Metallica refuse to 'churn out the same record over and over again'
Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich says the band will always look for ways to evolve.
Metallica have always vowed to not be a band that "churn out the same record over and over again."
Drummer Lars Ulrich says the Nothing Else Matters rockers are determined to "keep evolving" - even if die-hard fans don't like the directions they take.
Speaking to Variety about their new film Metallica Saved My Life, he said: "I don't think it was ever a choice. I would like to believe that we dictate our own narrative, and one of the key pieces of the individual and collective DNA in Metallica is curiosity. We've always wanted to turn over rocks and look at new ideas and challenges. If curiosity is a significant part of our DNA, another part is the fear of complacency, a fear of fear, of getting stuck. The claustrophobia, 'Oh my God, we've got to keep evolving. We've got to keep growing. We gotta keep trying different s***.' The fear of stagnation, of ending up on autopilot, a fear of repetition, of just getting stuck. So we've always pushed ourselves into new and different creative endeavors. Whether it's the films or doing stuff with symphony orchestras or playing with different producers or new approaches, it's to make sure that we always keep it fresh and there are always challenges in front of us."
The rocker recalled how Metallica - who are continuing their M72 World Tour into 2025 and 2026, with stops across Europe, North America, Australia, and the Middle East - "raised eyebrows" among the hard-rock community when they went acoustic.
He shared: "When Ride The Lightning came out, the fourth song, Fade To Black, had acoustic guitars on it.
"There were definitely some raised eyebrows and people in the very hard-rock end of the community wondered what we were doing. But I would like to think that very early on, we stated that we were not to be boxed in, and we were not to be doing always what was expected. We would not be the band to churn out the same record over and over again, just in a different sleeve with different cover art. We were gonna do everything that we could to prevent that from happening."
