'The Ultimate Metallica' Photos Featured In New Book From ROSS HALFIN - Oct. 14, 2010

Chronicle Books has just released "The Ultimate Metallica" book of photographs by legendary rock photographer Ross Halfin.

Halfin has documented METALLICA for nearly 25 years, from their beginnings as a scrappy, furious garage band to their current status as the heaviest and most popular metal band in the world. Featuring a foreword by METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich and an afterword by guitarist Kirk Hammett, "The Ultimate Metallica" collects the best of Halfin's amazing images, taken over the years with access granted exclusively to him as the band's main lensman. His candid photographs — taken on stage, backstage, on and off tour — are supplemented by text from many people close to the band, including managers and music writers, plus some colorful personal observations from Halfin himself.

Ulrich says of Halfin's work, "He just gets right the fuck in there. . . . Every drop of sweat, every molecule of saliva, every out-of-place nose hair, it all gets captured cuz he's just fucking there."

Ross Halfin has toured with and photographed many bands, including IRON MAIDEN, DEF LEPPARD, KISS, THE CLASH, SEX PISTOLS, and THE WHO. He lives in Surrey, England.

For more information, and to order the book, go to this location.

METALLICA: 'Enter Night - The Biography' Book Due Next Month - Oct. 25, 2010

Renowned British rock journalist Mick Wall will release a new book, "Metallica: Enter Night - The Biography", in hardcover via Orion in the U.K. on November 11.

The book's official description: "Alongside contemporaries SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX, METALLICA came to prominence in the Eighties as one of the 'Big Four' of thrash metal. METALLICA were to thrash, though, what the SEX PISTOLS were to punk. Nearly thirty years on, their tale is one of alcohol, rule breaking and tragically early death. But allied to that are colossal sales figures for their records — they are the fifth-highest selling recording artists of all time — and members with backgrounds that touch on jazz and classical music. METALLICA, in fact, have garnered more critical acclaim than any heavy rock band since LED ZEPPELIN. Fresh from the critical and commercial success of 'When Giants Walked The Earth: A Biography Of Led Zeppelin', Mick Wall takes a similar informed look at the band, a group he has known on and off since their formation in 1981."

Leukemia-Stricken New Zealand Teenager Meets METALLICA - Oct. 31, 2010

According to Bay Of Plenty Times, a 17-year-old fan of METALLICA who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia last September, met all four members of the band this month through the charitable foundation Make-A-Wish New Zealand.

"They told us it was very hard to meet celebrities and that we should be prepared for an alternative wish but Jed knew what he wanted. I was very proud of him," Jed's father, Dean Roberts, said.

He got to meet each of the band members in a backstage room, with guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield staying almost until show time.

"Lars [Ulrich], the drummer, said to Jed, 'I know you might be too sick but how about coming to rehearsal for your own private concert?'" Dean Roberts said.

He had to decline the offer but still went home with autographed guitar picks, drum sticks, DVDs, CDs, books and clothing.

Read the entire article from Bay Of Plenty Times.

METALLICA's ULRICH Talks About 'Am I Evil?' Jam On 'The Kevin & Bean Show' (Audio) - Nov. 4, 2010

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich was interviewed on this morning's (Thursday, November 4) edition of "The Kevin & Bean Show" on the Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM (106.7).

When asked about the historic event that occured when METALLICA was joined onstage by members of MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX during its June 22, 2010 Sonisphere concert in Sofia, Bulgaria for a performance of the DIAMOND HEAD song "Am I Evil?", Ulrich said, "It just seemed like because this thing was being broadcast to a couple of thousand movie theaters around the world and there was such a historical element to this that to get everybody up and play a song together would be cool. So obviously we didn't wanna do a METALLICA song, so we felt that something that would be close to home for everybody would be the song called 'Am I Evil?' by this very influential and inspirational band to all of us called DIAMOND HEAD. And the great thing about 'Am I Evil?' — with no disrespect to [DIAMOND HEAD guitarist] Brian Tatler, who wrote the song — it's sort of like the... call it the 'Smoke Of The Water' of '80s metal songs. It's not the most challenging song to play on the guitar. It was certainly one of the easier songs and in a big stadium of 75,000 people, it sort of translates, sound-wise, to sound probably pretty good. So we got everybody into the tuning room before the show and everybody sort of learned the basics of 'Am I Evil?' and then pretty much all the other musicians in the other three bands came up and joined us. And we had a couple of extra snare drums and some other stuff up there. It was a moment for all of us that grew up together on this scene and for all the fans that grew up with all these bands to see... There's been so much over the years of... The press have been trying to set us up against each other and all this competitive crap and all these ego issues and all this type of stuff. We, the bandmembers, have known that we've all been getting on and have much more love and respect for each other, but I think to the fans, it was important that they got a chance to see that everybody was playing nice in the sandbox, you know what I mean?!"

METALLICA Confirmed For Brazil's ROCK IN RIO Festival - Nov. 9, 2010

METALLICA has issued the following update:

"We know it's pretty nutty to announce a show almost a year in advance . . . certainly not something we've ever done before! However, when we were asked to headline the original Rock in Rio, the one actually in Rio de Janeiro (!!), we just couldn't say 'no.' After playing at other Rock in Rio festivals in Lisbon and Madrid years past, it seemed like it would make for a fun break from whatever (??!!) we might be doing a year from now. So we hope you'll dig up a 2011 calendar and mark off September 25, 2011 for a date with 'TALLICA in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil."

Tickets go on sale on November 19, 2010 only at the Rock in Rio official web site, www.rockinrio.com.br. Other points of sale will be available only after July, 1, 2011.

As previously reported, Brazilian metal acts SEPULTURA and ANGRA have also been confirmed for next year's edition of the Rock In Rio festival, set to take place at the end of September – beginning of October 2011 in "The City Of Rock" in the Olympic Park, in Barra da Tijuca/Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Both bands will perform on the "heavy metal night" of the event, which debuted in 1985 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and had subsequent editions in 1991 and 2001. The first version of the fest featured performances by OZZY OSBOURNE, QUEEN, AC/DC and others. The 2001 edition featured BRITNEY SPEARS, BECK, DAVE MATTHEWS BAND, R.E.M., STING, JAMES TAYLOR and SHERYL CROW.

The Rock In Rio festivals are massive events, drawing millions of people and a diverse roster of local and international artists.

METALLICA's LARS ULRICH: 'I Take Care Of Three Kids Pretty Much Full Time' - Nov. 13, 2010

Kathy McCabe of The Advertiser conducted an interview with METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich prior to the band's November 11, 2010 concert at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. You can now watch the chat below.

On rock-star life:

Lars: "So how is rock star life? Today it was scrambled egg whites for breakfast, playing Solitaire on my iPad and I got to watch the last of this movie, 'Carlos', that I started watching on the plane, and here's my blueberry protein shake. As you can tell, it's a little too healthy."

On being Mr. Mom at home in the San Francisco Bay Area (he has two sons, Myles and Layne, with former wife, Skylar Satenstein, and another boy, Bryce, with partner and "Gladiator" actress Connie Nielsen):

Lars: "Yes, I am a Mr Mom. I take care of three kids pretty much full time — they are 3, 9 and 12. My main job is being a taxi driver or a chauffeur. I just drive kids around all day. So when I'm on tour, I get a chance to be driven, and handed blueberry protein shakes — without vodka — and to sit and check my lack of hair in this mirror."

METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH And ANTHRAX Confirmed For U.K.'s SONISPHERE Festival - Dec. 13, 2010

METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX will headline the first night of next year's U.K. installment of the Sonisphere festival, which will take place July 8-10, 2011. Saturday night headliner will be BIFFY CLYRO and Sunday's festival closer is SLIPKNOT.

Commented METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich: "As soon as the 'Big Four' gigs started rolling across Sonisphere festivals in Eastern Europe last summer, we all felt we were part of something special. The vibe within the bands was more than anyone had anticipated and the vibe with the fans was so next level, it completely blew our minds . . . there was no way this should not happen again!!! So I am beyond psyched that the first 'Big Four' show in Western Europe will take place on the hallowed grounds of Knebworth, where so many unique and special gigs have happened over the years."

Last summer saw the live debut of the "Big Four" — as this collective of thrash legends are commonly known — marking what was possibly the most significant event in the history of metal. Fans all over Europe could barely contain their excitement, as over 500,000 metalheads bore witness to the show they thought they'd never see.

The "Big Four" fever did not stop at Europe, as fans the world over eagerly anticipated the possibility of seeing the historical show for themselves in their own countries. Such was the demand that a live cinecast of the Bulgarian show saw over 130,000 people turn out to local cinemas, with reports of mosh pits breaking out in movie theatres across the globe. The recently released DVD of the event, which features all four bands collaborating on a cover of DIAMOND HEAD's "Am I Evil?" as well as their individual sets, has only added fuel to the "Big Four" fire, with a frenzied demand for more performances in the countries not fortunate enough to play host last summer.

"There is simply no better venue for a European round two of the 'Big Four'!!" METALLICA's Lars Ulrich says. "Put your dancing shoes on, this is gonna be fun!"

"Always excited to do 'Big Four' shows," says SLAYER's Kerry King. "Now England is in line to be devastated by this heavy metal powerhouse! Can't fucking wait!!!"

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine states: "The 'Big Four' concerts are the most important, most exciting event to happen in the history of live concerts in our genre, and perhaps the entire music industry. I am glad to be a part of this enormous celebration of thrash, speed, and good ole heavy metal!"

"Oh, yeah!!!" proclaims ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante. "Here we come, England! The 'Big Four', BABY! Can't wait to get metal thrashing mad for you thrashers!"

ANTHRAX bandmate, guitarist Scott Ian, concurs: "Merry early Xmas present for us... more 'Big Four' shows!!! The shows we did together with our brothers in METALLICA, SLAYER and MEGADETH were not only the high point of 2010, but also some of the best shows ANTHRAX have ever played. Getting to share this with our friends in the U.K. will be amazing."

METALLICA: 'Fade To Black' Photo Exhibition To Be Held In London - Jan. 4, 2011

According to Classic Rock magazine, a special METALLICA 30th anniversary photo exhibition will take place at Proud Camden in London, England starting next month.

Titled "Fade To Black: Metallica By Bill Hale", it chronicles the band in their early years, photographed by Hale between 1982 and 1984. This includes the lineup featuring Dave Mustaine and Ron McGovney, the first gig with Cliff Burton, the last show in the Bay Area with Mustaine and Kirk Hammett's live debut in San Francisco.

The exhibition runs from February 3 to April 3.

For more information, visit Proud.co.uk.

"Metallica: The Club Dayz", a collection of photographs of METALLICA that were shot by Bill Hale during the band's formative years in the San Francisco Bay Area club circuit between 1982 and 1984, was released in April 2009 via ECW Press.

As chief photographer of Metal Rendezvous, a groundbreaking heavy rock magazine that was published throughout the '80s, Bill Hale was given unlimited access to hang out with and photograph this then-fledgling metal band. His job at the time was to capture the band onstage and offstage and provide the magazine with unique photographs of the band showcasing their brazen live energy in concert to unveiling some of their crazy and unpredictable backstage antics.

Bill Hale was right there from the very beginning, capturing the band before, during and after their performances. He was at every one of their early Bay Area shows, without the safety of a photo pit, crushed among the savage crowd as they head-banged fearlessly to the music of their local heroes. Here, for the first time, Bill Hale opens up his photo vault. Witness one of the greatest rock bands of all time during their embryonic stage.

Influenced musically by the new breed of British metal yet epitomizing the punk rock attitude, METALLICA's loud, snotty and don't-five-a-fuck attitude is very evident in these photographs. Most of the photos in this book have never been published and many of the images have never before been revealed to the public. "Metallica: The Club Dayz" is a long lost chapter of this band's visual history.

For more infromation, visit Amazon.com.

METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH, ANTHRAX: California 'Big Four' Show Announced - Jan. 25, 2011

The U.S. edition of the touring rock festival featuring the "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX — will take place on Saturday, April 23 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.

Commented METALLICA: "You've probably heard us all say it . . . the vibe was just so incredible at last year's 'Big Four' shows that we can't stop now!! So we're finally bringing the love to our home turf on April 23, 2011 with 'TALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH, and ANTHRAX in Indio, California at the Empire Polo Club (yes, the more observant of you will note that this is the same spot where the Coachella festival takes place the weekend before).

"It's true — this is indeed the only scheduled stop in America this go around, so we're hoping that you can head West to join us. Tickets go on sale this Friday, January 28 at 10 a.m. PST and Fan Club members can check MetClub.com for pre-sale and VIP package info."

For more information about the show, including ticket pricing and transportation information, check out TheBig4Festival.com.

METALLICA's LARS ULRICH Doesn't Rule Out Additional 'Big Four' U.S. Dates - Jan. 26, 2011

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich spoke to RollingStone.com about the U.S. leg of the "Big Four" tour.

"Most of the egos and sandbox issues from the Eighties and Nineties have dissipated," Ulrich said. "We actually enjoy each others' company and are comfortable celebrating the past while continuing our path into the future. It's cool. Who would have known that anybody actually still gives a shit? We're very fortunate."

He added, "A lot of this music has aged really well. There are a lot of 12-year-olds that show up at these rock shows. It's scary to see a whole slew of 12-year-olds up against the barricade down in the front. It's a great thing to be part of their right of passage."

Regarding the possibility of additional "Big Four" U.S. dates, Ulrich said, "I'm not saying this is the last one. But I don't want this to turn into something that overtakes everybody's schedules for the next couple years. If we keep it special, it's better than to overstay your welcome and people run screaming away. Let's see what happens."

Read more from RollingStone.com.

METALLICA Frontman To Discuss 'Absent' Movie At California Screening - Feb. 4, 2011

METALLICA guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield will join filmmaker Justin Hunt at the San Rafael California Film Institute in San Rafael, California on Thursday, March 3 in presenting and discussing the award-winning documentary "Absent", exploring the worldwide crisis of absent and disengaged fathers and the negative impact that the "father wound" makes on society. Weaving interviews with participants who speak from observation and personal experience, the film includes on-camera testimony from author John Eldredge, world-champion boxer Johnny Tapia, fitness model Robin Decker and Hetfield. "The father wound is so deep and so all-pervasive in so many parts of the world that its healing could well be the most radical social reform conceivable," says Father Richard Rohr, and this film makes a strong case that this issue is central to the human condition. This special screening will be followed by a question-and-answer session featuring Hetfield and Hunt.

According to Rockville Magazine, "this topic is of interest to Hetfield since his own father abandoned his family around the age of 13. The METALLICA frontman was interviewed for the film, sharing his personal struggles of dealing with father abandonment issues and how he strives to be a positive father for his three children."

"My family fell apart," he said in a clip from the film. "I had feelings of abandonment."

According to The Daily Times, the candid and emotional interview shows a rare side of Hetfield. With a closer look at his lyrics, according to Hunt, there is the pain from the absence of Hetfield's father, Virgil.

Hunt was granted access to those lyrics as well as the use of six METALLICA songs within the movie. He was also invited back to METALLICA headquarters in San Francisco, where he recorded a voice-over of Hetfield reading song lyrics.

A trailer for the film can be viewed below.

For more information, go to this location.

METALLICA's KIRK HAMMETT Remembers GARY MOORE - Feb. 9, 2011

Days after the news came down that legendary guitarist Gary Moore died, METALLICA's Kirk Hammett called RollingStone.com from his home in Hawaii to talk about his guitar idol. An excerpt from his remembrance follows below.

"Gary Moore is definitely in my list of top five guitar influences, right up with Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Michael Schenker. His influence is strong to the point that the opening lick of the guitar solo of 'Master of Puppets' is a variation of a lick that Gary Moore played a lot. I remember the first time hearing his blues album and just getting totally blown away — not only by the playing but by the sound of it too, his tone. And I remember being so inspired that I wrote a couple riffs just based on his sound and his feel. And those riffs ended up in 'The Unforgiven' on 'The Black Album'.

"I first heard of him in the late 1970s. I was a big THIN LIZZY fan then. I had seen them on the 'Dangerous' tour and not long afterwards I heard there was a new album out called 'Black Rose'. I heard 'Waiting For An Alibi' on a college radio station and I was amazed because I instantly knew that they had a different guitar player. That was not Brian Robertson playing or Scott Gorham playing that guitar solo. It was…something else. I went to the record store and picking up 'Black Rose', looked at the cover, turned it over and saw a guitar player named Gary Moore."

KIRK HAMMETT Says METALLICA Is Working On Secret Project - Feb. 10, 2011

METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett revealed to RollingStone.com in a brand new interview that the band will head back into the studio in May to begin a new project. "We want to record it in two weeks," Hammett said. "We had planned on doing it in March, but we pushed it back to May. I don't want to give too much away, but it's not really 100 percent a METALLICA record. It's a recording project, let's put it that way. Without getting too deep into it, it's more a recording project than a bona fide METALLICA album. Whether or not we can pull it off in just two weeks remains to be seen."

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich hinted in an interview that the band plans to enter the studio this spring and begin working on material for its 10th album. Ulrich first told The Pulse Of Radio that the group was thinking of getting back to work in "March or April" and made similar comments to Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet, telling the paper, "In the past, we would be fed up with METALLICA whenever we returned home after a gigantic world tour, but this time it's different."

Vinyl Re-Issues Return

Vinyl is back as we close out the re-issue series with the final three albums all in the pipeline now. First up is "Garage Inc.," available in the Official Metallica Store this Thursday, February 24 and at your favorite record store next week on Tuesday, March 1 in North America. It hits the streets one month later on March 28 in the rest of the world, but you can pre-order it now here: Garage Inc. 3LP - Garage Inc. 6LP

Just like the previous releases, there will be two packages. Because "Garage Inc." was originally released as a double CD, the vinyl sets will include a three disc gatefold package for the 33.3 version and a box set with six discs for the 180 gram, 45 rpm deluxe edition. All the music was half speed mastered from the original analog tapes at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood, CA to bring you audiophile quality.

A limited edition pressing of 100 copies of a white vinyl version of the deluxe box set will be available for MetClub.com members and on www.becausesoundmatters.com on this Thursday, February 24 at 1:00 PM PST

"S&M" is up next . . . look for that release in April.

METALLICA's LARS ULRICH: I've Always Admired DAVE MUSTAINE - Apr. 9, 2011

In honor of the hugely-anticipated "Big Four" festival in Indio, California on April 23, Revolver magazine has put out the "Big Four" special collector's issue, chronicling the history of thrash metal's most legendary bands. The magazine is on newsstands now, as well as available online here. While making the issue, Revolver talked to some of the "Big Four"'s most heralded musicians, including METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich. A few excerpts from the magazine follow below.

Revolver: Lars, how much attention did you pay MEGADETH early on?

Ulrich: I don't remember getting into that first record, but when "Peace Sells" came out in '86, it just blew me away. That was right up my alley. That literally became my favorite record for a long time. Dave [Mustaine, MEGADETH mainman and former METALLICA guitarist] would come up and play San Francisco a lot. And I would always go find him, and we would drink and do lots of drugs and sit around. For those years, '84, '85, me and him got over our issues really quickly at that time.

I remember at the "...And Justice For All" tour, we played down in Irvine Meadows [near Los Angeles], and Dave came down and hung out at the last couple of shows at the "Justice" tour. This might have been '89, and we'd just hang out. I remember actually when we finished the "...And Justice For All" album in L.A., in the summer of '88, I went to some apartment and played it for him at 5 in the morning. We were sitting there, playing "Blackened" and a bunch of other stuff while we were busy keeping ourselves awake. Me and Dave had kind of a friendship and cool thing going at that time, up through most of the '80s.

It wasn't until both bands started getting bigger that this whole kind of thing started happening in the press, which was really kind of different than what we had going between us. There was almost like two relationships there. The press loved the whole MEGADETH-METALLICA [rivalry]. And I sort of think it got a life of its own. And in some way, you could argue that the thing press was doing, about setting our bands up, eventually started kind of transcending itself into our personal relationship and probably became a big part of the fact that over the '90s, it got a little frosty at times. You know what I mean?

Revolver: When do you feel you rekindled your friendship?

Ulrich: Dude, it's been so on and off over the years. We played a bunch of shows with them '93, towards the end of the "Black Album" cycle, where they played with us in Europe, where we were very close again for a while. We hung out again in, fuck, I think '99 at Milton Keynes, in England. And I think Dave came up and was kinda on a promotion tour of his new record, and he came up and hung out at the show and I remember him playing songs off "Risk". We would always hang out when we were in the same city.

The time where it got the chilliest, where there was an obvious stop in communication, was after [the METALLICA documentary] "Some Kind Of Monster" came out, and that whole thing with that scene in there, which we don't have to go into. [Referring to the encounter between Ulrich and Mustaine, who was kicked out of METALLICA in 1983. The meeting took place on September 13, 2001, at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in San Francisco, California, and was refereed by band therapist Phil Towle. — Ed.] That stopped for about four or five years or whatever.

But other than that, up through the '90s, we would see other here and there. We would hang out. It would be all good. There were just two parallel trajectories. There was this big METALLICA-MEGADETH thing in the press, and then there was Lars and Dave hanging out, kind of doing their thing on the side, which was at times a little odd. You'd go, "Wait a minute. I'm supposed to not like this guy 'cause that's what's in this week's Kerrang!" It was kind of weird.

Revolver: Obviously things are on the up and up now. One of the most touching parts of the bonus documentary on the "Big 4" DVD is when you tell Dave how much your son loves his band.

Ulrich: Myles, my oldest, is a huge MEGADETH fan. And for a while. a couple of years ago, on the commute to school, we'd go through these phases, whether it's RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE or SYSTEM OF A DOWN. And there was a phase where we were listening to a lot of MEGADETH. And his favorite song was "Hook In Mouth" [off "So Far, So Good... So What!"]. So there was a while there, three or four years ago now, where basically I would wake up in the morning and get my kids ready for school, and get in my car at 7:40 in the morning and start blasting "Hook In Mouth" for the morning commute to school there. [Laughs] Sort of a different vibe from 15 years earlier.

On members of the four bands — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX — getting up on stage at jamming on DIAMOND HEAD's "Am I Evil?" in Sofia, Bulgaria in July 2010:

Ulrich: There was a time, sure, when there was a competitive edge to all of us, but I really don't feel that anymore. No matter how much anybody will push it in the press, or how many people don't buy it, I can tell you hand-on-heart that there's no competitive edge. It's not a bunch of 27-year-olds trying to see who's got the biggest dick. ANTHRAX, MEGADETH, SLAYER, METALLICA, we all kind of have our own little niche, our own little unique place. So it's not sorta like, Who's better at this? 'Cause at the end of the day, we all do our own thing. And when it comes to drums, Dave Lombardo [SLAYER] is, by far and away, God. There's no competitive edge, but if there was, Dave would win. Lombardo could kick the rest of our asses with just a whip of his little finger. So there was no competitive edge. That's the thing that I can truly say is the biggest difference now.

If someone had said 15 years ago, "Let's try and do this," people probably would have sat there and grumbled over this and that. But now, all four of us do our own thing, and we celebrate the fact that everybody's unique and individual. And maybe it kind of just took everybody going through what we've all been through getting to this place. I don't know if it would've been possible 20 years ago.

Revolver: Lars, what was it like for you to be playing with Mustaine again?

Ulrich: It was great. Listen, I've always admired him. He's an incredibly talented musician. Playing with him, it's not awkward. It was one of those moments you want to slow down. It was cool to see it again when I looked at the DVD. You could tell there was just a good vibe. And I hope that people kind of relate to that.