METALLICA Guitarist KIRK HAMMETT Talks Losing Hundreds Of Riff Ideas For New Album – "I Had To Start At Zero Again While Everyone Else Had Material"

Back in 2014, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett revealed that he’d lost his mobile phone containing hundreds of riff ideas for the album that would eventually become Hardwired…To Self-Destruct, an experience he called “devastating”. In a new interview with Seattle’s KISW 99.9, found below, Hammett discusses how the loss of said material affected the final outcome. The interview begins at the 20 minute mark.

Hammett is also an avid collector of classic horror and sci-fi movie posters. Visually arresting, these posters are potent historical objects of burgeoning Golden-Era Hollywood and recall a time when poster design was an art unto itself.

The exhibition features 90 works that trace Hammett’s collecting journey and examine how he draws inspiration from this material for his own gothic creativity. Posters and other memorabilia – such as collectible electric guitars, monster masks and sculptures – are paired with clips from their corresponding movies and insight into the evolution of horror and sci-fi film.

The exhibition is being held at The Peabody Essex Museum located in Salem, MA and runs through November 26th.

Kirk “Von” Hammett has stepped out in advance of the November ​​​​​​​release of Eerie Von’s forthcoming Misfits/Samhain/ Danzig photo book Misery Obscura: The Photography of Eerie Von (1981–2009) to sing the book’s praises:

“Misery Obscura has an amazing fly-on-the-wall feel that is mesmerizing but unequivocal,” says Hammett. “Eerie puts me right back in the 1980s, in the same space where the Misfits and Samhain were. Looking at these pics is like having that Misfits backstage pass that I always wanted, for a band that I never got to see live. He did a great job capturing those moments for the rest of us. Eerie’s book is a must for any fan of these bands, and will not disappoint!”

The Metallica guitarist, also known as the Fear FestEvil horror convention organizer and author of Too Much Horror Business, also appears as a photo subject in Misery Obscura alongside the Misfits, Samhain, Glenn Danzig, Rosemary’s Babies, Rick Rubin, White Zombie, Soundgarden, Tony Iommi, HR Giger, Marilyn Manson, Tom Araya, and many others.