Kirk Hammett has been riffing a lot lately, since he has revealed that he has 767 riffs banked for the next Metallica album — and that's to say nothing of the debut solo album that he's been working on.
Speaking with Rolling Stone's podcast, he said of his work for Metallica's next album, "I have 767 new ones for the next album. It is such a nightmare going through this stuff, too. And I'm the one responsible for all of it and I can't do it."
He added that it will still be a while before the band follow up their 2023 album. "I don't foresee us starting the next album for at least another year because we're still finishing the 72 Seasons tour," he said. "I think we're gonna take a little bit of a break, not too much of one, and then we're gonna get right back into it."
In the meantime, however, fans can look out for his debut solo full-length, which he's "actively getting ideas together for." He described it as a "fusion of all sorts of styles," explaining, "All of a sudden I'm writing classical progressions, and all of a sudden I'm writing more heavy stuff, and all of a sudden I'm writing like a funk thing."
He added, "There will be vocals because the songs that I wrote scream for vocals this time around. So I'm like, 'Okay, who's gonna be doing the vocals?' I don't know. I hope I'm not — I already have too much to do on stage." His 2022 solo EP Portals was entirely instrumental.
He went on to describe one specific song: "I have an instrumental piece that to me sounds like it's 2,000 years old called 'The Mysterion.' It's based on all this stuff that I've been reading, the ancient Greek texts, and it's amazing to me because I wouldn't have had this instrumental if I didn't start reading these ancient texts."
Meanwhile, Metallica will be in Toronto next month for two shows on their aforementioned tour.