Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett recently spoke with Guitar World about his horror-inspired instrumental solo EP, Portals, the evergreen joy of musical discovery, and how the pandemic influenced his songwriting. Following is an excerpt from the chat.

Q: After working as part of a unit for so long, what’s it been like to head out in your own creative direction?

Hammett: “It’s something that I’ve been living with for a long time. You know, I have this whole other side of my musical personality, but I’ve never had a real platform to express it. Now I do and I’m really happy about that. 

“It’s pretty weird because usually, at this point with an album release, it’s not just me, it’s the four of us, and we have each other’s backs and we’re supporting each other. But this time, taking it all on by myself, I feel a little bit naked and a little bit insecure. When I’m feeling that way, that’s when I need to take a step back and say,’It’s okay to believe in the music,’ and that gets me through all those feelings of self-doubt.”

Q: What were the main musical influences for Portals?

Hammett: “I’ve been listening to a ton of classical music for what seems like forever and ever now. I just love it. One of my favorite things to do is sit down and listen to a piece of classical music and pretend every instrument is the electric guitar, and it’s amazing how everything kind of changes. So, classical music has been a big influence on me. 

“Also prog. I discovered prog three or four years ago and, oh my God, I can’t believe that I missed out on so many great prog albums all this time! I can definitely see a line where late 60s and early 70s prog is really instrumental in influencing hard rock and heavy metal. So there’s a huge prog influence on this EP.”

Read the complete interview here.

Hammett has released an official music video for the track "High Plains Drifter", featured on the Portals EP. Watch below.

Featuring contributions from Edwin Outwater (with whom Kirk had previously collaborated on Metallica's S&M² concerts and releases), Jon Theodore of Queens Of The Stone Age (and Kirk's The Wedding Band bandmate), members of the LA Philharmonic and more, "High Plains Drifter" (streaming below) shares a unique inspirational relationship with the 1973 cinematic classic of the same name. The song, Kirk explains, "Was not meant to be specifically music for that film, but it was once it was written, I immediately thought it conveyed the same sentiment as the film, so the piece was christened accordingly.

"The music for 'High Plains Drifter' initially came from a flamenco piece I had written," he continues. "It was a two-and-a-half-minute piece, and I really liked it, but it was one of those riffs that would be hard to integrate into Metallica. I knew I wanted to do something with it, even though it came out spontaneously. I had been sitting outside messing around with a flamenco acoustic guitar I'd just bought, and it flowed out in the moment. I was determined it would have a life. It would have its moment."

Adds Kirk: "Initially, before I even had the idea for a solo EP, I was inspired by the need to create some sort of soundtrack music to accompany The Kirk Hammett Collection for the first “It’s Alive” exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, 2017. I wanted to conceive music to play on a loop in the background as people walked through the exhibit. I sat down one night with a progression, and before I knew it, all the parts were there for “Maiden and the Monster.”

"The initial concept for Portals started with that one song. Following that, I realized I could create different soundtrack moments. These songs are what I call ‘Audio Cinematic;’ I’m creating sounds and pieces of music for the movies playing in my head. Hopefully they’ll create movies in other people’s heads in a similar fashion."

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: