Apparently there was more to the cancellation of this year’s Orion festival than a busy Metallica touring schedule. Metal’s strongest picking hand shed some additional light during a recent interview.

Photo Credit: Marv Watson

In an interview with Don Jantzen of Houston’s KTBZ-FM, Hetfield took some time to discuss the state of hard rock and heavy metal events in the US in comparison to trans-Atlantic mega-festivals (full interview below). He then went on to discuss some of the reasoning behind the cancellation of Orion this year:

Right now, it seems like metal is struggling a little bit in the States. Obviously, the Orion Music + More festival that we had tried to do the last couple of years has really not been… Gosh, it’s been a disaster financially, and it’s not able to happen again because of that. So it’s a bummer. So, you know, we’re doing what we can to keep being alive here. And I hope to get out and play in the States. It seems like forever since we’ve been out and about. You know, we’ve hit the coasts and we’ve done TV stuff and things like that. But it will happen again. So hopefully, to get your fix, you’re able to get the Metallica Through The Never DVD and sit there and headbang with your friends.

Shame, considering the lineups commanded by Metallica’s pet festival project and exclusive firsts like the group’s performance of Ride the Lightning in its entirety.

As the man himself said, there won’t be a lack of new recordings. With the release of their Antarctica set and the Metallica Through The Never concert film, there’s still plenty to sift through. A festival would have been preferable though.

via Blabbermouth