“I DISCOVERED PROG THREE OR FOUR YEARS AGO. I CAN’T BELIEVE I MISSED OUT ON SO MANY GREAT ALBUMS!”
AS LEAD GUITARIST of one of the biggest-selling bands in history, Kirk Hammett needs little in the way of an introduction. While Metallica have been teasing fans with the promise of a new album since last summer, Hammett has emerged as the first band member to step from the mothership and fly solo with his new four-track horror movie-influenced EP, Portals.
Originally conceived as background music to accompany his exhibition of horror-flick posters and memorabilia, the self-produced , as Hammett explains, evolved to become a collection of “soundtracks to the movies in your mind.” The EP contains four high-concept instrumental tracks: “Maiden and the Monster,” “The Jinn,” “High Plains Drifter” and “The Incantation,” each inspired by a different era in horror movie history. The latter two tracks were co-written by conductor Edwin Outwater, whom Hammett met while working on Metallica’s 2020. Outwater leads orchestral players from the Los Angeles Philharmonic to give its baroque-meets-metal aesthetic.
