With Metallica’s new record Hardwired… To Self-Destruct finally finished, this has been a year of progress and reconnection for Lars Ulrich

Even in an era where it’s taken them eight years to get a new album out, it seems there is just no such thing as a quiet 12 months in the world of Metallica. That said, 2016 has been by a distance the most important year the band have had in almost a decade, as a brand new album, Hardwired… To Self-Destruct, finally saw the light of day. While the record has been in the works for years now, the recording process was ramped up in 2016 to finally get it out there – and it enabled the band to work on their ever-evolving relationship and realise that, thankfully, it’s only getting more fruitful.

(Image credit: Jimmy Hubbard)

“Within the four bandmembers, especially James and I, there’s a working relationship that continues to blossom,” insists Lars as he reflects on at the year that brought Metallica back to metal’s frontlines. “There’s more trust, and I think we’re all a little more…” He trails off for a moment, before continuing: “With Metallica, there used to be a lot of stuff that was fuelled by negativity. It’s the nature of who we are and where we came from, but there was this cynicism, this scepticism, this controversy. We held each other on very tight leashes, and if someone fucked up, we rained hellfire on all of us.”

If 2016 has taught Lars one thing, it’s that Metallica are, more now than ever, able to bind together and put aside any old grievances for the greater good.

“There’s none of that [negativity] any more,” he continues. “We support each other, we know each other so well, and it all comes with knowing the personalities, knowing the dynamics, knowing the boundaries, knowing how everything works.”

Lars also freely admits that, as bonkers as it might sound to the casual metalhead, Metallica were unsure of their place in the food chain in 2016, and whether a new album would be greeted with the same level of frenzy as they’ve been accustomed to in years gone by. It seems he’s genuinely blown away by the answer to their worries.

“We haven’t done very much this year, but we played two stadium shows that sold out in literally minutes,” he beams humbly. “We’ve also put songs out that have been better received than anything we’ve put out in years. You know, the main difference between now and Death Magnetic nearly a decade ago, is that you pass 50, you don’t know if people are gonna care any more, and yet 50,000 people turn up to fill a new football stadium for you. It’s like, ‘Fuck! This is really cool!’ And it’s not just old classic rock dudes; there’s a bunch of 15-year-olds showing up. I scroll through our social media timelines sometimes and it’s like, ‘There’s 12-year-old girls from Carolina into Metallica? Fuck!’”

Indeed, it seems to be the unending influx of new, young Metallica fans that has impressed Lars the most, disproving the notion that metal is a game for old dudes in denim.