Metallica's new album, 72 Seasons, is out today (April 14), which can only mean one thing — fans will begin speculating when the next album may come out and drummer Lars Ulrich confirms the band has "some ideas we could start with" regarding new material.
Listen, we know — how on earth can anyone possibly be talking about the future when we've all spent years and years waiting for 72 Seasons to finally arrive as the successor to 2016's well-received Hardwired... To Self-Destruct.
Part of it is that this is just the nature of the beast and music fans will always want more, no matter how much is already in front of them. The other part is that Ulrich was asked about unused material and if any may be considered for a followup album in an interview with journalist David Fricke.
You can hear the full Fricke interview tonight (April 14) on the Loudwire Nights radio program, where we'll also be playing the entire 72 Seasons album. Listen on your nearest available local radio station or stream Loudwire Nights live right here from 7PM-12AM ET.
"There's always a few riffs in the riff tank," admits Ulrich when pressed about "leftovers" that could provide a head start on a potential new album.
READ MORE: This Is Metallica At Their Best - A Review of '72 Seasons'
"There are some ideas we could start with," he continues, shifting his focus instead to the worldwide tour in support of 72 Seasons, adding, " I'm looking forward to going live and being in sharing mode for the next couple of years. The beauty of being with these guys, I kind of joke, James [Hetfield] writes more riffs when he's tuning his guitar than most people do in a lifetime. That's the beauty of being in band with these guys and I'm eternally grateful. I'm dumbfounded by it."
"There's definitely a few things to hit up as soon as we feel we want to get creative again," the drummer notes, briefly returning to the topic of discussion.
After Metallica released Hardwired... To Self-Destruct, which marked their first album in eight years, the band's members repeatedly said it would not take another eight for another one to come out. They came really close, however, with a seven-year gap between that record and 72 Seasons and if Robert Trujillo never made a certain bold move that stirred the writing process for this release, perhaps we'd all still be waiting!
Metallica's world tour start on April 27 and you can see the upcoming dates at this location. For tickets, go here.
