New Metallica album: "A lot of energy"

Metallica has written about 25 songs for its ninth studio effort and is now concentrating on trimming that list to one album's worth of material, which it will begin recording in January. Drummer Lars Ulrich told us that the band's summer European tour, on which Metallica played its classic 1986 album Master of Puppets in its entirety, paved the way for the sound of the new album: "What I hear sounds very lively, very spunky, got a lot of energy. I think that the shows we played over the summer, we were definitely leaner and kind of in better shape than we've been in a long time. I mean, having to deliver Master of Puppets for three months this summer definitely revitalized some of that stuff in us, and it's been kind of fun having that in the back of our mind."

Referring to the controversial, low-fi production on 2003's St. Anger, Ulrich said that he's "taken the drums out of the cardboard boxes" this time, and that lead guitarist Kirk Hammett will lay down guitar solos on this record.

The new disc will be produced by Rick Rubin and is expected out by late 2007.

Meanwhile, People magazine has reported that Ulrich and actress Connie Nielsen are expecting their first child together after dating for two years. The baby is due early next summer. Both parents are 42 years old.

Nielsen, who has appeared in the movie Gladiator and the TV series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, has a 16-year-old son named Sebastian from a previous marriage. Ulrich has two sons, eight-year-old Myles and five-year-old Layne, also from a previous marriage.