Metallica Say Follow-Up to St. Anger Will Arrive in 2008

In an interview at the Rock Werchter Festival in Belgium over the weekend, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich said the band had finished recording backing tracks for its ninth studio album in early May and will resume studio work in August. Ulrich estimated the record will be completed in October or November, but said he didn't think the group's first new album since 2003 would be released until early next year. Though hesitant to assign a sound to the still-untitled album, Ulrich did say, "It doesn't sound anything like St. Anger to me, it's probably a little more dynamic and a little more varied. The one thing I can tell you is that [the songs are] quite long."