So that was the only time I got one - when we were going on safari in Africa." But as a kid, I never got vaccinations 'cause of our religion. We got vaccinated to go to Africa, so it's not like I've never been vaccinated before. But if it comes down to that, then I'll make a decision then. But I hope it doesn't come to a point where you have to have that COVID stamp in your passport or something to go everywhere. I'm a little skeptical of getting the vaccine, but it seems to be rolling out and people are getting it and I've got lots of friends that have done it. I'm not sure what that means in the future as far as vaccines. It really is up to the safety of everyone - not just the fans, but the crew and us. There's only so much you can do on Zoom."Īsked if he thinks METALLICA will do any touring this year, Hetfield said: "I have no clue. We got about - I don't know - over 10 songs going that way. he's up here in San Francisco - and we were playing together, and it was pretty bizarre. And then Lars had an assistant running his computer from L.A. He was running my computer from L.A., and I'm in Vail. We had our producer, who was running my computer while I was playing. It was difficult because of the delay in the sound, so we couldn't actually play together, but we would play to a click track and watch each other play.
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Lars and I would get together, or Kirk and Lars, and we would get little bits of time here and there writing. Then we started experimenting with writing on Zoom. You do whatever you want with it and see what happens and layer on to it.' So that's how we did a version of 'Blackened' 2020. I'm just gonna play something and send it to you guys. And then I just told them one time, 'Hey, I'm gonna write something. 'Cause of COVID, just sitting at home and getting a little bit antsy and just feeling creative at the same time and wanting to get together, I started doing a weekly Zoom with those guys just to check in. James also talked about the METALLICA songwriting process during the coronavirus pandemic, saying: "This time was a little different, for sure. We're pretty selfish that way we like what we write as well." So we'll see how many we like first, and then we'll put 'em out. Whatever you call it these days - I guess it's an album, a CD, a group of songs, a collection, whatever, a stream or however you get your music now. There wasn't a lot of touring going on, so we get to write music."Īsked if METALLICA is planning to release a new full-length album or just a few songs, Hetfield said: "Well, hopefully a new album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's either touring or writing, so COVID chose for us. During the half-hour chat, which can be heard below, James confirmed that he and his METALLICA bandmates have been working on music for the follow-up to 2016's "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct" album. METALLICA frontman James Hetfield was a guest on episode 11 of "The Fierce Life" podcast in late March.