New Album Discussion

I asked Hammett why Metallica takes so long between records. Granted, the albums are long and there are non-LP tracks all around, but still, in 40 years, the band have 10 albums.

“Yeah, you know, it’s not getting any quicker, too,” answers Hammett, with an audible sigh. “It’s just like, we have a way of working. We have a process that unfortunately takes a long time. It’s just the way we work, the way it is, the way it works as a band. And I’ve grown to accept that. You know, putting out Portals is great for me because it kind of frees me up from that schedule. I can come up with a few tracks, record them and put them out, and I can do it on a completely different time schedule from the band. And that’s great because it doesn’t seem to get in the way of the band’s schedule because, like I say, we move at our own pace.”