Metallica Talk About 'Nutty' New Album

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has spoken about the band’s forthcoming album, which is expected later this year.

The band’s ninth studio album, which is currently untitled, will be their first since 2003’s ‘St. Anger’.

CLICK HERE to see the band busy at work in the studio on the record.

"This stuff is certainly a lot more dynamic and a lot more varied than the last couple of go-rounds," Ulrich explained.

"There's a lot of light and shade in these songs. There's heavy, fast, nutty stuff, and then there's some slowdowns and musical interludes.”

Ulrich said that the current line-up of songs were “pretty different” from the last two albums and more reminiscent of “those couple of albums back there in the decade that begins with an '8.'"

The drummer, who was speaking to Revolver Magazine, failed to be drawn as to whether the album was a complete return to the band’s past, however.

"I hate to be that specific, because six months from now people are gonna go, 'What the ****? Lars lied to us!' But it feels that way to me.

“It's been no secret that Rick [Rubin, the record’s producer] suggested to us that we use a couple of those records as reference points — that we spend some time kind of accessing that headspace. 

“So when we would come to forks in the road, sometimes the exercise became, 'What would we have done at this point in 1985?'"