After confirming that Metallica is making a new album, fans could not help but ask, when will the record hit the shelves.
And while the American heavy metal band is keeping the details under wraps, guitarist Kirk Hammett revealed that the new album will follow the same timeline as their 2008's album "Death Magnetic."
Released on Sept. 12, 2008, the follow-up to "Death Magnetic" is reportedly going to be launched next year.
Talking to 103.3 The Edge WEDG-FM, as reported by NME Hammett announced that fans could expect to hear their new music next year.
"Well, you know, we're moving forward. We're hoping that the album will be released next year. It's pretty much more along the same lines as 'Death Magnetic' - kind of like that direction. And, you know, we'll see."
"We're into it", he continued. "I don't wanna say that we're a third into it, or two-thirds into it, or an eighth into it, 'cause anything could happen that'll just change that number. But, eventually, you will see a new Metallica album, and it will most likely be in 2016, and at the very worst, at the beginning of 2017."
And since the band members are still very much active in the scene, Hammett assured fans that like Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, Metallica will continue to make music even when they're old.
"We're all getting up there, but we still have drive, we still have energy, we're still inspired, we still have things that we wanna do. You know, mentally, emotionally... I mean, I think that we're not done yet. And if people like Keith Richards and Mick Jagger can do it into their seventies, why can't we?"
In a previous interview with Billboard, the 52-year-old six string expert talked about the album's progress.
"We have well over a dozen songs and we still have well over two or three hundred riffs, too, so it's hard to say at what point we actually are in in the project," Hammett said. "I don't think we hit the middle point yet. I would say we're at the 25 percent point, maybe 30 percent point."
Meanwhile, in an interview with Loud Wire, Metallica frontman James Hetfield glady shared details of the band's new album.
"I tell ya, we're recording right now, and there's the number one guitar, there's the number two guitar, there's the number three," Hetfield said.
And while he can only reveal small details about their upcoming record, Hetfield teased that the fans will definitely hear a different sound.
"And here's the third-track guitars that just sound different," he added. "They all sound different."
