METALLICA's KIRK HAMMETT Talks To Norway's VG TV; Video Available

METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett was interviewed by Norway's VG TV on Tuesday (July 10) prior to the band's headlining performance in Oslo. Watch the seven-and-half-minute unedited question-and-answer session at VG.no.

As previously reported, NME TV sat down for a chat with Kirk Hammett on Sunday, July 8 prior to the band's sold-out concert at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Watch the 10-minute interview at YouTube.

When asked how work is progressing on METALLICA's long-awaited new album, Hammett said, "It's coming along fairly well. We wrote 22 songs with the intention of recording 12 or 14, with the intention of putting maybe nine or ten on the new album, depending on how they all turn out once they're all finally recorded and mixed and done. The music is really heavy — surprise, surprise — very, very progressive; different from anything we've ever done before again. Yes, there are guitar solos. Yes, the production will be slightly better. We're using [producer] Rick Rubin [SLIPKNOT, AUDIOSLAVE, SLAYER, SYSTEM OF A DOWN, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS]. We're not recording in HQ [the band's rehearsal studio/headquarters in San Rafael, California]; we're recording down in L.A. at a place called Sound City. And we're just about to finish the drums, the drumming aspect of it. And when we get back to the States, that's when Rob [Trujillo, bass], James [Hetfield, guitar/vocals] and I start playing our instruments and building tracks. We're all pretty psyched about it. The material, we feel, is very, very strong. I like that to think that it sits somewhere between '…And Justice For All' and the 'black' album — that little niche right there. And like I said, again, it's very, very different.

"We're actually shooting for an early 2008 release. I would be extremely surprised if it comes out sooner than that. But I would be extremely disappointed if it came out later than that, let's just say."

A soundboard recording of METALLICA's new track, tentatively dubbed "The Other New Song", recorded during the band's appearance on June 29, 2007 at the Bilbao BBK Live festival in in Bilbao, Spain has been posted at YouTube. METALLICA previously played the same track live on August 15, 2006 at Seoul Olympic Main Stadium in Seoul, South Korea (watch professionally filmed video footage with soundboard audio at this location).

A high-quality video clip of METALLICA performing the "first" new song during their headlining appearance at the Gelredome in Arnhem, Holland on June 8, 2006 as part of their "Escape From The Studio '06" European tour is available at YouTube.