Kirk Hammett (of Metallica) to release solo EP titled 'Portals'

[Poetic Justice]

Kirk Hammett announces first-ever solo EP, Portals

The four-song, horror-themed effort – described by Hammett as a collection of “Audio Cinematic” songs – will arrive via the Metallica Store on April 23

www.guitarworld.com

Kirk Hammett announces first-ever solo EP, Portals​

The four-song, horror-themed effort – described by Hammett as a collection of “Audio Cinematic” songs – will arrive via the Metallica Store on April 23

---


Plenty of discussion on FB pages about this today as the news came out.

It's an interesting one - so many in the camp of Jason Newstead and his reasons for exiting the band. For those who don't know, he wanted to get in to a side project band that would otherwise distract him from the beast that is Metallica. He was not permitted to do so and for this and other reasons chose to leave the band.

People are comparing the Kirk Hammett news with Jason's story - which for me, seems a bit stupid. Why? Well, it is a 4 track EP which I imagine will serve nothing but to throw some music out in to the world. Being an instrumental solo work with a theme, it would be unlikely he'd be intending to 'tour it' so to speak which would be in a fair contrast to what Newstead was doing with Echobrain.

Also; given that the band now owns their own recording label etc, it's fair to assume that Metallica, the business (James + Lars being the big parts of that one would assume) would be earning royalties from how this EP sells on the market - which I guess would also be different to Jason and Echobrain.

---


I am a massive Metallica/Kirk Hammett fan and to be frank, I'm actually not really sure what to expect with this EP or whether I'll even like it - given that it is themed around 'horror' which I'm not really in to.

God can only hope that it isn't along the lines of Lu Lu.

Start the wah wah jokes..... NOW!

 

[HotSausage69]

I'm interested to see how this turns out. Kirk is a great guitarist, there's plenty of people who ridicule and belittle him for his use of the wah wah pedal but the guy is a legend as has made a huge impact and has put up some brilliant riffs and solos. The amount of touring these guys have done in their career also demands respect, it can't be an easy lifestyle with such pressure to perform every time they get up on a stage (you only have to look at James' struggles to see that) and they have deserved every success.

The Jason thing is irrelevant now, it was a long time ago and the whole band were having personal problems. Metallica the band is now firmly entrenched in legendary status, some 4 track instrumental EP from their guitarist isn't going to change that.

In a way I'm actually suprised he's doing something like this, I kind of had the feeling from watching him on tour that he'd sort of just been coasting along the last few years, and you'd forgive him for that, because he must have quite a comfortable life now. This might be his way of releasing some creative frustration he might have had built up from playing Enter Sandman and One for the Gajillionth time every night.

 

[Poetic Justice]

In a way I'm actually suprised he's doing something like this, I kind of had the feeling from watching him on tour that he'd sort of just been coasting along the last few years, and you'd forgive him for that, because he must have quite a comfortable life now. This might be his way of releasing some creative frustration he might have had built up from playing Enter Sandman and One for the Gajillionth time every night.

I reckon it would have a bit to do with how much their touring has dropped due to COVID.. has probably given them all a fair bit more spare time to do whatever pleases them. I think for James, particularly, it probably gave him a great opportunity to just get away from the band and what comes with and focus on being at home with his family which from what he says in his interviews is hugely important to him.

On the other hand, all that down time would have been a fantastic opportunity to produce a new album heh

 

[Mofra]

I'm not really a fan of horror movies but love Rob Zombie / White Zombie so am definitely interested in this.

Kirk's music tastes are quite diverse according to some interviews so I wonder which influences will shine through. I've been listening to a lot of jazz recently so being instrumental only enhances the appeal of this.

 

[Poetic Justice]

I'm not really a fan of horror movies but love Rob Zombie / White Zombie so am definitely interested in this.

Kirk's music tastes are quite diverse according to some interviews so I wonder which influences will shine through. I've been listening to a lot of jazz recently so being instrumental only enhances the appeal of this.

Depends if it comes across too wah heavy I guess

I think I'm most interested in processing how much thought has gone in to stuff he has written versus how much of it is improvised which has been his thing (disappointingly) since Death Magnetic

 

[Aristotle Pickett]

I don't expect much from this.

 

[Poetic Justice]

I don't expect much from this.

Keep expectations very low and you can only be pleasantly surprised

 

[the_interloper]

I don't expect much from this.

Me neither (as a massive Metallica head). I hope he has a good producer/co writer, I've heard him say before that he's not good at editing himself, he thinks everything is awesome ha ha

 

[mr bagcroft]

Massive metallica fan since 86.
Couldnt be less interested, lol.

 

[utility]

When was the last decent album he wrote?

 

[Poetic Justice]

When was the last decent album he wrote?

I'm not sure what purpose your question actually serves...

BUT, I'd say the last song he wrote that was 'decent' was probably Bleeding Me.

 

[utility]

I'm not sure what purpose your question actually serves...

BUT, I'd say the last song he wrote that was 'decent' was probably Bleeding Me.

Given I don't pay attention to Metallica I don't know if he's actually done anything noteworthy (songwriting) since the 80s.

Also - you didn't answer the question.

 

[Poetic Justice]

Given I don't pay attention to Metallica I don't know if he's actually done anything noteworthy (songwriting) since the 80s.

Also - you didn't answer the question.

Well.. it's a strange question.. as a solo artist this would be his first work.

As part of Metallica, he's not really credited with being the album writer so to speak - most of that is up to James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.

 

[the_interloper]

Well I enjoyed the EP anyway, nothing like Metallica, more Ennio Morricone I suppose, basically movie soundtrack stuff.