Lars Ulrich loves ZIP code promo plan

Post haste: Metallica

Lars Ulrich is intrigued with the idea of hiding copies of a new Metallica album somewhere in every ZIP code across the United States, and urging fans to go and find them.

It’s an illustration of how the drummer feels the band aren’t finished stretching themselves, and how they want to continue trying new things to keep their music fresh.

Ulrich tells Rolling Stone: “I still don’t feel we’ve challenged ourselves enough. We still talk about ‘the next album.’ We can do whatever we want with our music. ‘We’ve hidden a new Metallica CD in each ZIP code in America. Go find it!’ There’s nothing but options.”

There are 43,191 area codes in the current US ZIP directory. But even if that idea doesn’t come to fruition, Ulrich insists there’s plenty more to be done by the 30-year-old thrash outfit. And he’s still glad they recorded controversial album Lulu with Lou Reed, despite its hugely negative response.

He says: “I don’t want to be that band that just does record, tour, record, tour. I will say to my dying day: ‘Who wouldn’t want to make a record with Lou Reed?’

“They’re adventures, uncharted territory – places where you do more than just use muscle memory. I want to get away from that model: that the sole reason for a band to exist is to make another record.”

Meanwhile, frontman James Hetfield says he’s laid down hundreds of ideas for their next album. “I only have 846 riffs,” he explains. “In iTunes you can see how many things you’ve got. And that doesn’t include the sound checks, the stuff we goof around with. You plug in an amp; suddenly it makes you feel good and you come up with a riff.”

Guitarist Kirk Hammett adds: “We’ve known for at least two years that we have to start writing songs. It feels like I’m standing on the side of a hill. There’s this big boulder at the top that I know is going to start rolling one of these days, and when it does, we won’t be able to stop it.

“A year from now I’m going to be 50. At this rate, does that mean I have two albums left in me? Three? Five? The one thing I’ve learned is you can’t be too prophetic in this band. Something happens and things completely change.”