Lars Ulrich Teases New Metallica Album Amid Coronavirus Quarantine

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has teased the possibility of the band recording a new album amid the government-mandated coronavirus quarantine.

During an interview with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff on Tuesday (4/28), Ulrich suggested that there’s “A very good chance” that Metallica will work on a new record while they, and everyone else, awaits eased restrictions regarding live events and social gatherings.

The drummer noted that the potential for a “quarantine record” completely depends on the length of the lockdowns.

“Will there be a Metallica quarantine record? I can’t tell you because I can’t tell you how long the quarantine will last, but if you and I and the rest of the world are still sitting here six months or a year from now, I can say there’s a very good chance,” Ulrich mentioned. “But obviously, the one thing you can depend on from creative people, for better or worse, is that they can’t sit still for very long and I can tell you that on these weekly Metallica Zoom sessions we are talking about how we can just be a band again.”

Making a record under lockdown while each member of the quartet lives separate from one another seems like a logistical nightmare, however, Lars explained, “The people that make the software and all the stuff that we use to record are sitting right now trying to figure out how Lars and James [Hetfield] and Kirk [Hammett] and Rob [Trujillo] can make a Metallica record from four different locations in four different states.”

Though it would certainly be the most difficult way to produce a record, Ulrich’s attitude towards the situation suggests that the band will do everything in their power to make it happen.

Late last month, the band launched a new “Metallica Mondays” archive video initiative in which they will broadcast past concerts each week on their Facebook and YouTube pages. As far as the band’s tour schedule is concerned, like the rest of the music industry, Metallica has had to postpone all shows for the foreseeable future.

Listen to the full interview with Benioff here. Click here for information regarding the band’s updated tour schedule, and be sure to check out Live For Live Music’s concert cancellation tracker for daily updates on shows in the U.S. and around the world.