Metallica planned to sack Lars Ulrich and 'find a new drummer'

Anthrax's Scott Ian has confirmed the longstanding rumour that Metallica's Lars Ulrich was set to be sacked after the band's legendary Damage, Inc. tour.

In a new interview with Colorado radio station 94.3 KILO, Anthrax’s Scott Ian confirmed that while on tour in Europe Metallica's other members - James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Cliff Burton - he learned that they were planning to remove Ulrich after the completion of the tour.

“We were all kind of blown away by that,” Ian told KILO, “because it was the four of them. It was just, like, ‘Wow! Really?’ And they were, like, ‘Yeah. When we finish this tour, we’re gonna find a new drummer.'”

However when bassist Cliff Burton was killed in a tragic tour bus accident in Sweden's Kronoberg Country, the decision was never made.

“Obviously, history turned out differently for Metallica,” Ian explained “and they went on to become, arguably, one of the biggest bands on the planet. So I’m just glad it all… obviously it all worked out for my friends. [It was a] horrible tragedy that Cliff was killed in that bus accident.”

For his part, Ian believes that even had the accident not occured, the drummer would still not have been sacked.

“I honestly think it wouldn’t have happened. ‘Cause, believe me, I’ve thought about it quite a bit over the years. I honestly think that the tour would have finished and I think cooler heads would have prevailed, maybe, and I don’t think the change would have taken place. That’s what I believe.”  

Metallica are currently set to return to the studio to start work on their next album, as well as releasing all of their gigs from 2014 on CD, download and vinyl in the coming months.