Kirk Hammett , guitarist for Metallica, lost his cell phone in 2015 , containing over 250 stored riff ideas he was questioned on social media about whether he knew what a backup or cloud storage was – a technology that was already common and available at the time and that his type of phone offered as a data recovery option. Questions also arose about the creative loss, beyond the material loss, of these lost ideas that could have been incorporated into future band releases.
Ten years later, and with two albums released, Hardwired… to self-destruct (2016) and 72 Seasons (2023), Kirk shows that the lost ideas not only didn't make a difference, but that he really is a riff machine. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone , the guitarist stated that he has stored exactly 767 riff ideas for the next Metallica album.
Regarding how to organize this amount of recordings and select the best ones, he says: “It’s a nightmare going through all this. And I’m responsible for all of it and I can’t do it. I don’t think we’ll start the next album for at least another year because we’re still finishing the [ 72 Seasons ] tour. When we finish and we’ve already been to all the remote places like Asia, Australia and New Zealand, I think we’ll take a short break, not too long, and then we’ll come straight back to it.”
Solo album and new book
Hammett also said in the Rolling Stone interview that he is working on his first solo album, which should be a continuation of the EP Portals (2022), but that it will not be solely instrumental.
“I’m gathering ideas for my [first] solo album. I think the best way to describe it is that it will be a fusion of all kinds of styles. One moment I’m writing classical progressions, and the next I’m writing heavier stuff, and suddenly I’m writing something kind of funky. There will be vocals because the songs I’ve written call for vocals this time. So I think, ‘Okay, who’s going to do the vocals?’ I don’t know. I hope it’s not me—I already have a lot to do on stage. I have an instrumental piece that to me seems 2000 years old, called ‘The Mysterion.’ It’s based on all these things I’ve been reading, the ancient Greek texts, and it’s incredible to me because I wouldn’t have this instrumental if I hadn’t started reading these ancient texts,” explains the guitarist.
In addition to his solo album, Kirk recently released, in partnership with the guitar brand Gibson, the book The Collection: Kirk Hammett , a 400-page compilation showcasing his entire guitar collection, duly documented in photos, as well as his off-stage style and his love for surfing, a sport he practices regularly. The book comes in three formats, one of which is numbered and has already been released as a collector's item.
72 Seasons tour
Metallica continues promoting their latest album, 72 Seasons. New tour dates have been announced for shows in North America between April and June. The shows will maintain the "No Repeat Weekend " policy, an agreement between the band and fans not to repeat songs on the setlist when the shows are at the same venue and on the same weekend. The tour also features very special opening acts, including Pantera, Suicidal Tendencies, Limp Bizkit, and Ice Nine Kills.
A portion of the ticket sales goes to the band's association, All Within My Hands , which supports various social causes both inside and outside the US, and even provided financial support to the victims of the Rio Grande do Sul floods in 2024.
READ ALSO: Metallica: Kirk Hammett reveals he improvised solos on '72 Seasons'
