Kirk Hammett of Metallica Reveals He’s Working on a Debut Solo Album: “It Will Fuse Various Musical Styles”

Kirk Hammett’s Solo Album

Kirk Hammett from Metallica has revealed that he is working on his first solo album, which he describes as a “fusion of all kinds of styles.”

• READ MORE: Metallica – 72 years.

Insights from the Interview

The talented metal guitarist discussed his upcoming project with Katya Stone while promoting his new coffee table book, Collection: Kirk Hammett, where he reflects on his extensive guitar collection and his life in music.

One of the revelations from the interview was his progress in “collecting ideas together” for his debut solo recording. “I suppose that the best way to describe this is as the merger of all types of styles,” he explained.

“Suddenly, I write classical progressions, and suddenly I write more complex things, and suddenly I write something like funk,” he added. “There will be vocals because this time the songs I wrote feature screaming vocals.”

“So I like it, good. Who will do the vocals? I don’t know. I hope I don’t— I already have too much to do on stage … I have an instrumental part that sounds like 2000 years old called ‘Riddle’ for me. It is based on everything I’ve read, including ancient Greek texts, and this is amazing for me because I would not have created this instrumental if I had not begun to read those ancient texts.”

In a separate interview, Hammett noted that he had already written 767 new riffs for the next Metallica album, though he indicated that he does not anticipate the group working on it for “at least another year.”

Upcoming Concerts and Projects

The M72 World Tour kicked off in April 2023, starting in Syracuse, New York, with the final scheduled performance in Auckland, New Zealand, on November 19.

Hammett also discussed the potential sound of the forthcoming Metallica album. “Who knows? We could just say, ‘Okay, let’s return to the nineties again.’ This isn’t a bad idea! We have not yet had that conversation. It’s interesting because when Load and Reload were released, there was a lot of negative feedback. However, I’m now encountering fans who love that era.”

In other news, Metallica announced details about an upcoming “captivating” VR concert film, which they are developing in collaboration with Apple Vision Pro, and they are also involved in creating a composition for the final Black Sabbath show in Birmingham in July.