METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett on why the band take so long between studio albums

METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett was recently asked in a new interview with Goldmine magazine why the band take so long between studio albums. Kirk responded: “Yeah, you know, it’s not getting any quicker, too. 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‘ (Kirk’s solo EP) is great for me because it kind of frees me up from that schedule,” Kirk explained. “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.”

Hammett also discussed his approach to songwriting within METALLICA, saying: “When I go in and create METALLICA stuff, I give it my full creative energies. The way I look at it is, all the notes are already there. You just have to find them. I’m serious. They’re already there. You just gotta friggin’ find them. And so there’s that but also a reliance on spontaneity, on real in-the-moment creation. I think that’s where I’m most effective. It’s like, any time I sit down to try and compose something that should be spontaneous, it ends up sounding composed. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I think catching yourself in a spontaneous moment is just much more exciting and much more honest. That might not make me sound like Eddie Van Halen, but that’s beside the point. I really feel like I’m playing for the song when I play that way.”

Two years ago, Kirk told Metal Hammer magazine that there was “a lot of material” written for the follow-up to METALLICA‘s “Hardwired… To Self-Destruct“. “I know I have tons, because I totally overcompensated,” he said. “You know, last time around, it was a real shock to my system losing all those musical ideas. [Kirk apparently lost his phone which held over 300 pieces of music on it during the creative process for ‘Hardwired…’] So, I was very determined to try and make up for lost time. I also felt that, creatively, I have so much more to offer this time around.”