photo by Jon Wiederhorn

Shortly before being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Metallica bassist Lars Ulrich sat down with "That Metal Show" host Eddie Trunk to talk about the current chemistry between band members, the creative process for Death Magnetic, the overdriven production of the album, the ubiquity of filesharing in today's music market and the future of Metallica. Click more to watch the interview before it airs on VH1 Classic this weekend. Read more...

photo by Jon Wiederhorn

When Metallica toured for their poorly received 2003 album St. Anger, the band only played two or three new songs. It was almost as if they were aware that the tunes weren't quite up to snuff and they'd be better off rocking the crowd with a set full of classics. They easily could have done the same with their Death Magnetic tour and swaggered away victorious. Instead, at the first of three sold-out New York area appearances, they played over 60 percent of the new album Death Magnetic and were rewarded with fist-in-the air sing-alongs from the crowd. Read more...

photo by Lyndsay Siegel

Instead of our usual Friday audio podcast, we've ramped it up a little bit in commemoration of our 20th anniversary celebration of "Headbangers Ball." We've put together a video podcast for you, and not just any video podcast, a video podcast with Metallica founder Lars Ulrich that was shot at the band's San Francisco practice space/hangout/home studio Metallica HQ.

During the interview, Ulrich talks about the birth of and enduring influence of "Headbangers Ball," referencing ex-host Riki Rachtman and some of the highlights of the program; the uniting force of the program; and the importance of Metallica's "One" video, which broke the band into the MTV world.

Ulrich also discusses the tremendous success of the band's new record Death Magnetic, the perceived "failure" of its last album St. Anger, the decision to revisit elements from past releases for the new disc, what producer Rick Rubin brought to the band and the challenge and importance of relinquishing control and rolling with the punches. Click "more" to stream or download the interview and watch a couple live clips. And don't miss the rest of our "Headbangers Ball" 20th anniversary celebration, which concludes Saturday night with a two hour special that runs from 10 to 12 a.m. EST on MTV2 and features special guests Dee Snider, Riki Rachtman and Jamey Jasta. Read more...

all photos by Lyndsay Siegel

Wanna see where Metallica magnetically go when they're thinking about Death? Interested in checking out the decor of the place where they've come up with some of their most captivating and complex musical ideas since 1988's ...And Justice For All? You won't find any of drummer Lars Ulrich's Jean-Michael Basquiat paintings there or posters for the warts-and-all 2004 documentary "Some Kind of Monster." But many of the band's creature comforts are right here: frontman James Hetfield's Lazyboy (in which we sat), an electric chair (in which we didn't sit), a surreal painting of guitarist Kirk Hammett's idol Jimi Hendrix, the severed head of Lady Liberty from the ...And Justice For All tour, memorabilia the band has collected from fans over the decades and boatloads of recording equipment and instruments.

Click "more" to see exclusive photos we shot inside Metallica HQ, and tune in to MTV2 next week during our "Headbangers Ball" 20th Anniversary, in which we take over the network for a week of video premieres and special programming, including the "MTV Essential: Metallica" (premiering Monday at 11 p.m.), which takes a look at the evolution of the biggest band in metal from their beginnings to the present. The program features new interviews with the band talking about their top-charting album Death Magnetic, and footage from their performance at this year's Rock Am Ring festival. And don't miss our exclusive video interview podcast with Lars Ulrich, which will premiere right here October 24. Read more...

Since it's Metallica Monday and all, we figured we'd offer you some more band interviews. On their official Web site, Revolver has posted some revealing outtakes from interviews for their current cover story. There are already killer Q&As with longtime guitarist Kirk Hammett and not so longtime bassist Robert Trujillo up there, and over the next two weeks they'll post outtakes from discussions with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich as well. Click "more" to read to first two interviews. Read more...

After three studio albums that were rhythmically straightforward, artistically experimental and, about 80 miles-per-hour short of thrash masterpieces, Metallica have (at least partially) returned to their roots. The band's upcoming album, Death Magnetic, features acrobatic time signatures, fierce thrash beats, downtuned guitars and enough cool crunchy guitar parts to fill Trivium's entire catalog. Click "more" to see exclusive video interview footage about the album and its first video "The Day That Never Comes." Read more...