News : Kirk Hammett has 767 new riffs for next Metallica album, says their sound could “go back to the ’90s again”

Kirk Hammett has revealed he has 767 new riffs for the next Metallica album, and thinks the record might see them “go back to the ‘90s again”.

The lead guitarist for the metal icons opened up about the band’s follow up to 2023’s ‘72 Seasons’ in a new interview with Rolling Stone, indicating that they will not start working on their next album “for at least another year”.

“I have 767 new ones for the next album,” he said, referring to the riffs he has already written for new material. “It is such a nightmare going through this stuff, too. And I’m the one responsible for all of it and I can’t do it…. I don’t foresee us starting the next album for at least another year because we’re still finishing the 72 Seasons tour.”

“Once we fully finish this and go to all the outlying places like Asia and Australia and New Zealand, I think we’re gonna take a little bit of a break, not too much of one, and then we’re gonna get right back into it.”

The ‘M72 World Tour’ kicked off in April 2023 and is set to recommence in April in Syracuse, New York. The final scheduled date is in Auckland, New Zealand on November 19.

Hammett also discussed the potential sound of the new record. “Who knows? We might just say, ‘Okay, let’s go back to the Nineties again’. It’s not a bad idea! We haven’t said that to each other yet. And it’s interesting because when ‘Load’ and ‘Reload’ came out, there was a lot of backlash. But nowadays I run into fans and they love that era.”

“We play ‘Fuel’ and people go nuts. We play ‘Until It Sleeps’ and people know every word. It’s kind of like how when I was a teenager, I listened to all the Zeppelin albums except ‘Zeppelin III’ because it was more acoustic and I just wanted the high-energy aggressive stuff. But over time I really came to embrace ‘Zeppelin III’ and how wonderful it is.”

The guitarist said that at 62 years old, he is still as creatively fired up as ever. “I feel like I’m still climbing the summit,” he said. “Haven’t reached the top of the mountain yet. Haven’t reached the capstone of the pyramid. Still going up, man. I still feel like I’m improving and I still have a lot of creative momentum and energy in me.”

Reflecting on the future of Metallica, he added: “A lot of it has to do with personal health. I don’t feel like I am winding down. If anything, things are ramping up around me. And I know that I’m not the only band member that feels this way. Lars is in really great shape, too. As long as we have our health and our mind, I think we can just keep on going.”

Hammett is releasing a new coffee table book, The Collection: Kirk Hammett, which will explore his guitar collection and life in music, while Metallica have announced details of an “immersive” new VR film concert, which they have worked on with Apple Vision Pro.

Metallica are also on the stacked line-up for the final ever Black Sabbath show in Villa Park in Birmingham in July.