METALLICA Drummer Says 'Death Magnetic' Still Sounds Great Two Years After Release

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich was recently interviewed by Andrew Haug of Triple J's "The Racket" (which airs in Australia). Listen to the program in streaming audio at the Triple J web site: Windows Media, Real Media (NOTE: The first part of the Ulrich interview begins around the 44-minute mark). Check out the program's entire playlist at this location. The interview can also be streamed in four parts below.

On how he feels about METALLICA's "Death Magnetic" album two years after its release:

Ulrich: "I'm hard-pressed to think of a METALLICA record that has lasted as long in the positive department. 'Death Magnetic''s had a good lifespan. We finished it about two and a half years ago. I cranked a couple of songs in my car when I was home last time — a couple, three, four songs — and it still sounds... I mean, it's got great energy, it's really in your face, and it's kind of just nutty and lively and cool. A lot of the earlier METALLICA records we would always find faults with very quickly after you let them go or give them to a record company or release them or whatever, but 'Death Magnetic' is still viewed upon with a very much positive kind of vibe."

On the criticism that METALLICA's new album, "Death Magentic", is over-compressed: The music lacks dynamic range, and is marred further by harsh digital clipping, an undesirable noise introduced during mastering:

Ulrich: "We do what we can. We try to make it as good as we can. We're not perfect. There seems to be some fine lines when it comes to this type of stuff. [laughs] You sit there and go, 'OK, let's turn it up as loud as possible,' and then when you turn it up as loud as possible, then somebody gets a fucking hernia over that. And so you can never quite figure it all out. Obviously, when you listen to tiny, little earbud headphones or whatever on an MP3, compressed type of device, it's got a little bit of a different vibe than if you listen to a big, kick-ass home stereo. I think people always find something, and we try to just do the best we can on all fronts. And that one may have slipped... We may have turned it up to... Is 11 the cliché? We may have turned it up to 12."

Interview Part 1:

Interview Part 2:

Interview Part 3:

Interview Part 4:

METALLICA released a live album called "Live At Grimey's" this past Friday, November 26. The set was recorded on June 12, 2008 at the tiny 150-capacity venue The Basement, located below the Grimey's New & Preloved Music record store in Nashville. The intimate gig was a warm-up for the band's debut at the Bonnaroo Festival that same weekend.

"Live At Grimey's" is being sold as a standard CD and as a limited edition two-disc vinyl set in a gatefold sleeve.

The album is being sold only at the approximately 700 independent record stores that support the annual Record Store Day, held each year in April.

METALLICA has just completed its touring cycle behind 2008's "Death Magnetic" album with shows in Australia and New Zealand.