Metallica’s Kirk Hammett says Lars Ulrich would “micromanage” his solos

With just days until Kirk Hammett releases his solo debut EP, the legendary guitarist has revealed that his Metallica solos were “not 100%” him because Lars Ulrich would “micromanage” them.

Hammett made the revelation in an interview with UCR, saying that his upcoming project, Portals, had no “limitations”.

“Yeah, you know, there’s no real limitations put on me. When I was working on this stuff, I didn’t want to labor over any of it. So I said to myself, ‘If I can’t nail these solos in three or four takes, then I’ll just hang it up and wait until the next day, and then try and nail it in three or four takes.’ You know, that’s what I did. These solos have no limitations on them,” said about Portals, which is set to be released on April 23.

Hammet explained that drummer Ulrich would be very involved in the process of creating the guitar solos on Metallica songs.

“What I mean by that is, a lot of times when I’m coming up with solos for Metallica, I have to play for the song. I have to play within the context of the song. I have to make the solo somewhat accessible – and what I mean by that is, it needs to have hooky parts. It needs to have something that’s dynamic that catches your attention. You know, it needs to be somewhat commercial,” he said.

“That’s always kind of shaped my guitar solos, as well as working with whoever the producer is on that particular album – and also, with Lars [Ulrich] because Lars likes to micromanage everything. So when I’m in there doing a solo, he gives me input. That shapes the solos. It’s not 100% me. I’ve always kind of alluded to that.”

Portals is a four-song instrumental EP, and is being released to coincide with Record Store Day this Saturday.

For more on this topic, follow the Metal Observer.

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.

Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine

Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine