Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted has hinted at a possible reunion with his old band while giving big ups to their new single Hardwired.
Metallica have been hard at work recently, having released the first single from their forthcoming album, and Newsted, who left the band in 2001, has admitted he is a big fan of the new riffage.
“I can’t believe how wicked it is,” he says on SiriusXM (via Blabbermouth). “I heard it a couple of times. Somebody played it for me in a car, and I brought it home and listened to it a little bit. I like its nature. I like its teeth, man. It’s great.”
Newsted goes on to reveal that he’s been in regular contact with Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. Later, when asked whether the chats have been social, about business, or about making music together again, Newsted responds “all those three”.
He continues, “I’ve got a call with Lars coming up on Thursday here. I’ve been talking to him every couple of weeks. As they’re coming out with their new record, there’s a lot of stuff going on within the underpinnings of it all, or whatever you wanna call it, so we always are in touch.
“And now we’ve actually been doing voice-to-voice, which is nice, and I’m hoping to be able to get person-to-person before long. But they do have quite a bit to do here with this new record. So I’m excited for ’em, man. I’m proud of ’em.”
Given the schedule Metallica have ahead of them, as well as potential tour plans for 2017, it’s unlikely we’ll see any sort of reunion too soon, especially given Newsted’s acoustic group Chophouse Band has their own run of shows in September this year.
Watch: Metallica – ‘Hardwired’
