METALLICA: New Album To Be Produced By RICK RUBIN?

Rumors continue to circulate that METALLICA have finally ended their working relationship with producer Bob Rock and are in talks with Rick Rubin (SYSTEM OF A DOWN, SLIPKNOT, SLAYER, AUDIOSLAVE, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS) about producing the group's next effort, the follow-up to the much-maligned "St. Anger".

It was as far back as last October that the first rumblings of a METALLICA/Rubin collaboration reached BLABBERMOUTH.NET, and the rumors have been gaining strength ever since. Adding fuel to these reports is the fact that Rock is scheduled to spend a good portion of 2006 working on the new CD from MÖTLEY CRÜE, which is expected to surface sometime next year.

In a September 2005 interview with the METALLICA fan club magazine So What!, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich was asked point-blank if Bob Rock's name had been discused for the group's next album.

"I would say that Bob Rock will always be our producer," Ulrich replied. "You know it's almost like default. It's not whether he should produce, it's more whether he shouldn't produce it. So I would expect Bob Rock to produce it unless he's not interested."

In the same interview, Ulrich spoke highly of the most recent albums by SLIPKNOT and SYSTEM OF A DOWN — both of which were produced by Rubin — citing them as particularly inspiring in terms of making him "look forward to paying a little more attention to the sonics" next time around.

METALLICA officially began the songwriting process for their new album late last year and are expected to spend the next few months compiling ideas before entering the final recording stage. A late 2006/early 2007 release via Warner Bros. is expected.