Speaking with Sirius XM’s Jose Mangin, Metallica’s Kirk Hammet discussed his inspiration for recording the band’s upcoming new album, and touches on what the new release could sound like.

Talking about inspiration to record a new album, Kirk says: “I always go back to the stuff that influenced me when I was younger and first starting out, ’cause that stuff is still inspiring. And then, you know, I look around to see what’s going on in present day, what bands are sounding like these days, ‘cause I’m always curious. I like to see what’s going on, and I like to see how our sound fits in with what’s going on. It’s really just a day-to-day thing. I’ll throw on the radio, start hitting the stations, and if I hear a piece of music that I think is particularly interesting I’ll listen to it, and maybe I’ll listen and catch something.”

Asked if the new material is along the lines of last year’s “Lords Of Summer” release, Hammett replies: “I would say some of the stuff is similar to “Lords Of Summer”. “Lords Of Summer” is pretty accessible… I think it’s one of the more accessible sounding riffs, and there’s a really cool melody. A lot of the other material is a little bit more progressive, kind of along the lines of what Death Magnetic turned out to be. I would say that there’s some really, really hooky stuff coming through, really, really catchy stuff. I’m really psyched on the direction of how things are sounding. If I could compare it to anything, it might be remotely similar to the approach we took on …And Justice For All, but it doesn’t sound like …And Justice For All, sonically. It doesn’t have that sound that …And Justice For All had, which I thought was very unique at the time.”

During Kirk’s Fear FestEvil on April 12th in San Jose, Meshuggah performed at the RockBar Theater. Hammett joined the band on stage during their set for "Bleed"; fan-filmed video can be viewed below.

Airing April 18th at 9pm ET, episode 9 of season 14 of VH1 Classic’s centerpiece in original programming, That Metal Show, marks another first for the critically acclaimed talk show. Ever since Kirk Hammett first picked up the electric guitar, he dreamed of jamming one day with Michael Schenker. Well TMS makes it happen and the world’s most recognized heavy metal guitarist, Kirk Hammett of Metallica, jams live on stage with UFO/Scorpions guitar legend, Michael Schenker, during this week’s episode.

Hammett flew in for the sole purpose of appearing alongside his guitar idol on the show hosted by Eddie Trunk, Don Jamieson, and Jim Florentine. As Hammett states in two recent tweets this week on his twitter account, “Today I was in fanboy hero worship mode w/ @MW Schenker Thanks @ThatMetalShow!” and later adding, “Still wrapping my head around yesterday. Jamming w/ my guitar idol Michael Schenker, it was a mind bending, a truly inspirational experience!”. During the interview, both Kirk and Michael discuss their current projects, and Hammett updates us on the status of the next Metallica project.  During the “TMS Top 5” where the hosts discussed their Top 5 Michael Schenker UFO-era Songs, Hammett includes his Top 6 picks as well.

The episode also features the debut of Damon Johnson from Black Star Riders as the guest musician who discusses the new Black Star Riders record and his time playing with Thin Lizzy. Johnson wows the crowd by showcasing his lap steel guitar playing abilities and lives up to the challenge of playing in front of Hammett and Schenker, leaving them impressed with his abilities. Johnson also tweeted about his experience on the show on how he felt watching the guitar legends play, “Not a bad way to spend a Tuesday afternoon…”

This week’s “Rank” segment finds Hammett ranking his favorite Metallica albums in order. Kirk even declares if bassist Cliff Burton had been alive for the …And Justice For All recording Cliff’s bass lines would have been heard throughout the album, a common complaint about that album.

Fans can watch all previous episodes and other exclusive bonus clips at this location and on the new VH1 app, as well as the new That After Show segment, which discusses the intricacies of Michael’s style of playing guitar, and Kirk Hammett tells the story of purchasing the legendary Peter Green Les Paul guitar, which was once owned by Gary Moore of Thin Lizzy fame, and now we know that Kirk keeps this prize by the entrance of his house so it is always close when he gets home.