Metallica still rocking after 35 years

SINGAPORE — After more than 35 years selling 110 million albums worldwide and belting out mega hits such as Enter Sandman, Nothing Else Matters and One, Metallica is still pushing the boundaries of what it means, exactly, to be Metallica.

The American heavy metal group, which comprises vocalist-guitarist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo, famously became the first band in history to perform in all seven continents — including Antarctica — within a year in 2013. They recently released their first studio album in eight years, Hardwired...To Self-Destruct, which earned the third-biggest opening week last year in the US in terms of sales, behind Drake and Beyonce’s albums. Two weeks after the album was released, their title track Hardwired was also nominated for Best Rock Song at the Grammy’s.

Speaking to TODAY about what still propels the legendary band to work as hard and as well as it does, Hammett said it was that they, quite simply, loved their work.

“(What motivates us is the fact) that we are still together, and can look back at us, illustrate our past together and celebrate it together with each other,” the famed guitarist-songwriter said in an e-mail interview. “When you enjoy what we do, appreciate and embrace what comes, either good or bad, success will come naturally.”

The band also tries to remain as honest as it can be, which is likely the reason why years of accolades, fame and wild success have not dulled the rage, passion and emotion Metallica is known for.

“Inspiration comes from everywhere, but I think it’s really important to be as honest about what we think and feel as possible, and as sincere as possible, and to listen to your own inner voice, because that will guide you, that will lead you through the music and lead you towards where you need to go,” said Hammett, adding that the band was “pleasantly surprised” to hear how well the album is doing. “Don’t lose touch of that inner voice man, because that will guide you through the music, you know, and the whole creative process that comes with playing music.”

Over the next few weeks, Metallica will be bringing their WorldWired Tour to Seoul, Hong Kong and Singapore. While he said he loved Singapore’s “Chinese food”, Hammett said the last time he felt tremendously excited about a show was during the band’s show in Korea three years ago.

“In Korea, they are a lot less conservative than what we were told,” he said. “When we got there, the audience was just super, super rocking and that surprised us. That was a very pleasant surprise and of course, it was very exciting.”

As for their upcoming gig here, Metallica, which last played a sold-out show at the Changi Exhibition Centre in 2013, will keep an open mind about how fans will react to their show.

“Whenever and wherever we go, we try not to set an expectation. It’s wise to just go there openly and just kind of like, see how it is and just, you know, go from there,” Hammett said.

“Like what happened in China. We didn’t have much expectations going into China, especially (since) it’s a new place to us. We tried not to expect too much. But once we got there, we (were) very surprised (to see) how well-versed the fans were with our music. They knew the songs really, really well.”

Metallica’s WorldWired Tour 2017 will be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Jan 22. Tickets available from S$158 at SportsHubTix.