We all know that Metallica's history is riddled with ridiculous and dramatic events, with the most recent and probably most confusing one being that when Hardwired… to Self Destruct was released back in 2016, it was revealed that lead guitarist Kirk Hammett hadn’t even contributed any material to the album! The album wasn't bad, but being that it was essentially a James Hetfield solo album, it was noticeably lacking of Hammett's touch. In fact, Hammett claimed he'd lost his phone carrying all of this material at an airport at the time. Whoops!
However, Hammett recently revealed to Australia’s Mixdown magazine (transcribed by Loudwire) that he has "a ton" of new material for the new album, one that could quite possibly see a release next year!
“When I was 13-14 years old, bands put out albums every year. Seriously, KISS put out an album every eight months,” he said, scorning, “None of this eight years between albums.”
The guitarist went on to admit, “None of us are very comfortable with the fact it’s been so long, because that is a long time. We’re hoping to avoid that this time around.”
“We’re in our third year since Hardwired,” Hammett continued, taking stock of Metallica’s current situation. “Maybe we can get a bit more focus and go into the studio a bit sooner,” he hoped, revealing, “I have a ton of material. I’ve over-compensated, so I’m ready to go anytime.”
The band's WorldWired Tour looks to be concluding before Thanksgiving this year, which could allow the band to work on new material before the New Year. Could we see a new Metallica album in 2020? It seems likely.