seem to happen."

Hammett, who has been collecting items and watching horror movies since he was a child, told Loudwire why he thinks the genre is so popular. He explained, "They're just fun. They're a fun experience. It's not unlike a roller coaster ride, you know? A good horror movie should have peaks and valleys, a good horror movie should move you emotionally, a good horror movie should be exciting to watch and energizing in a weird kind of way . . . horror movies deliver that."

Hammett added, "I've always been attracted to the darker things in life. I was never one to go for light, airy stuff, even as a child. My whole aesthetic has always been one of the darker side. That rings true also in my tastes in music."

Asked to name his favorite horror films, Hammett mentioned movies like 1932's "The Mummy" and a '70s low-budget cheesefest called "Dracula Vs. Frankenstein" before saying, "To me, it's just endless. I think about certain movies and I think, 'Oh, that's my favorite.' Then I think about others and I say, 'No, that's my favorite.' It's so difficult for me."

Hammett has hosted Kirk's Crypt, a haunted house stocked with posters, film props, vintage comics and custom guitars, at the first two installments of the Orion Music + More festival, a music and lifestyle festival created by METALLICA and their friends at C3 Presents.