Metallica discusses new song, 'The Lords of Summer'

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich discussed the band's new song, "The Lords of Summer," ahead of its debut at their concert on Sunday.

The new song is an 8-minute epic, and the band's first original music in six years. Metallica debuted their Beyond Magnetic EP in 2012, but the tracks were outtakes from their Death Magnetic LP released in 2008.

"We promised our fans we'd play a new song and we've been writing and creating away and we're going to throw something at them on Sunday," Ulrich told Rolling Stone. "We have something lined up that is fairly representative of where our creative headspace is at right now. It's one of those things that's like, 'Here, we're writing and we're creating.'"

Metallica unveiled the new song during their Sunday night concert in Bogotá, Columbia. The band is currently on their self-dubbed "Metallica by Request" tour through South America, Europe, and Canada, where fans vote on the songs they would like to hear.

"We are off and running and have been creating away in the studio and now we're going to go out and play and sweat and share and we've got some new music that we want to throw everybody's way," Ulrich continued. "Maybe by the time we get to Europe, there will be a different song or different thing or different arrangement. Who knows? We'll sort of take it one step at a time."

The drummer expressed that the "Metallica by Request" tour is going well so far. "It makes it a lot easier for me, because I don't have to do the set list," Ulrich joked about the fan-vote format. "We like to leave the studio and get out and be inspired by playing some shows. We've done that a lot in the last few album cycles. So getting out and playing is a vital part of writing and creating."

[Rolling Stone]