Metallica have had a pretty busy year in 2012. The highlights being they launched their own festival, ORION, they shot a $20 million 3D movie.
Even though the band has said they would not release a new album until 2014, a new report states the band is in the studio right now working on new material.
In the January 2013 issue of Metal Hammer magazine, Lars Ulrich described the new songs for the British magazine saying "The stuff that we were banging out yesterday, it felt heavy, it felt energetic, it was loud, it was fast, it was rocking, it was crazy. The snare drum was on there and there were guitar solos, in case anybody was wondering." He added: "What we're doing now certainly sounds like a continuation of where we left off four years ago."
The band is in the early stages and have yet to lock in a producer. It seems they might not be going with Rick Rubin again, who produced their highly tolerable 2008 release, Death Magnetic. Lars stated "I love Rick, we all love Rick. We're in touch with Rick constantly. We'll see where it goes."
This will be the first full-length released under the band's new record label, Blackened Recordings.
I'd say, don't hold your breath for this release to come out in 2013, if the band plans on a 2014 release, then a 2014 release they will have.
In the meantime, you can put Lars' face on practically anything. You can also predict the vocals on the album with the James Hetfeild soundboard.