Metallica Deny War Link

The promo for new single The Day That Never Comes shows a soldier rescuing an injured comrade and facing up to a possible suicide bomber.

It has provoked speculation the band is making a statement about the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan - but frontman James Hetfield insists it was inspired by forgiveness, not conflict.

In fact, he claims, the band were determined to avoid being dragged into a debate about war.

He tells MTV, "The main theme is the human element of forgiveness and someone doing you wrong, you feeling resentment and you being able to see through that in the next situation that might be similar and not take your rage or resentment out on the next person, and basically keep spreading the disease of that through life.

"The one thing that I wasn't keen on here was Metallica plugging into a modern war or a current event that might be construed as some sort of political statement on our part. There are so many celebrities that soapbox their opinions, and people believe it's more valid because they're popular.

"For us, people are people - you should all have your own opinion. We are hopefully putting the human element in what is an unfortunate part of life. There are people over there dealing with situations like this, and we're showing the human part of being there."