Polar Music Prize recently conducted an interview with Metallica frontman James Hetfield. Check out the chat at this location.

Asked where the anger in his lyrics and music comes from, Hetfield said: "I think the anger comes from family of origin, a feeling of not being heard, a feeling of manipulation, probably still a teenager in here somewhere that's still sorting out some past issues — you know, parents, upbringing, things like that. So there is that, but I think a lot of it is a defense mechanism — it is. Even when my kids scare me, or someone tickles me, I get angry. That's my first reaction to most things, so it's my default — I don't know why, I don't know why. Some people laugh 'cause they're nervous; it's just a thing. But I've learned to tap in to that.

"There's a big therapy in playing music and in writing music, and knowing that other people out there feel like me is very comforting," he continued. "And the connection with the crowd is extremely important — they are the 'fifth member,' as we call them. And I enjoy watching them release their whatever it is as well. I get to see that; that is part of the joy I get. They get to see us live, yeah — I get to see them transform and join together and become a family. It's beautiful."

According to Sweden’s The Local, Metallica will receive Sweden’s Polar Music Prize this year, often called Music’s Nobel Prize.

They will each receive one million Swedish kronor ($125,000) at a televised gala in Stockholm on June 14th in the presence of King Carl XVI Gustaf.

"Metallica is loved and admired by millions of hard rock fans across the globe," Marie Ledin, managing director of the award, said in a statement.

Lars Ulrich, the California band's Danish-born drummer, called the Polar Music Prize "a great validation of everything that Metalllica has done over the last 35 years".

"At the same time, we feel like we're in our prime with a lot of good years ahead of us," Ulrich said of the band, which released its 10th album, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct in late 2016.

The Polar Music Prize was established in 1989 by the late Stig 'Stikkan' Andersson, best known as the manager of Swedish pop superstars Abba, and selects two laureates each year.

The prize's stated goal is to "break down musical boundaries by bringing together people from all the different worlds of music.”