Metallica’s iconic axeman Kirk Hammet has revealed that after decades in one of metal’s most influential groups, he wants to record a solo album.
When James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich first formed Metallica back in 1981, the pair didn’t know just what sort of international success lay ahead of them. Fast forward two years, and following some hiring and firing of band members, they ended up with Kirk Hammet as their lead guitarist.
Since then, Hammet has remained the longest-serving non-founding member, having appeared on every official release by the group. However, after almost 35 years in this position, he’s revealed that he’s been feeling the urge to record a solo album at some point.
Speaking to Metal Hammer, Kirk Hammet opened up about a range of topics, including joining Metallica, and the vast amount of musical ideas he has lying around.
“I have so much material sitting around that’s obviously not Metallica stuff, and that pile gets bigger and bigger. One of these days when it feels right…” he explained. “I still feel I have so much to give Metallica. When that feels more complete, maybe I’ll think about doing that other stuff.”
However, if you’re hoping for a record full of nothing but the wah-pedal metal solos that Kirk Hammet has become known for, well, we’ve got some bad news.
“It would not look like a metal album at all,” he continued. “It’ll be something so weird and far-ranging in styles, but cohesive at the same time.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if all of us did some solo, independent, autonomous sort of thing. I think it’s healthy, and if anything, when you come back to the band you’d come back with more enthusiasm. It’d feel like going on a little camping trip, and it’s always good to come back home to a nice warm bed!”
Famously, Kirk Hammet was involved in an incident back in 2015 when he managed to lose his phone, which contained “250 musical ideas”.
“I was crushed,” Hammet explained to the Jasta Show podcast. “It didn’t get backed up. When it happened, I was bummed out for about two or three days… I’m still looking for it to this day… It still might turn up, I’m hoping that it will.”
While he later explained that the lost riffs were “probably not that good” if he couldn’t remember then, Metallica frontman James Hetfield reportedly still holds a bit of a grudge towards Hammet, seemingly blaming him for the mixed reception that 2016’s Hardwired… To Self-Destruct received.
While we’re not sure when or if we’ll ever see a Kirk Hammet solo album, we’re certain that it won’t happen until the band decide to finally hit up Australia for a long overdue tour once again.
Check out Metallica’s ‘Master Of Puppets’:
