Metallica to appear on The Simpsons

Metallica will appear as guests on an upcoming episode of The Simpsons, according to their official website. The four members of the band entered a studio on Tuesday (September 20th) to record their lines for the segment, which will air in May of 2006. There's no information yet on what the storyline is or how the band factors into it.

Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett performed last Thursday (September 15th) with string ensemble the Flux Quartet at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. Hammett and the Quartet collaborated on the world premiere of "SAS," a piece for string quartet and improvised electric guitar written by Flux violinist Thomas Chiu.

Metallica have been keeping a relatively low profile since completing their world tour in late 2004. The band is expected to begin working on a new album sometime before the end of this year.