KIRK HAMMETT Says METALLICA Is Working On Secret Project

METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett revealed to RollingStone.com in a brand new interview that the band will head back into the studio in May to begin a new project. "We want to record it in two weeks," Hammett said. "We had planned on doing it in March, but we pushed it back to May. I don't want to give too much away, but it's not really 100 percent a METALLICA record. It's a recording project, let's put it that way. Without getting too deep into it, it's more a recording project than a bona fide METALLICA album. Whether or not we can pull it off in just two weeks remains to be seen."

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich hinted in an interview that the band plans to enter the studio this spring and begin working on material for its 10th album. Ulrich first told The Pulse Of Radio that the group was thinking of getting back to work in "March or April" and made similar comments to Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet, telling the paper, "In the past, we would be fed up with METALLICA whenever we returned home after a gigantic world tour, but this time it's different."

Ulrich told The Pulse Of Radio that the band is having such a good time lately that it doesn't want to take several years off between records like before. "Sometimes after these marathon tours that we go on, we end up really needing some time away. But right now there's such a good vibe in the band — everybody's just really having a good time, appreciating each other, appreciating METALLICA, that I don't think it's gonna be a year," he said. "My best guess would be we'll probably get back to it in the springtime, start piecing some riffs together, play some songs, have some fun, kind of approach it without sort of real deadlines or any of that type of stuff."

METALLICA's turmoil during the early 2000s was well-documented in the film "Some Kind Of Monster", but Ulrich told the Danish paper that the band members' relationship has changed over the years. He explained, "It helps our relationships that we've all got families and children and they all get along with each other. We really like each other at the moment. There were a few years when things were really bad . . . the fact that we have something to talk about other than tonight's setlist is or if someone made a mistake during yesterday's show makes a big difference."

Although the band has cut back on its touring schedule, it still played more than 200 shows in 45 countries in support of 2008's "Death Magnetic" album. Ulrich said, "Of course it's still hard to play that many shows, but the older you get, the less you take success for granted . . . It's awesome that a bunch if semi-old farts like us can still travel around the world and thousands of people wanna share that experience with us."

METALLICA will next headline the "Big Four" concert on April 23 at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, California, also featuring SLAYER, ANTHRAX and MEGADETH.

The single U.S. date is the result of popular demand after the four bands went on a wildly successful seven-date European run last year, with more shows possible.