At the tail end of the band's massive Death Magnetic tour last December, Marcus Teague from Thevine.com.au spoke with METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich exclusively for the Metallica fan club magazine, So What? A few excerpts from the chat that did not make the magazine can be read below:

Thevine.com.au: It's the end of two and a half years touring behind Death Magnetic. Have you learned from it?

Ulrich: "I'm sure I will. [Once we're finished touring] I have a tendency to...first I get practical and then I get emotional. So right now, I have a list in my pocket of things to do today. You know, stack up on unused passes from the production office. Remember to give the crew guys their bonus cheques. Remember to thank the hardcore fans for travelling. Remember to pick my nose and whatever else. I'm sure that on the plane back tonight or in the next couple of days...it always gets a little more unreal. Like, a week later, when you get home and it's like 'Woah. I'm not going back out there for a while. I'm not going back out on that stage. Next time we go do something it will be [for a new record].' So I think on a serious note, looking back on the last couple years, it's been such a positive experience."

Thevine.com.au: James told me he has 800 and something new riffs on his iTunes.

Ulrich: "We'll see how it plays out. I look forward to getting back and creating, I look forward to just getting back and playing. I look forward to getting back to that side again. We started working on Death Magnetic five years ago this month. And we spent a lot of time and put a lot of effort into that record, and it was certainly worth it,. But I don't take for granted that we can top it - I will set out to top it. I hope we can - but it's a motherfucker of a record. So we'll see how it plays out."

Thevine.com.au: There must be kids that are getting Death Magnetic first. And going back.

Ulrich: "Sure, it's worked out rather well. I never expected it to work out quite that well. I think there's always been - sometimes been - a borderline elitist reluctance to embrace the new records from some fans. Because if you embrace the new records in some way, it's [somehow perceived] as a diss on the old stuff. Which I've never quite been able to understand. But this record has really been embraced by the fans, it's probably the most openly embraced Metallica record since the first four."

Read the entire interview here.