METALLICA Wants To Write New Music In 2011

METALLICA will wind down the touring cycle behind its 2008 album "Death Magnetic" later this month in New Zealand, with the band having been on the road for more than two years. While there are possibilities for more live work in 2011, drummer Lars Ulrich told The Pulse of Radio that the band is starting to get the songwriting itch too. "There's a bunch of balls in the air for 2011, but I think the main one is we really want to get back to writing again," he said. "We haven't really written since, what, '06, '07, and we want to get back to kind of just being creative again. Right now we are going to just chill out and then probably start up again in, I'd say, March or April, and start probably putting the creative cap back on and start writing some songs."

Ulrich recently told England's Classic Rock magazine that more "Big Four" shows, featuring METALLICA along with SLAYER, ANTHRAX and MEGADETH, could happen in 2011 or 2012. Ulrich said, "The vibe on this thing is so big, we'd be stupid to ignore it. You know on your iPhone, you can move the weather maps up and down? Well, the 'Big Four' is quickly moving up to the top in terms of potential occurrences for the next couple of years."

The "Big Four" package played festivals across Europe throughout the early part of summer, with the four veteran speed metal bands sharing the stage together for the first time ever. Although there were no U.S. dates, one of the shows in Bulgaria was beamed via satellite to U.S. movie theatres.

The possible recurrence of the "Big Four" tour may put plans on hold for METALLICA to stage a massive live show next year that co-manager Peter Mensch said last March would rival PINK FLOYD's "The Wall" and would play just 10 dates.

Ulrich admitted that such a project has been on the band's minds, saying, "We have been kicking some ideas around about doing some stuff that — how shall I say it — is pretty theatrical . . . We might incorporate a lot of different ideas, instead of it being one particular thing. It would be a multitude of theatrical elements, maybe as an idea for a one-off tour or something."

Although Ulrich says that he's looking forward to taking "at least six months off" once the band completes its current tour this fall, he added, "I would champion trying to do (the 'Big Four' tour) in 2011 or 2012, obviously in England and the United States. It's just a matter of logistics."