According the Lars the new songs are a mix of “hardcore”, “nutty” and “long”… interesting. Here some bullet points outlining the key points of the interview from Spin:
– The yet-to-be titled new record will drop sometime in September.
– The quartet will wrap production on the record next week, “by Wednesday or Thursday,” Ulrich confirms.
– The band hit the studio “with 26 songs,” then “went down to 14 with Rick [Rubin, producer]” and recorded 11. Only 10 songs will make the final tracklisting.
– The album’s tunes, “long… nutty ass songs,” will not be edited, and are “seven minutes, eight minutes, nine minutes” in length, recalling “some of the earlier records.”
– Sonically, the songs are “definitely all over the place… with a lot of variations.” Definitely “hardcore” and “nutty,” Lars says.
– This week the quartet have been working with its graphic designer on the album art.
– In the recording of the new set Metallica were seeking “a little bit of a more sane environment,” unlike the records they produced in the early ’90s. “And we’ve been able to keep that,” Ulrich says.