Metallica's Kirk Hammett To Release Debut EP Portals on Record Store Day

We may not have Metallica news to share per se, but we do some interesting news to share from the camp. Kirk Hammett, one of the best guitarists on the planet, is set to release his debut solo EP release, titled Portals. The EP comes less than a year after the San Francisco metal gods celebrated their Black Album 30 year anniversary album (titled Blacklist) with heaps of covers, including renditions by musicians like The Chats and Biffy Clyro.

Back to the EP - the four-track instrumental will be available on Saturday, April 23, 2022 via Metallica's label Blackened Recordings. Portals will be released for Record Store Day, which you can read more about in Australia here. The release will be available at your local retailer and of course in the Met Store on the day. Whilst you can also stream the EP of course, the real exciting stuff on Record Store Day is the physical variants, and for this release, Hammett is dropping an Ocean Blue Vinyl EP, also available at your local retailer as well as on the Metallica website.

Here's what the master of riffetts had to say on the upcoming EP:

Initially, before I even had the idea for a solo EP, I was inspired by the need to create some sort of soundtrack music to accompany The Kirk Hammett Collection for the first “It’s Alive” exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, 2017. I wanted to conceive music to play on a loop in the background as people walked through the exhibit. I sat down one night with a progression, and before I knew it, all the parts were there for "Maiden and the Monster.”

The initial concept for Portals started with that one song. Following that, I realized I could create different soundtrack moments. These songs are what I call ‘Audio Cinematic;’ I’m creating sounds and pieces of music for the movies playing in my head. Hopefully they’ll create movies in other people’s heads in a similar fashion."

The EP was produced by Hammett himself and co-written by S&M2's Edwin Outwater, with contributions from non-Metallica members, which is pretty awesome. Those contributions include drummers Jon Theodore (Hammett's fellow Wedding Band member) Abraham Laboriel, and Greg Fidelman on bass, as well as Blake Neely and of course Metallica family member Bob Rock.

This news is pretty exciting. The biggest metal band on planet Earth have always been huge advocates of Record Store Day (in 2020 they launched their very own Vinyl Club), and have often done some pretty special stuff to celebrate it. Access Portals below.

Words by Ricky Aarons (@rickysaul90)

Pre-order Kirk Hammett - Portals on Saturday, April 23 below.
Ocean Blue Vinyl here
CD here
Digitally here

Kirk Hammett - Portals tracklisting

1. Maiden and the Monster
2. The Jinn
3. High Plains Drifter
4. The Incantation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QNwOIkUiwE