Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett is featured in a new interview with City Beat. He discusses the band's longevity and their critically acclaimed Hardwired… To Self Destruct album. An excerpt from the story is available below.

Hammett says the band naturally gravitated to a “return-to-roots” place on Hardwired.

“Certainly, with Death Magnetic we learned that it was OK to embrace our past with sort of a revisionist approach,” he says. “That’s what Death Magnetic kind of started (as). To an extent, it’s continued with (Hardwired), too. We like to play music from all of the different eras, and at this particular point in our lives, playing the heavier stuff just is appealing to us. It feels right to me and it feels right to the other guys in the band.”

Read the complete story here.

The massive amount of 20,052 concert-goers set a new record for the largest single-day event attendance in the history of Raleigh, North Carolina's PNC Arena on Monday (January 28th), reports Spectrum News. What event drew such large numbers? A sold-out Metallica concert.

“We are thrilled that Metallica’s performance set a new record for PNC Arena. It was our first time hosting the band, and the passion of their fans made it so memorable for us,” said PNC Arena President Don Waddell. “PNC Arena has played host to many large events during its 19 years, so it’s great to see an incredible band like Metallica come in and knock out a new milestone in our history. Thank you to Metallica, Q-Prime Management, and Live Nation for bringing this tour to the fans in Raleigh.”

Metallica is now the highest attended single-day event in the venue's 19-year history. Check out some fan-filmed footage from the show, uploaded by YouTube user Hawg Gnarly.

The band's complete tour schedule, which stretches into August, can be found at this location.