US rock group Metallica’s new album, Hardwired ... to Self-Destruct, could be their best ever, according to bassist Robert Trujillo, but guitarist Kirk Hammett will always be left feeling something was missing.
Hammett’s contribution to the band’s tenth studio album, and first in eight years, was scaled back after he lost a phone containing scores of riffs during writing sessions.
“It’s something I’ve had to deal with,” he said at a midnight fan meet-and-greet session in London on Friday morning to welcome the album’s release.
“It’s never a good feeling when something that we work hard at and you [have] so much time invested [in] and you have so much expectations for it, all of a sudden disappears. It’s the most disappointing thing.” Despite the disappointment, Hammett believed that Metallica were enjoying a strong creative run and that there was more to come from the group, who formed in 1981 and have produced famed songs including Enter Sandman.
The band have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and more than 60 million in the US, with those numbers set to increase after early positive reviews from critics to Hardwired ... to Self-Destruct.
Trujillo said producer Greg Fidelman deserved a lot of credit for his work on the new album.
“It could possibly be the best Metallica album ever. I mean, the sounds are so amazing, the drums, the bass, the vocal production,” the bassist said.
