New Metallica album has middle eastern sound

Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett said in the latest issue of So What!, the band's official fan club magazine, that many of the songs on the band's new album have a "Middle Eastern" or "Arabic" sound to them. Hammett explained, "There is a really unusual theme that's working its way into the music. I'm not really sure how to react to it... a lot of the music has an eastern harmonic flair to it, a harmonic minor flair to it, and when I say harmonic minor... those sounds are distinctly Arabic sounding or Middle Eastern sounding, and you hear them in all the songs."

Hammett added that he was unable to figure out how those influences crept into the band's music, saying, "I don't know if it's just the zeitgeist, a sign of the times, or maybe because like, you know, Middle Eastern culture is so prevalent, or maybe the negative things about Middle Eastern culture. Maybe artists are conscious, just want to shine light on the positive aspects of Middle Eastern culture, i.e. the music."

Metallica began laying down its ninth studio album last week in Los Angeles with producer Rick Rubin, the first time that the band has recorded outside the San Francisco area in 16 years.

Metallica to play Wembley

The group plans to work in the studio until early June, take a break for a month-long European tour, then finish recording in August. While on a break they will play a one-off concert at the new Wembley Stadium in London on July 8th, 2007. Tickets for the concert go on sale on Wednesday, March 21st.

The new CD will be released in either late 2007 or early 2008.