According to Bergens Tidende and Nettavisen, all 20,000 tickets to METALLICA's July 16, 2008 concert at an old fortress (Koengen) in Bergen, Norway sold out within 45-50 minutes after they officially went on sale earlier today (Monday, February 4).

Upcoming METALLICA shows:

May 28 - Chorzow, Poland - Slaski Stadium
May 30 - Landgraaf, Netherlands - Pinkpop
May 31 - Madrid, Spain - Electric Weekend
Jun. 03 - Prague, Czech Republic - Slavia Stadium
Jun. 05 - Lisbon, Portugal - Rock In Rio Lisboa
Jun. 07 - Nürburgring, Germany - Rock Am Ring
Jun. 08 - Nürnberg, Germany - Rock Im Park
Jul. 16 - Bergen, Norway – Koengen
Jul. 22 – Bologna, Italy – Parco Nord

MetClub, the official METALLICA fan club web site, last week sent the following e-mail to its members:

"Hopefully you all know by now, the boys will be heading back to Europe this summer... Just a friendly 'heads up' that a few more shows are coming your way as we're getting ready to announce dates on the second part of their summer vacation. Most of these shows will have pre-sales for Clubbers only, so keep watching MetClub for more details. As for you Americans who have been having a good moan, we'll have a little something for you next week. No more hints for now..."

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich recently spoke with Revolver magazine about the band's ninth studio album, which is expected out later this year and will be its first all-new effort since 2003's "St. Anger". Ulrich told the magazine that the group's new material "is certainly a lot more dynamic and a lot more varied than the last couple of go-rounds," adding, "There's a lot of light and shade in these songs. There's heavy, fast, nutty stuff, and then there's some slowdowns and musical interludes." Ulrich also said that the album has more in common with some of the group's '80s releases than more recent offerings like "St. Anger" and "Load".

Ulrich wouldn't agree that the yet-to-be-titled disc is a full-blown return to the past, saying, "I hate to be that specific, because six months from now people are gonna go, 'What the fuck? Lars lied to us!' But it feels that way to me."

The drummer also revealed that producer Rick Rubin, working with the band for the first time, wanted METALLICA to use classic efforts like "Ride the Lightning" and "Master of Puppets" as "reference points" for its new songs.

There's no word yet on an exact release date for the new METALLICA CD, although a late summer release is likely.