AVENGED SEVENFOLD frontman M. Shadows interviewed METALLICA members Lars Ulrich (drums) and James Hetfield (vocals, guitar) for the latest issue of Revolver magazine (web site; see cover here) prior to METALLICA's headlining appearance at the Gelredome in Arnhem, Holland on June 8, 2006. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

M. Shadows: Why did you decide not to work with Bob Rock on your new album? And how is it working with Rick Rubin?

Lars Ulrich: "We're just getting started, really. 'St. Anger' was kind of an isolated experiment, where we wrote and recorded everything at the same time in the studio. But we're kind of back to the way we use to do it before 'St. Anger', which is kind of a writing phase and then a recording phase. Contrary to general belief, we're not actually in the recording phase yet — we're just writing. We've had half a dozen meetings with Rick, and he just comes up and listens. We're just kind of feeling each other out, kind of getting to know each other. Once we start the recording phase of it, which should hopefully be this fall, that's when his big input will come. In 1990, when we started using Bob, it was because Bob made all the best rock records that were going on at that time — MÖTLEY CRÜE, DAVID LEE ROTH, THE CULT — and he was involved in the engineering of all the BON JOVI records. Everything that was going on in the late Eighties was all about Bob Rock. And now, everything that's great about rock — from SLIPKNOT to SYSTEM OF A DOWN to the CHILI PEPPERS to MARS VOLTA, and even the JOHNNY CASH and NEIL DIAMOND records — it's all Rick Rubin. The same thing that brought us to Bob 15 years ago is now kind of bringing us to Rick. We want to work with the guy who's got the total finger on the pulse. And Bob was the first one to bless it, to say, 'Look, I don't know what else I can offer you 15 years later.' We finish each other's sentences. We know what he's going to say, and he knows what we're going to say. We made, what, like, five records with him? And he really had been the fifth member of our band for the last 15 years. As painful as it is, getting his blessing first was really important to us. So, so far, every side of it has been great."

M. Shadows: Music has changed a lot since you began, and I'm sure your influences have changed, as well. What drives you to continue playing, and what are your current influences in music and in life in general?

Lars Ulrich: "Honestly, it's you guys. Seriously! You guys put out music that inspires us, and I appreciate all the love we get from all of you guys, from TRIVIUM, from BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE — everybody. That's what inspires us — hearing people re-re-reinterpret what we've done in the same way that we re-reinterpreted BLACK SABBATH and everything through that whole lineage. You guys spit stuff back in our face, and it keeps us on our toes and fresh. We're all just music fans, and the reason we do what we do is because we love music. We're always listening to new stuff and trying to keep our finger on the pulse to the best of our abilities. And I'd say just being in a musical environment that continues to reinvent itself and be stimulating is what inspires us. We've been doing it so long. There's so many ups and downs and so many dynamics in the relationships. And I think what's really inspiring us right now is that we're all getting along, we're all really having fun. As you can see, there's no psychiatrists around — there's not all this bullshit going on. Phil ['enhancement coach' Phil Towle, whose group-therapy sessions with the band were captured in the 2004 documentary 'Some Kind of Monster'] said the whole time that all the work we were doing three or four years ago was going to pay off on the next record, not 'St. Anger'. And it's really true — every day going into the studio to write and seeing these guys, it's fun again. It's not like, 'Now I've gotta battle James Hetfield all day,' you know what I mean? And it's showing in everything — the way we play onstage and just the whole vibe."

James Hetfield: "Yeah, for sure. The fact that we don't know our potential, and we're still thriving for that ultimate thing — 'never satisfied' is both a curse and a blessing, you know? The next song you write is always going to be the best of your career. And bands like yourself are getting us to step up again and getting us to remember the roots where we came from. Also, hooking up with a Rick Rubin, another entity. It's like, 'Imagine if 'TALLICA did a record with Rick Rubin? Whoa, what would that be like?' There's a lot of untapped stuff, and we don't know where we can go until we try. Also, when you evolve in life, you listen to music differently than when you were younger. Songs from way back take on a whole new meaning and inspire you in a whole new way — especially lyrically."

M. Shadows: How has having a family changed your life on the road?

James Hetfield: "It's changed a lot. Just in terms of being out for long periods of time, I can't have it. I just won't do it. I'm not going to miss my kids growing up, you know? And if we are out — like the Download festival is on my daughter's birthday, and we're taking her out of school early and bringing her over for it. Stuff like that is pretty important — you don't get second chances at that. That doesn't mean that gigs will always be there for us, either, but there's a priority there. And having them live together… really, introducing them to each other was pretty important. You know, 'Family, meet band! Band, meet family! You're going to live together, so you've got to get along.' So that's going pretty good. And the fact that Lars and I are on the same page with the kids and the time off and the priorities — that is the saving grace with this band. I think if we were very different on that, it would be very difficult to get anything done. [Laughs]"

Lars Ulrich: "Yeah, it used to be METALLICA, and now it's family and METALLICA. Like James says, it's also helped us in our relationship, because our kids are exactly the same age. We have a lot of differences — the things we share are METALLICA and family — so little things like that really help us get along better and coexist, and that makes METALLICA better. Just a couple of weeks ago, before we came out here, we threw a little Memorial Day barbecue. His son and my son were playing air hockey together, and I was like, 'Wow this is really cool — the kids are getting along!' the fact that they can coexist in the same space makes everything a lot easier. You asked about life on the road, and obviously the days of two-year, never-ending tours and drunken blitzes and endless strip clubs and hookers and all that shit — it's a different thing. Back then, it was about staying on the road as long as possible — like, 'I don't wanna go home! I wanna fuckin' stay out here and get laid every night!' And now it's, like, two or three weeks max, and you've gotta get back and deal [with reality]. When I was your age, I was like, 'Fuck, having kids? Ugh!' But I'm proud to say that we've had kids and can still rock as hard as ever onstage. I know it's a cliché, and I know it sounds hokey to some 19-year-old kid, but we're playing harder now than in as long as I can remember, and playing better."

M. Shadows' entire interview with Ulrich and Hetfield is available in Revolver magazine's September 2006 issue, available on the newsstands now.