According to Music Radar, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett has a new signature Dunlop Cry Baby pedal. The KH95X arrives in a special edition purple sparkle finish inspired by the same colour of his ESP Ouija KH Series signature guitar.

Hammett: "I always feel a great energy when I play my purple sparkle Ouija guitar. I thought it would make a killer, sonically spiritual connection to have a pedal with that same outwards vibe."

Sound-wise, it should sound just like the regular metallic green KH95 wah with the skeletal foot design on the treadle, which is to say that it will sound like Hammett’s rackmounted Cry Baby wah.

Read more here.

Hammett recently released an official music video for the track "High Plains Drifter", featured on the Portals EP, which was released on April 23rd. It can be viewed below.

Hammett spoke with Rolling Stone about the catalyst for makeing the EP. Following is an excerpt from the story.

“It’s a fucking instrumental album, and it sounds nothing like Metallica,” says Hammett. “So it sits in a different spot than all the music that I’ve been involved in in the past — and I like that.” He played the music for his bandmates and Metallica management, thinking he’d release it after the next Metallica album, and was surprised when management suggested he put it out now.

“I was also pretty shocked that I got the complete band’s blessings on it,” he says. “It was amazing because our band has not had a lot of great progress with band members going solo, as everyone knows. But all that went down almost 20 years ago, and we’re such different people now. We’re all just older, wiser, and more mature.” He pauses for a second. “Well, I don’t know if we’re wiser, but we’re definitely older, and a little bit more mature, a little bit more responsible. So something like this takes on a different sort of meaning now than it would have 20 years ago.”

Read the complete story here.

Available across digital platforms, on CD, and as an Ocean Blue Vinyl EP (including a download card), you are able to pick up a copy of Portals at your friendly local record store that day or place an order on Metallica.com to be delivered to your front door just as soon as the postman can get there.

True to its title, Portals is a collection of gateways to musical and psychic destinations. Recorded around the world, from Los Angeles to Paris to Oahu, Portals is the result of Kirk’s life’s journeys and an invitation to tap into your own inner world. Heavily influenced by classical music, soundtracks, horror movies, and maybe a little Ennio Morricone, Kirk wanted the EP to span the decades and touch upon all the horror he loves. The idea behind the EP was to have all the songs flow into each other, so he relied on a whole cast of his friends to record the four songs.

Produced by Kirk, Portals is comprised of the songs “Maiden And The Monster” and “The Jinn” on side A, followed by “High Plains Drifter” and “The Incantation” on side B. The latter two were co-written with Edwin Outwater, who you may remember from S&M2. Outwater also contributed keyboards and led the orchestral players from the LA Philharmonic on Portals.

Other familiar names amongst the Portals players include drummers Jon Theodore (Kirk’s fellow Wedding Band member) and Abraham Laboriel, Greg Fidelman on bass, Emmy-winning arranger Blake Neely, and Bob Rock.

Portals EP tracklisting:

"Maiden And The Monster"
"The Jinn"
"High Plains Drifter"
"The Incantation"

"High Plains Drifter" video:

In other news, Hammett will be moderating "The Original Monster Kids" panel at Midsummer Scream on Saturday, July 30 at Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California.

The "kids" are the children and grandchildren of Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Sr. and Jr., Boris Karloff, and Vincent Price, who will discuss being raised by these horror icons and how they're keeping the legacies alive.

For complete Midsummer Scream details, and ticket link, head here.