Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich is pretty excited for the group’s next studio album, calling it their “heaviest” and “coolest” record to date during an interview with Classic Rock. This latest interview follows his artist on artist discussion with Phoebe Bridgers last month, where he explained that the band were involved with some “pretty serious writing” sessions for the record.

“It’s the heaviest thing, the coolest,” Ulrich stated. “But all kidding aside, if it wasn’t because we thought that the best record was still ahead of us, then why keep doing it?”

Due to the quarantine, Metallica have been working on new material via Zoom and have been in constant communication via email as well. “In Metallica we love the creative process, and it’s hard for me to imagine that we’ll ever stop making records,” Ulrich explained.

It’s been a pretty busy year for the group, who held the Helping Hands virtual concert last month, in support of the All Within My Hands charity. This charity was founded by the band in 2017, as a non-profit which supports a number of causes including Feeding America, Direct Relief and more recently, COVID-19 relief funds.

Metallica also took part in the MoPop tribute live stream to Alice In Chains, which also featured Mastodon, Korn, Duff McKagan, Mark Lanegan, Billy Corgan, Lily Cornell and Soundgarden. Back in the summer they held a summer live stream called Encore Drive-In Nights, which was held in drive-in theaters across the United States. This stream broadcasted a performance from their headquarters in California.

Photo Credit: Mauricio Alvarado