This isnt really new, but ive never seen anyone mention it here.
Launch Radio Networks reports: Metallica has written about 25 songs for its ninth studio effort and is now concentrating on trimming that list to one album's worth of material, which it will begin recording in January. Drummer Lars Ulrich told Launch on Tuesday (December 5) that the band's
Summer European tour, on which Metallica played its classic 1986 album "Master of Puppets" in its entirety, paved the way for the sound of the new album. "What I hear sounds very lively, very spunky, got a lot of energy," he said. "I think that the shows we played over the summer, we were definitely leaner and kind of in better shape than we've been in a long time. I mean, having to deliver 'Master of Puppets' for three months this summer definitely revitalized some of that stuff in us, and it's been kind of fun having that in the back of our mind as we've been going through this process. I don't know what else to say.
Referring to the controversial, low-fi production on 2003's "St. Anger", Ulrich said that he's
"taken the drums out of the cardboard boxes" this time, and that lead guitarist Kirk Hammett will lay down guitar solos on this record.
The new disc will be produced by Rick Rubin and is expected out by late 2007.
info from encyclopedia metallica.
EDIT: MORE INFORMATION
Mike Portnoy: How's the new album coming along?
Lars Ulrich: So far it's been a fun year [2006]. There are no film crews, there's no psychiatrist, no producers. It's just the four of us. We sit around and write and play and sweat and have fun. [Producer] Rick [Rubin] has been coming up once in a while, listening in and throwing ideas at us. We carried this ProTools system on the road and we'd jam in the tuning room every day before the show so it's all those ideas. We're about 25 songs into it and Rick's coming up the day after tomorrow. We basically told him that we're done writing now, it's time to pick some songs and get recording.
Mike Portnoy: What's it like working with a new producer for the first time in 15 years?
Lars Ulrich: It's a completely different energy, a whole new vibe, after five records and 15 awesome years with Bob [Rock]. The guy is and always will be a member of the extended METALLICA family, but we had to try something different. Rick is more of a bigger-picture guy. He's not so much about a double chorus there or adding four more bars of that. He's more, like, "Turn the ProTools off, go play and arrange it on the floor." So far he's forced us to work and sweat a little more and push ourselves.
Mike Portnoy: So all this time it's been the writing process. You haven't actually recorded any drums yet?
Lars Ulrich: We had probably 30 to 40 hours of source material, of riffs and ideas and jams, and we promised ourselves that we would go through all of that. We're 25 songs into that now, so we're going to trim it down, but you've got to remember we did the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, then we were in South Africa for three weeks, then we did Europe for six weeks, then Rob [Trujillo, bass] had a kid so we had a few weeks off.
Mike Portnoy: It's old-school. LED ZEPPELIN would record a little bit, then go out and tour, then come back.
Lars Ulrich: This has not been like "The Black Album," with 16-hour days, six days a week for three months. We've been touring and Kirk [Hammett, guitar] had a baby, and if it takes longer, we're OK with that."
Mike Portnoy: We're in the same boat, because we have been locked in the studio for a couple of months and we're booked until early next year. We're taken breaks — me and the guitar player just did the G3 tour, and we're going to do another one in Australia next month, so we come and go and work around life.
Lars Ulrich: Exactly. I don't have the stamina for nine months in the studio, then 18 months on the road — that kind of thing where everything gets pushed to the limit.
Mike Portnoy: I loved the direction on the last album ["St. Anger"] with the longer songs, the heavier songs, the more unorthodox arrangements. It reminded me a lot of the older stuff. Is the new stuff a continuation of that direction or is it more straight-ahead?
Lars Ulrich: When I look back on "St. Anger" now, it was an experiment, a reaction to 20 years of doing things one way, and it was like, "OK, let's sit down, the four of us, and come up with some ideas in the moment and record them." I think there was great energy there. The backside of that is that we ended up using ProTools a lot. The new songs are definitely a little longer and more intricate. It's more organic in that we're playing together, Kirk is playing guitar solos again, it's not so much, "Record eight bars and then put it in the computer." The snare is back on the snare drum. I remembered this time! In the '90s we were getting freaked out that our stuff was getting so sterile and it was missing that live spark. We had to see if we could find that with "St. Anger" so we recorded all these moments but then we ended up putting those moments together in the computer, so it became artificial in a different way. This time we're definitely going to record more like we used to, so we'll see what happens.
Mike Portnoy: What were your relationships like with Cliff [Burton], Jason [Newsted] and Rob [Trujillo]? What are some of the differences between the three of them as bass players in terms of a musical communication with you?
Lars Ulrich: Cliff was unique. Me and James [Hetfield, guitar/vocals] and Kirk always felt that Cliff was so far ahead of the rest of us. He had been to music school, he studied classical music, he was just so much more gifted than the rest of us, and it was an incredible relationship to be part of.
Mike Portnoy: I guess when somebody dies that early, you always wonder what could have been — what would Jimi Hendrix be doing today if he were still around? What would Randy Rhoads be doing? And Cliff is like that, there's that mystery of what could have been.
Lars Ulrich: Exactly. He was just so in his own world. Jason was awesome in that he was incredibly motivated, incredibly focused, sometimes we felt that he was almost too focused. He was always the one who was, like, "Come on step up." He was more untraditional, he was more with the guitars than the drums. There are moments in "Enter Sandman" and some of the more groove-oriented songs on "Load" and "Reload", like "Ronnie", where the drums and the bass really are in the pocket, but that was something that Bob had to push us towards. Rob is so grounded. He tends to look to the drums first rather than to James' guitar, and I think that what he and I are coming up with now is really exciting and when people hear this, they'll trip on it. He's always there with the bass drum, locking into that. Live, he just holds it together. Rob is the perfect fit. I don't think METALLICA have ever been happier or gotten along better, and that is in no way a diss on what Jason or Cliff brought to us, but there's a serenity in the band, without sounding too corny. Everybody's getting along and having a good time. It feels balanced.
Update on Metallicas new album(good news) UPDATE 2 :Ecstacy of gold full version! 
