Metallica may be re-releasing their back catalog and playing a handful of concerts this summer, but those things are not getting in the way of making a new album.

"We are fucking in it," drummer Lars Ulrich emphatically tells Rolling Stone. "We've got lots of songs, and we're honing them and tweaking them. It's pretty close."

Metallica have written close to 20 new songs for the upcoming album, which will follow up 2008's Death Magnetic, and will likely enter the pre-production recording phase in the near future. When asked whether or not fans could expect new songs from the group on its upcoming run of spring and summer concerts – the only US date of which will be at the Rock In Rio festival in Las Vegas on May 9th – the drummer says, "I hope so. Absolutely."

Read more at RollingStone.com.

In celebration of Record Store Day, on April 18th, Metallica will release No Life 'til Leather as a limited edition cassette. The seven tracks were recorded in 1982 in Tustin, CA by the band's original lineup of James Hetfield: lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Lars Ulrich: drums, Dave Mustaine: lead guitar, and Ron McGovney: bass. Straight from the archives, the original source material has been re-mastered to maximize the sound potential for 2015 without altering the original mixes. No Life 'til Leather will be available for purchase at your favorite local record store and on Metallica.com. The collection has never been available commercially until now.

 

 

A note from Metallica: “This year we decided to celebrate Record Store Day with our friends at independent retail by taking a huge leap back in time to our humble beginnings with that little rectangle of plastic known as the "demo tape." In 1982 we recorded seven songs that became our initial calling card known as No Life 'til Leather and it led us to our first record deal… the rest, as you some of you may know, is history! We hope you enjoy this little walk down memory lane with us and that you will continue to join us in supporting independent record stores around the world.”

Look for expanded versions coming on CD, vinyl and a collector's set sometime this summer.

 

 

Tracklisting:

“Hit The Lights”
“The Mechanix”
“Motorbreath”
“Seek & Destroy”
“Metal Militia”
“Jump In The Fire”
“Phantom Lord”

Record July 6th, 1982 at Chateau East Studio, Tustin, CA.