METALLICA GUITARIST KIRK HAMMETT TALKS NEW SOLO INSTRUMENTAL EP - "I WAS PRETTY SHOCKED THAT I GOT THE COMPLETE BAND’S BLESSINGS"

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Metallica guitarist, Kirk Hammett, recently released an official music video for the track "High Plains Drifter", featured on the Portals EP, which was released on April 23rd. It can be viewed below.

Hammett spoke with Rolling Stone about the catalyst for makeing the EP. Following is an excerpt from the story.

“It’s a fucking instrumental album, and it sounds nothing like Metallica,” says Hammett. “So it sits in a different spot than all the music that I’ve been involved in in the past — and I like that.” He played the music for his bandmates and Metallica management, thinking he’d release it after the next Metallica album, and was surprised when management suggested he put it out now.

“I was also pretty shocked that I got the complete band’s blessings on it,” he says. “It was amazing because our band has not had a lot of great progress with band members going solo, as everyone knows. But all that went down almost 20 years ago, and we’re such different people now. We’re all just older, wiser, and more mature.” He pauses for a second. “Well, I don’t know if we’re wiser, but we’re definitely older, and a little bit more mature, a little bit more responsible. So something like this takes on a different sort of meaning now than it would have 20 years ago.”

Read the complete story here.

Available across digital platforms, on CD, and as an Ocean Blue Vinyl EP (including a download card), you are able to pick up a copy of Portals at your friendly local record store that day or place an order on Metallica.com to be delivered to your front door just as soon as the postman can get there.