Metallica Plan In-Depth ‘Black Album’ Podcast

In addition to a supersized box set and a tribute album, Metallica will mark the 30th anniversary of their mega-selling “Black Album” this year with a podcast dubbed The Metallica Podcast.

In a tweet, the group said the first of eight episodes would be “coming soon,” but since the anniversary is next Thursday “soon” will likely be in the next week. In the teaser, the group refers to this season of the podcast, which is available for subscription via various podcast services, as “Volume One: The Black Album,” possibly hinting at future seasons about other records.

“This album was the right combination of songs, right combination of producer with the right combination of desire, tenacity, [and] lineup of ideas,” drummer Lars Ulrich said in a teaser clip.

“The insanity that we do just to keep our own sanity, people identify with it and the fact that they’re not alone and we know that we’re not alone is what makes it all happen for me,” frontman James Hetfield said.

“I’ll just sit there and keep on playing for fucking 24 hours if I need to,” guitarist Kirk Hammett said with a laugh.

The band will celebrate the legacy of the album, which is the best-selling record of the past 30 years, in an even bigger way next month. They’ll reissue the album in a variety of formats, including a super-deluxe box set with 14 CDs, six LPs, six DVDs, and more — containing riffs, demos, alternate mixes, and live recordings, among other curiosities — on September 10th. That same day, they’re also putting out The Metallica Blacklist, a compilation of 53 artists covering songs from the record. In addition to Miley Cyrus, Elton John, and Yo-Yo Ma who all collaborated on a rendition of “Nothing Else Matters,” other contributors include Alessia Cara, Weezer, the Neptunes, Phoebe Bridgers, and Chris Stapleton.