Metallica add European tour dates

Even though Metallica planned "nothing but writing and recording" in 2006, according to their web site, the group is beginning to schedule live dates. The band will perform at Germany's Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals on June 3rd and 4th, in Arnhem, Holland, on June 8th, and at England's Download Festival on June 10th and 11th. Frontman James Hetfield told us that moving from the recording studio to the stage has become a seamless process for Metallica:
[ click here to listen if you have a Backstage Pass] "You sit there and you write something together and you go, 'Ah, we belong together. This is right. We can still create magic together.' So it's very bonding before we go out onto the stage, too."

Metallica also have three shows scheduled for March in South Africa.

Although the band performed a private gig last month at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, no other North American shows have been announced yet.

There's no word on when the group's next album, its follow-up to 2003's St. Anger, will be released.