MTV.com has issued the following report from Chris Harris and Todd Brown:

It's a sun-drenched Thursday afternoon in Acton, California, which is about an hour's drive north of Los Angeles, and the air's nothing if not arid.

Here, we find the members of METALLICA - frontman James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo. They're all milling about, wearing shades, waiting. All of a sudden, a Hummer painted in desert camouflage and topped with a .50-caliber machine gun rolls by.

The vehicle's carrying a group of what look like U.S. soldiers across the dusty terrain when, out of nowhere, there's an awesome blast. One of the soldiers is wounded; he's bleeding. Another soldier rushes to his aid, with a medic kit in hand, and starts tending to his wounds. Minutes later, a helicopter approaches, and the bloody soldier is flown to safety and into the capable hands of a military medical team.

Of course, this isn't Iraq. It isn't Afghanistan. It's the set of Metallica's video for their track 'The Day That Never Comes', the first single from Death Magnetic, the band's first studio effort since 2003's St. Anger (due in stores this September).

Read the full report at MTV.com.

As previously reported, September 16th had been announced as the official release date for Death Magnetic, but according to MissionMetallica.com a Friday, September 12th worldwide release date has now been confirmed. The official release date for Japan, however, is September 10th.

The tracklisting for Death Magnetic is as follows: 'That Was Just Your Life', 'The End Of The Line', 'Broken, Beat & Scarred', 'The Day That Never Comes', 'All Nightmare Long', 'Cyanide', 'The Unforgiven III', 'The Judas Kiss', 'Suicide & Redemption', 'My Apocalypse'.

The following Death Magnetic packages will be available in North America:

Digital Death Magnetic:

-- Digital Death Magnetic first - at 320 KBIT/S delivered at midnight on street date
-- Downloads of two entire shows from this summer
-- Almost 2 hrs of additional exclusive fly on the wall footage
-- 250 additional exclusive photos
-- Ringtones of riffs from the new album
-- Exclusive Contests: Airfare, hotel, tickets and meet + greet passes for Ozzfest, Reading UK and special listening party for the new album at Band HQ!
-- $10 off merch or Fan Club membership at Metallica.com or MetClub.com

Death Magnetic CD + Digital Death Magnetic:

-- The Death Magnetic CD with free shipping
-- Digital Death Magnetic first - at 320 KBIT/S delivered at midnight on street date
-- Downloads of two entire shows from this summer
-- Almost 2 hrs of additional exclusive fly on the wall footage
-- 250 additional exclusive photos
-- Ringtones of riffs from the new album
-- Exclusive Contests: Airfare, hotel, tickets and meet + greet passes for Ozzfest, Reading UK and special listening party for the new album at Band HQ!
-- $10 off merch or Fan Club membership at Metallica.com or MetClub.com

5LP + Lithograph + Death Magnetic CD + Digital Death Magnetic:

-- 5 LP 180 gram box with 5 individual sleeves
-- Mission: Metallica Lithograph
-- The Death Magnetic CD
-- FREE shipping on all!!
-- The Death Magnetic CD with free shipping
-- Digital Death Magnetic first - at 320 KBIT/S delivered at midnight on street date
-- Downloads of two entire shows from this summer
-- Almost 2 hrs of additional exclusive fly on the wall footage 250 additional exclusive photos
-- Ringtones of riffs from the new album
-- Exclusive Contests: Airfare, hotel, tickets and meet + greet passes for Ozzfest, Reading UK and special listening party for the new album at Band HQ!
-- $10 off merch or Fan Club membership at Metallica.com or MetClub.com

More details can be found here.

Death Magnetic is "a stunning, overdue return to the shock and rush of the band's speed-metal monuments, 1984's Ride The Lightning and 1986's Master Of Puppets," according to Rolling Stone.

According to BW&BK; sources, the album will be preceded by an eight-minute single which is being described as "a tour de force that features some of their fastest playing ever."

The record was produced by Rick Rubin (SLAYER, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS) and mixed by Greg Fidelman.