Kirk Hammett is showing no signs of slowing down. The Metallica guitarist is currently deep into work on his first full-length solo album, which will differ from his 2022 instrumental EP Portals by incorporating vocals. At the same time, he’s already thinking ahead to Metallica’s next album, with an astonishing amount of material prepared. With the band still touring in support of 72 Seasons, he anticipates they’ll begin work on the next record within a year.
“I have 767 new ones for the next album,” he says in an interview with Rolling Stones. “It is such a nightmare going through this stuff, too. And I’m the one responsible for all of it and I can’t do it…. I don’t foresee us starting the next album for at least another year because we’re still finishing the 72 Seasons tour. Once we fully finish this and go to all the outlying places like Asia and Australia and New Zealand, I think we’re gonna take a little bit of a break, not too much of one, and then we’re gonna get right back into it.”
In addition to his contributions to Metallica, Hammett is also fully immersed in his solo work. “I’m just actively getting ideas together for my second solo album,” he says. “I guess the best way to describe it is it’s gonna be a fusion of all sorts of styles…. All of a sudden I’m writing classical progressions, and all of a sudden I’m writing more heavy stuff, and all of a sudden I’m writing like a funk thing…. There will be vocals because the songs that I wrote scream for vocals this time around. So I’m like, okay, who’s gonna be doing the vocals? I don’t know. I hope I’m not—I already have too much to do on stage… I have an instrumental piece that to me sounds like it’s 2000 years old called The Mysterion. It’s based on all this stuff that I’ve been reading, the ancient Greek texts, and it’s amazing to me because I wouldn’t have had this instrumental if I didn’t start reading these ancient texts.”
As Metallica looks toward their future, Hammett is open to revisiting the sound they explored in the 1990s. “Who knows? We might just say, ‘Okay, let’s go back to the Nineties again. It’s not a bad idea! We haven’t said that to each other yet. And it’s interesting because when Load and Reload came out, there was a lot of backlash. But nowadays I run into fans and they love that era. We play “Fuel” and people go nuts. We play “Until It Sleeps” and people know every word. It’s kind of like how when I was a teenager, I listened to all the Zeppelin albums except Led Zeppelin III because it was more acoustic and I just wanted the high-energy aggressive stuff. But over time I really came to embrace Led Zeppelin III and how wonderful it is.”
Despite owning an extensive collection of guitars, he prefers not to keep track of just how many he has. “I made it a point a long time ago not to count,” he admits. “The number bums me out, ’cause I can’t play ’em all. And so over the years, I’ve been trying to bring that number down because it drives me crazy knowing that there are guitars sitting in cases that never get played. That’s a result of going out on tour and needing certain guitars for that particular tour. And then after that tour is over, those guitars go into cases and we don’t use them again. You know, both James and I, have countless numbers of guitars like that.”
“I have a core collection of about 40 to 50 guitars I try to play all the time. And those are my favorite guitars. And most of them are in the book. The most iconic one is Greeny (he’s referring to a 1959 Les Paul Standard that was owned by original Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green). Greeny is a unique guitar because you plug that guitar into any amp, it makes the amp sound better. You know, there are very few guitars that do that. It doesn’t matter what amp you plug Greeny into, Greeny just has a way of just coming through.”
At 62, Hammett remains as energized as ever when it comes to his music. “I’m 62 years old, and a lot of artists, when they’re 62 years old, they’re winding things down. I feel like I’m still climbing the summit. Haven’t reached the top of the mountain yet. Haven’t reached the capstone of the pyramid. Still going up, man. I still feel like I’m improving and I still have a lot of creative momentum and energy in me.”
Rather than methodically overanalyzing his compositions, Hammett now allows his music to come to him naturally. “The stuff I don’t think about is usually the best stuff because it just comes to me,” he says. “And if it just comes to me in a natural way, then there’s an organic sort of feel to it. And so that’s how I come up with everything these days. I just sit there with my guitar and see what happens. I refuse to work hard on anything. And when I mean by working hard, just analyzing it and trying to go, ‘Oh, if I change this note this has to work with this.’ It feels like I’m doing algebra afterward. I don’t want it. I failed algebra two years in a row. I’m not gonna wanna do algebra when it comes to music.”
“I want to sit there and see what the universe and the muse send me. And in the last 10 years, I’ve gotten great results and all I really have to do, and I do this practically every day. I go, okay, sit here, clear my mind, and start just moving my fingers, moving my hands. And inevitably something comes and it’s a beautiful thing. I haven’t reached the top of the mountain yet. I still feel like I’m improving and I still have a lot of freaking creative momentum and energy in me to the point where it’s just like, I’m creating more work for myself.”
Looking ahead, he believes Metallica’s future is inextricably linked to the members’ health. “A lot of it has to do with personal health,” he says. “I think we’re all pretty healthy and pretty fit. And sometimes I freaking forget how old I am ’cause I don’t feel like I’m 62 years old. I feel like I’m still somewhere in my thirties and, you know, I go out and surf, I bike, I run, I walk and I do all sorts of crazy stuff physically. I’m still able to do everything. I do yoga every day, I meditate every day. I don’t feel like I am winding down. If anything, things are ramping up around me. And I know that I’m not the only band member that feels this way. Lars is in really great shape, too. As long as we have our health and our mind, I think we can just keep on going.”
As for contemporary guitar trends, Hammett has thoughts on Polyphia guitarist Tim Henson, who referred to traditional lead-guitar techniques as “boomer bends.” He isn’t offended by the remark, though he does question its implications.
“I love that,” he says. “But you know, is he gonna like, call Eddie Van Halen a boomer guitar player there? I really like Henson’s style. It’s really unique, and in terms of technique, it’s amazing. But then, it’s the age-old question, how relatable is it? It’s good to listen to like three or four times. Can you really relate? Sometimes people just wanna listen to music and not feel challenged. Sometimes people just want to feel raw emotion. Is he hitting on raw emotion? No. It’s so complicated. It’s a very distinct emotion that he’s shooting for and therefore, how accessible is it on a larger scale? Well, it’s only accessible to people who like that or can understand that.”
